On This Day: August 8

Updated August 7, 2012, 2:28 pm

On Aug. 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon announced he would resign following damaging revelations in the Watergate scandal.

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On Aug. 8, 1896, Marjorie Rawlings, the American author of the Pulitzer-Prize winning book “The Yearling”, was born. Following her death on Dec. 14, 1953, her obituary appeared in The Times.

Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »

On This Date

By The Associated Press

1815 Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena, in the South Atlantic, to spend the remainder of his days in exile.

1844 Brigham Young was chosen to lead the Mormons following the killing of Joseph Smith.

1876 Thomas A. Edison received a patent for the mimeograph.

1945 President Harry S. Truman signed the United Nations Charter.

1945 The Soviet Union declared war against Japan during World War II.

1963 Britain’s “Great Train Robbery” took place as thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in banknotes from a train they stopped north of London.

1968 Richard M. Nixon was nominated for president at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach and chose Maryland Gov. Spiro T. Agnew to be his running mate.

1988 U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar announced a cease-fire between Iran and Iraq.

2005 Iran resumed work at a uranium conversion facility after suspending activities for nine months to avoid U.N. sanctions.

2006 Sen. Joseph Lieberman lost the Connecticut Democratic primary to political newcomer Ned Lamont. (Lieberman won re-election as an independent).

2008 The Summer Olympic Games opened in Beijing.

2008 Former Democratic vice-presidential nominee John Edwards admitted having had an extramarital affair.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Tennis player Roger Federer turns 31 years old today.

AP Photo/Elise Amendola

Rock musician The Edge (U2) turns 51 years old today.

AP Photo/Charles Sykes

1921 Esther Williams, Actress, turns 91

1932 Mel Tillis, Country singer, turns 80

1937 Dustin Hoffman, Actor, turns 75

1938 Connie Stevens, Actress, turns 74

1947 Larry Wilcox, Actor (“CHiPS”), turns 65

1949 Keith Carradine, Actor, turns 63

1953 Donny Most, Actor (“Happy Days”), turns 59

1958 Deborah Norville, TV personality, turns 54

1962 Kool Moe Dee, Rapper, turns 50

1976 JC Chasez, Singer (‘N Sync), turns 36

1976 Tawny Cypress, Actress (“Heroes”), turns 36

1976 Drew Lachey, Singer (98 Degrees), turns 36

Historic Birthdays

Marjorie Rawlings 8/8/1896 – 12/14/1953 American short-story writer and novelist.Go to obituary »

52 Francis Hutcheson 8/8/1694 – ?/?/1746
Scottish-Irish moral philosopher

80 Charles Bulfinch 8/8/1763 – 4/4/1844
American architect

87 Esther Morris 8/8/1814 – 4/2/1902
American suffragist and public official

78 Charles Dana 8/8/1819 – 10/17/1897
American journalist and editor of the New York Sun

78 Henry Fairfield Osborn 8/8/1857 – 11/6/1935
American paleontologist and museum administrator

39 Emiliano Zapata 8/8/1879 – 4/10/1919
Mexican guerrilla in the Mexican Revolution of 1911-7

57 Ernest Lawrence 8/8/1901 – 8/27/1958
American Nobel Prize-winning physicist (1939)

81 Arthur, Jr. Goldberg 8/8/1908 – 1/19/1990
American lawyer, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1962-5) and United Nations representative (1965-8)

62 Rudi Gernreich 8/8/1922 – 4/21/1985
Austrian-born American fashion designer

1815	Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena, in the South Atlantic, to spend the remainder of his days in exile.
1844	Brigham Young was chosen to lead the Mormons following the killing of Joseph Smith.
1876	Thomas A. Edison received a patent for the mimeograph.
1945	President Harry S. Truman signed the United Nations Charter.
1945	The Soviet Union declared war against Japan during World War II.
1963	Britain’s “Great Train Robbery” took place as thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in banknotes from a train they stopped north of London.
1968	Richard M. Nixon was nominated for president at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach and chose Maryland Gov. Spiro T. Agnew to be his running mate.
1988	U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar announced a cease-fire between Iran and Iraq.
2005	Iran resumed work at a uranium conversion facility after suspending activities for nine months to avoid U.N. sanctions.
2006	Sen. Joseph Lieberman lost the Connecticut Democratic primary to political newcomer Ned Lamont. (Lieberman won re-election as an independent).
2008	The Summer Olympic Games opened in Beijing.
2008	Former Democratic vice-presidential nominee John Edwards admitted having had an extramarital affair.

1921	Esther Williams, Actress, turns 91
1932	Mel Tillis, Country singer, turns 80
1937	Dustin Hoffman, Actor, turns 75
1938	Connie Stevens, Actress, turns 74
1947	Larry Wilcox, Actor (“CHiPS”), turns 65
1949	Keith Carradine, Actor, turns 63
1953	Donny Most, Actor (“Happy Days”), turns 59
1958	Deborah Norville, TV personality, turns 54
1962	Kool Moe Dee, Rapper, turns 50
1976	JC Chasez, Singer (‘N Sync), turns 36
1976	Tawny Cypress, Actress (“Heroes”), turns 36
1976	Drew Lachey, Singer (98 Degrees), turns 36

52	Francis Hutcheson 8/8/1694 – ?/?/1746 Scottish-Irish moral philosopher
80	Charles Bulfinch 8/8/1763 – 4/4/1844 American architect
87	Esther Morris 8/8/1814 – 4/2/1902 American suffragist and public official
78	Charles Dana 8/8/1819 – 10/17/1897 American journalist and editor of the New York Sun
78	Henry Fairfield Osborn 8/8/1857 – 11/6/1935 American paleontologist and museum administrator
39	Emiliano Zapata 8/8/1879 – 4/10/1919 Mexican guerrilla in the Mexican Revolution of 1911-7
57	Ernest Lawrence 8/8/1901 – 8/27/1958 American Nobel Prize-winning physicist (1939)
81	Arthur, Jr. Goldberg 8/8/1908 – 1/19/1990 American lawyer, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1962-5) and United Nations representative (1965-8)
62	Rudi Gernreich 8/8/1922 – 4/21/1985 Austrian-born American fashion designer