TODAY IN HISTORY - AUGUST 9TH

1483 – Opening of the Sistine Chapel in Rome with the celebration of a Mass.

1854 – Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden.

1892 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.

1907 – The first Boy Scout encampment concludes at Brownsea Island in southern England.

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

1931 – Paula Kent Meehan, American businesswoman, co-founded Redken (d. 2014) is born.

1936 – Summer Olympic Games: Games of the XI Olympiad – Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the games.

1944 – The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.

1948 – Hugo Boss, German fashion designer, founded Hugo Boss (b. 1885) dies.

1959 – Michael Kors, American fashion designer is born.

1963 – Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, American son of John F. Kennedy (b. 1963) dies.

1964 – Brett Hull, Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager is born.

1967 – Deion Sanders, American football and baseball player is born.

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.

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.

1995 – Jerry Garcia, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Grateful Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Legion of Mary, and Old and in the Way) (b. 1942) dies.

1996 – Frank Whittle, English soldier and engineer, invented the jet engine (b. 1907) dies.

1999 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin fires his Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fires his entire cabinet.

2008 – Bernie Mac, American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer (b. 1957) dies.

2014 – 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.

2015 – Frank Gifford, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (b. 1930) dies.