today.nukz.net: Almanac August 9

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American recording artist, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female act of all-time. Houston was one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. She released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston's crossover appeal on the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for "How Will I Know", influenced several African American female artists to follow in her footsteps.

Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits. She is the second artist behind Elton John and the only female artist to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards (formerly "Top Pop Album") on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houston's 1985 debut album Whitney Houston became the best-selling debut album by a female act at the time of its release. The album was named Rolling Stone's best album of 1986, and was ranked at number 254 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Her second studio album Whitney (1987) became the first album by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Events

48 BC – Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus – Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.
586 BC – Solomon first temple totally destroyed by the Babylonians led by King Nebuchadnezzar. That occurred on the 9th day of Av, 586 BC.
70 AD – Jewish revolts against the Romans caused the Roman General Titus, later who became Caesar, to beseige the city. The second Temple was completely destroyed by fire on the 9th of Av, 70 AD.
378 – Gothic War: Battle of Adrianople – A large Roman army led by Emperor Valens is defeated by the Visigoths in present-day Turkey. Valens is killed along with over half of his army.
681 – Bulgaria is founded as a Khanate on the south bank of the Danube after defeating the Byzantine armies of Emperor Constantine IV south of the Danube delta.
1173 – Construction of the campanile of the cathedral of Pisa (now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa) begins; it will take two centuries to complete.
1329 – Quilon, the first Indian Christian Diocese, is erected by Pope John XXII; the French-born Jordanus is appointed the first Bishop.
1483 – Opening of the Sistine Chapel in Rome with the celebration of a Mass.
1810 – Napoleon annexes Westphalia as part of the First French Empire.
1814 – American Indian Wars: the Creek sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson, giving up huge parts of Alabama and Georgia.
1842 – The Webster-Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States-Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.
1854 – Henry David Thoreau published Walden.
1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Mountain – At Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope.
1877 – American Indian Wars: Battle of Big Hole – A small band of Nez Percé Indians clash with the United States Army
1892 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.
1902 – Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1907 – The first Boy Scout encampment concludes at Brownsea Island in southern England.
1925 – A train robbery takes place in Kakori, near Lucknow, India
1930 – Betty Boop made her cartoon debut in Dizzy Dishes.
1936 – Summer Olympic Games: Games of the XI Olympiad – Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the games becoming the first American to win four medals in one Olympiad.
1942 – Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in Bombay by British forces, launching the Quit India Movement.
1942 – World War II: Battle of Savo Island – Allied naval forces protecting their amphibious forces during the initial stages of the Battle of Guadalcanal are surprised and defeated by an Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser force.
1944 – The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.
1944 – Continuation war: The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, the largest offensive launched by Soviet Union against Finland during the Second World War, ends to a strategic stalemate. Both Finnish and Soviet troops at the Finnish front dug to defensive positions, and the front remains stable until the end of the war.
1945 – World War II: Nagasaki is devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, is dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. 39,000 people are killed outright.
1945 – World War II: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and begins the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation.
1965 – Singapore is expelled from Malaysia and becomes the first and only country to date to gain independence unwillingly.
1965 – A fire at a Titan missile base near Searcy, Arkansas kills 53 construction workers.
1969 – Followers led by Charles Manson murder pregnant actress Sharon Tate (wife of Roman Polanski), coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski, men's hairstylist Jay Sebring and recent high-school graduate Steven Parent.
1971 – The Troubles: The British security forces in Northern Ireland launch Operation Demetrius. Hundreds of people are arrested and interned, thousands are displaced, and twenty are killed in the violence that followed.
1974 – As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, becomes president.
1988 – Wayne Gretzky is traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the most controversial player transactions in hockey history, upsetting many Canadians.
1993 – The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan loses a 38-year hold on national leadership.
1999 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin fires his Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fires his entire cabinet. On the same day, Chris Jericho makes his WWF debut by interrupting The Rock with a millennium clock.
2006 – At least 21 suspected terrorists were arrested in the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot that happened in the United Kingdom. The arrests were made in London, Birmingham, and High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, in an overnight operation.

