August 9
48 BC. The Battle of Pharsalus. In Greece, the outnumbered but veteran forces of Julius Caesar defeat the forces of Pompey, who was backed (and accompanied by) a majority of the Roman Senate. Pompey flees to Greece.
378. The Battle of Adrianople. The forces of Roman Emperor Valens are crushed by the Goths. The battle as long term implications since, as a result fo the defat, the Goths, who had retreated from the Huns into the territory of the Roman Empire (permitted by Rome at the time) are allowed to continue to remain within Roman territory, becoming a chronic issue for the Romans and contributing heavily to the fall of the Western Roman Empire less than 100 years later.
1483. Opening of the Sistine Chapel.
1854. Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden.
1944. Smokey Bear makes his first appearance in US Forest Service posters.
1945. America drops the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. The initial target was actually the city of Kokura, but upon arrival the American B-29 SuperFortress Bockscar found the city covered in clouds. After three runs over the city carrying the first plutonium bomb to be used in anger, Fat Man, the commander switched to the secondary target, Nagasaki. (the actual photos, in deference to Donger's sensitivities
