August 9 in History

1483 – Opening of the restored Sistine Chapel in Rome. Renaissance painters Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Roselli contributed. Michelangelo added his work on the ceiling in 1508-1512.

1854 – Henry David Thoreau published Walden or Life in the Woods.

1892 – Thomas Edison received a patent (#480,567) for a two-way telegraph.

1930 – Betty Boop made her cartoon debut in Dizzy Dishes.

1942 – Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi was arrested in Bombay by British forces, launching the Quit India Movement.

1944 – Nagasaki, Japan was decimated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, was dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar.

1969 – Followers of Charles Manson murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate (wife of Roman Polanski), Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Jay Sebring and Steven Parent. Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were killed by the same crew the following day.

1972 – Jesus Christ Superstar (East End Musical) Opened on August 9, 1972 and closed on August 23, 1980

1975 – #1 Hit August 9, 1975 – August 22, 1975: Bee Gees – Jive Talkin’

2001 – Gomer Pyle, the fictional TV character, was made an honorary U.S. Marine and promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal by the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps

2104 – Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American male in Ferguson, Missouri, was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer, sparking protests and unrest in the city.