Births

1201 – Arnold Fitz Thedmar, English chronicler (d. 1274)
1537 – Francesco Barozzi, Italian mathematician, astronomer and humanist (d. 1604)
1544 – Bogislaw XIII, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1606)
1593 – Izaak Walton, English angler (d. 1683)
1603 – Johannes Cocceius, German-born Dutch theologian (d. 1669)
1631 – John Dryden, English Poet Laureate (d. 1700)
1648 – Johann Michael Bach, German composer (d. 1694)
1653 – John Oldham, English poet (d. 1683)
1669 – Tsarina Eudoxia Lopukhina of Russia (d. 1731)
1674 – František Maxmilián Kanka, Czech architect (d. 1766)
1696 – Joseph Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein (d. 1772)
1722 – Augustus William, Prince of Prussia (d. 1758)
1726 – Francesco Cetti, Italian Jesuit scientist (d. 1778)
1754 – Pierre Charles L'Enfant, French architect, planner of Washington, D.C. (d. 1825)
1757 – Thomas Telford, Scottish civil engineer (d. 1834)
1776 – Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist (d. 1856)
1783 – Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia (d. 1801)
1788 – Adoniram Judson, American Baptist missionary (d. 1850)
1797 – Charles Robert Malden, British naval officer (d. 1855)
1805 – Joseph Locke, English railway and civil engineer (d. 1860)
1809 – William Barret Travis, American Battle of the Alamo figure (d. 1836)
1845 – André Bessette, Canadian religious figure (d. 1937)
1847 – Queen Maria Victoria al Pozzo della Cisterna of Spain (d. 1876)
1867 – Evelina Haverfield British suffragette (d. 1920)
1871 – Leonid Andreyev, Russian writer (d. 1919)
1872 – Archduke Joseph August of Austria, Austrian field marshal (d. 1962)
1874 – Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan composer and conductor (d. 1947)
1875 – Albert Ketèlbey, English conductor, composer, and pianist (d. 1959)
1896 – Erich Hückel, German physicist (d. 1980)
1896 – Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist (d. 1980)
1899 – P. L. Travers, Australian author (d. 1996)
1901 – Charles Farrell, American actor (d. 1990)
1902 – Zino Francescatti, French violinist (d. 1991)
1909 – V. K. Gokak, Indian Kannada writer (d. 1992)
1909 – Adam von Trott zu Solz, German diplomat (d. 1944)
1911 – William Alfred Fowler, American physicist, Nobel Laureate (d. 1996)
1911 – Eddie Futch, American boxing trainer (d. 2001)
1914 – Ferenc Fricsay, Hungarian conductor (d. 1963)
1914 – Tove Jansson, Finnish author (d. 2001)
1914 – Joe Mercer, English footballer (d. 1990)
1919 – Joop den Uyl, Dutch politician (d. 1987)
1919 – Ralph Houk, American baseball player and manager (d. 2010)
1920 – Enzo Biagi, Italian journalist and writer (d. 2007)
1920 – Francis Lynch, American state legislator (d. 1993)
1921 – Ernest Angley, American televangelist
1921 – J. James Exon, American politician (d. 2005)
1922 – Philip Larkin, English poet (d. 1985)
1925 – David A. Huffman, American computer scientist (d. 1999)
1927 – Daniel Keyes, American author
1927 – Marvin Minsky, American computer scientist
1927 – Robert Shaw, English actor (d. 1978)
1928 – Bob Cousy, American basketball player
1928 – Dolores Wilson, American opera singer (d. 2010)
1929 – Abdi Ipekçi, Turkish journalist (d. 1979)
1930 – Jacques Parizeau, Quebec economist and politician
1931 – Chuck Essegian, American baseball player
1931 – Mário Zagallo, Brazilian football coach and player
1932 – John Gomery, Canadian jurist
1933 – Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, Japanese television personality and children's author
1935 – Beverlee McKinsey, American actress (d. 2008)
1936 – Julián Javier, American baseball player
1936 – Patrick Tse Yin, Hong Kong film director
1938 – Leonid Kuchma, Ukrainian politician
1938 – Rod Laver, Australian tennis player
1938 – Otto Rehhagel, German football manager
1939 – Brito, Brazilian footballer
1939 – Bulle Ogier, French actress
1939 – Romano Prodi, Italian politician and statesman
1941 – Way Bandy, American make-up artist (d. 1986)
1941 – Shirlee Busbee, American novelist.
1942 – Tommie Agee, American baseball player (d. 2001)
1942 – David Steinberg, Canadian comedian
1943 – Ken Norton, American boxer
1944 – Sam Elliott, American actor
1944 – Patricia McKissack, American author
1944 – Khaleda Zia, Bangladeshi politician and former Prime Minister.
1945 – Barbara Delinsky, American author
1945 – Posy Simmonds, English cartoonist
