This Day in History- August 9

1854: Publishing of ‘Walden’
American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau published “Walden” which was one of the famous books written by him. The book reflects simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay on “Civil Disobedience” is an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.

1898: Patent for combustion engine
Rudolf Diesel of Germany obtained patent number 608,845 for his internal combustion engine, later known as the diesel engine. 

1936: World record at Berlin Olympics
Jesse Owens was a part of the American 4 x 100m relay team who won gold (39.8) at the Berlin Olympics on August 9, 1936. It was also his 4th gold medal in the same field. 

1945: Second bomb in Japan
The US dropped the second atomic bomb “Fat Man” on Nagasaki, Japan which destroyed a part of the city. It resulted in Japan’s unconditional surrender.

1965: Independence of Singapore
Singapore separated from the Federation of Malaysia and gained its independence. The separation was the result of deep political and economic differences between the ruling parties of Singapore and Malaysia which created communal tensions.

1974: Resignation of Nixon
Richard Nixon resigned as the President of the United States and Vice President Gerald Ford swore the oath of office to take his place as the 38th US President on August 9, 1974. 

1981: PGA Championship Men’s Golf
Larry Nelson won by 4 strokes from Fuzzy Zoeller. Larry Gene Nelson is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level.

2012: Usain Bolt at London Olympics
Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt won the 200m at the London Olympics in 19.32 and became the first to win 100/200m double in back-to-back Olympics. 

1648: Johann Michael Bach
A German composer was born in Arnstadt, Germany on August 9, 1648. 

1776: Amedeo Avogadro
An Italian scientist who contributed to molecular theory, including what is known as Avogadro’s law (6.022 x 10 ^ 23) was born in Torino, Italy. 

1914: Tove Jansson
A Finnish author and illustrator was born in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire on this day.

1928: Bob Cousy
A Basketball Hall of Fame guard who was the NBA All-Star between 1951–63 was born in Manhattan, NYC. 

1950: Chris Haney
A Canadian journalist who created the board game “Trivial Pursuit” was born in Welland, Ontario.

1963: Whitney Houston
An American singer of ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ and ‘The Bodyguard’ actress was born in Newark, New Jersey.