Today in History, August 9 - New Pittsburgh Courier
Today is Sunday, August 9, the 221st day of 2015. There are 144 days left in the year. One year ago: Michael Brown Jr. , an unarmed 18-year-old Black man, was shot to death by a police officer following an altercation in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown’s death led to sometimes-violent protests in Ferguson and other U. S. cities, spawning a national “Black Lives Matter” movement. On August 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, the United States exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people. In 1854, Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden,” which described Thoreau’s experiences while living near Walden Pond in Massachusetts, was first published. In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order nationalizing silver. In 1936, Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics as the United States took first place in the 400-meter relay. In 1969, actress Sharon Tate and four other people were found brutally slain at Tate’s Los Angeles home. In 1974, Vice President Gerald R. Ford became the nation’s 38th chief executive as President Richard Nixon’s resignation took effect. Source: newpittsburghcourieronline.com