1946 – Jim Kiick, American football player
1947 – Roy Hodgson, English football manager
1947 – Barbara Mason, American soul singer
1948 – Bill Campbell, American baseball player
1949 – Jonathan Kellerman, American writer
1949 – Ted Simmons, American baseball player
1951 – Steve Swisher, American baseball player
1952 – Prateep Ungsongtham Hata, Thai politician
1953 – Kay Stenshjemmet, Norwegian speed skater
1954 – Ray Jennings, South African cricketer and coach
1955 – Peter Schmuck, American sportswriter
1955 – John E. Sweeney, American politician
1957 – Melanie Griffith, American actress
1958 – Amanda Bearse, American actress
1958 – James Lileks, American columnist
1959 – Kurtis Blow, American rapper
1959 – Stuart Hughes, Canadian actor
1959 – Michael Kors, American fashion designer
1961 – Brad Gilbert, American tennis player
1961 – John Key, 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand
1961 – Amy Stiller, American actress
1962 – Kevin Mack, American football player
1962 – Louis Lipps, American football player
1962 – John "Hot Rod" Williams, American basketball player
1963 – Whitney Houston, American singer, actress, producer and model (d. 2012)
1964 – Brett Hull, Canadian-born American ice hockey player
1964 – Hoda Kotb, American television news anchor
1966 – Vinny Del Negro, American basketball player and head coach
1967 – Deion Sanders, American football player
1968 – Gillian Anderson, American actress
1968 – Eric Bana, Australian actor
1968 – Sam Fogarino, American drummer (Interpol)
1968 – Joseph McGinty Nichol, American film producer and director
1969 – Divine Brown, American sex worker and convicted felon
1969 – Smaragda Karydi, Greek actress
1969 – Troy Percival, American baseball player
1970 – Rod Brind'Amour, Canadian ice hockey player
1970 – Chris Cuomo, American TV journalist
1970 – Thomas Lennon, American actor
1970 – Arion Salazar, American bassist (Third Eye Blind)
1971 – James Kim, American technology reporter (d. 2006)
1971 – Davide Rebellin, Italian cyclist
1971 – Mack 10, American rapper
1972 – Juanes, Colombian singer
1972 – A-Mei, Taiwanese singer
1973 – Kevin McKidd, Scottish actor
1973 – Filippo Inzaghi, Italian footballer
1974 – Mahesh Babu, Indian film actor
1974 – Derek Fisher, American basketball player
1974 – Matt Morris, American baseball player
1974 – Kirill Reznik, American politician
1974 – Nicola Stapleton, English actress
1974 – Stephen Fung, Hong Kong actor and director
1975 – Mike Lamb, American baseball player
1975 – Robbie Middleby, Australian footballer
1975 – Mahesh Babu, Indian Actor
1976 – Jessica Capshaw, American actress
1976 – Nawaf al-Hazmi, Saudi terrorist, helped hijack American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001)
1976 – Aled Jones, British Radio Producer
1976 – Rhona Mitra, English actress
1976 – Mark Priestley, Australian actor (d. 2008)
1977 – Jason Frasor, American baseball player
1977 – Chamique Holdsclaw, American basketball player
1977 – Adewale Ogunleye, American football player
1977 – Csaba Csordás, Hungarian football player
1977 – Mikaël Silvestre, French football player
1978 – Audrey Tautou, French actress
1980 – Texas Battle, American actor
1980 – Ryu Seung-beom, South Korean actor
1980 – Dominic Tabuna, Nauruan politician
1981 – Jarvis Hayes, American basketball player
1981 – Li Jiawei, Singaporean table tennis player
1982 – Tyson Gay, American sprinter
1982 – Kanstantsin Siutsou, Belorussian cyclist
1983 – Ashley Johnson, American actress
1983 – Shane O'Brien, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Alicja Smietana, Polish violinist
1984 – Paul Gallagher, Scottish footballer
1985 – Luca Filippi, Italian racing driver
1985 – Anna Kendrick, American actress
1985 – Hayley Peirsol, American swimmer
1985 – JaMarcus Russell, American football player
1986 – Michael Lerchl, German footballer
1986 – Daniel Preussner, German rugby player
1986 – Tyler "Telle" Smith, American musician (The Word Alive)
1987 – Marco Carmona, Mexican artist
1988 – Vasilios Koutsianikoulis, Greek footballer
1989 – Jason Heyward, American baseball player
1989 – Stefano Okaka, Italian footballer
1990 – Adelaide Kane, Australian actress
1990 – Bill Skarsgård, Swedish actor
1991 – Hansika Motwani, Indian actress
1991 – Candela Vetrano, Argentine actress
2005 – Caylee Anthony, American child murder victim (d. 2008)

