On this day, August 9th

On this day Aug 10, 2026

The Romans fail in their attempt to crush a Gothic rebellion in the east August 9th, 378:

Thousands of soldiers gather near Adrianople in modern-day Turkey to fight a battle that some historians will later cite as the beginning of the end of the Western Roman Empire. Hoping to crush a Visigothic rebellion in his Eastern Empire, the Roman emperor Valens is assassinated and his army is decimated by Gothic horsemen.

Thoreau's meditation on man and nature published August 9th, 1854:

Two years of living on the shores of Walden Pond, a lake in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, have paid off as Henry David Thoreau's memoirs about his time in isolation there are published. Walden will sell well and remain a seminal work of early environmentalism and a celebration of the spirit of the individual.

Nagasaki is the second nuclear military target August 9th, 1945:

Three days after Hiroshima was destroyed by the first nuclear weapons attack in history, Nagasaki, Japan, is hit by an atomic explosion launched from a U.S. bomber. More than 39,000 people die immediately when the city is razed to the ground, and Japan surrenders less than a week later, ending World War II.

Five Found Murdered at Sharon Tate's Los Angeles Home August 9th, 1969:

Pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others are discovered dead in Los Angeles at the Benedict Canyon home she shares with her husband, film director Roman Polanski. The murders can be traced back to Charles Manson and members of his cult, known as 'The Manson Family'.