Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/August 9
This is a list of selected August 9 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
August 9: National Day in Singapore (1965); National Women's Day in South Africa; International Day of the World's Indigenous People
- 1173 – The construction of a campanile, which would eventually become the Leaning Tower of Pisa (pictured), began.
- 1483 – The first mass in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City was celebrated.
- 1945 – World War II: USAAF bomber Bockscar dropped an atomic bomb named "Fat Man", devastating Nagasaki, Japan.
- 1969 – Followers of cult leader Charles Manson murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in her home in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles.
- 1974 – The Watergate scandal: Richard Nixon became the first (and to date only) President of the United States to resign from office.
- 1988 – Ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings, leading to the popularization of the sport in California.