Deaths

117 – Trajan, Roman Emperor (b. 53)
378 – Traianus, Roman general
378 – Valens, Roman Emperor (killed in battle) (b. 328)
803 – Irene of Athens, Byzantine Empress (b. 752)
833 – Al-Ma'mun, Abbasid caliph of Baghdad (b. 786)
1048 – Pope Damasus II (birth year unknown)
1107 – Emperor Horikawa of Japan (b. 1079)
1173 – Najm ad-Din Ayyub, Kurdish soldier and politician, father of Saladin (birth year unknown)
1250 – King Eric IV of Denmark (b. 1216)
1534 – Cardinal Cajetan, Italian theologian (b. 1470)
1580 – Metrophanes III, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 1520)
1601 – Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia (b. 1558)
1634 – William Noy, English jurist (b. 1577)
1720 – Simon Ockley, English orientalist (b. 1678)
1744 – James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English patron of the arts (b. 1673)
1816 – Johann August Apel, German jurist and writer (b. 1771)
1837 – Xavier Sigalon, French painter (b. 1787)
1871 – John Paterson, politican in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (b. 1831)
1886 – Samuel Ferguson, Northern Irish poet and artist (b. 1810)
1910 – Huo Yuan Jia, Chinese martial artist (b. 1868)
1919 – Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (b. 1857)
1929 – Walter Katzenstein, German rower (b. 1878)
1942 – Edith Stein, German philosopher and nun (executed) (b. 1891)
1945 – Robert Hampton Gray, last Canadian Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1917)
1945 – Harry Hillman, American runner (b. 1881)
1945 – Charles Sands, American golfer and tennis player (b. 1865)
1946 – Bert Vogler, South African cricketer (b. 1876)
1949 – Edward Thorndike, American psychologist (b. 1874)
1953 – Auguste Giroux, French rugby player (b. 1874)
1957 – Carl Clauberg, German Nazi doctor (b. 1898)
1962 – Hermann Hesse, German-born Swiss writer, Nobel Laureate (b. 1877)
1967 – Joe Orton, English writer (b. 1933)
1969 – Cecil Frank Powell, British physicist, Nobel Laureate (b. 1903)
1969 – Abigail Folger, American heiress (murdered) (b. 1943)
1969 – Wojciech Frykowski, Polish writer (murdered) (b. 1936)
1969 – Jay Sebring, American hair stylist (murdered) (b. 1933)
1969 – Sharon Tate, American actress (murdered) (b. 1943)
1969 – Steven Parent, American student (murdered) (b. 1951)
1973 – Charles Daniels, American swimmer (b. 1885)
1974 – Bill Chase, American trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1934)
1975 – Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian composer (b. 1906)
1979 – Walter O'Malley, American baseball executive (b. 1903)
1979 – Raymond Washington, American gang leader, founder the Crips (b. 1953)
1980 – Jacqueline Cochran, American aviatrix (b. 1906)
1985 – Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league footballer (b. 1927)
1988 – Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer (b. 1905)
1988 – Ramón Valdés, Mexican actor (b. 1923)
1990 – Joe Mercer, English footballer (b. 1914)
1992 – Fereydoun Farrokhzad, Iranian singer (b. 1938)
1995 – Jerry Garcia, American guitarist (Grateful Dead) (b. 1942)
1996 – Sir Frank Whittle, British engineer and inventor of the jet engine (b. 1907)
1999 – Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian politician (b. 1910)
2000 – John Harsanyi, Hungarian-born American economist, Nobel Laureate (b. 1920)
2000 – Nicholas Markowitz, American teenager kidnapped and murdered by Jesse James Hollywood (b. 1984)
2002 – Paul Samson, British guitarist (Samson) (b. 1953)
2002 – Peter Neville, British anarchist, sociologist and peace activist (birth year unknown)
2003 – Ray Harford, English footballer and manager (b. 1945)
2003 – Gregory Hines, American actor and dancer (b. 1946)
2003 – Jacques Deray, French film director (b. 1929)
2003 – Chester Ludgin, American baritone (b. 1925)
2004 – Robert Lecourt, French politician, President of the European Court of Justice (b. 1908)
2004 – Tony Mottola, American guitarist (b. 1918)
2004 – David Raksin, American film composer (b. 1912)
2005 – Matthew McGrory, American actor (b. 1973)
2005 – Judith Rossner, American novelist (b. 1935)
2006 – James Van Allen, American physicist (b. 1914)
2006 – Philip E. High, science fiction author (b. 1914)
2006 – Rafael Ruiz, Spanish hockey player (b. 1916)
2007 – Joe O'Donnell, American documentary photographer and photojournalist (b. 1922)
2008 – Bernie Mac, American comedian (b. 1957)
2008 – Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet and writer (b. 1941)
2009 – Jasmine You, Japanese musician (b. 1979)
2010 – Ted Stevens, American politician (b. 1923)