August 08
1588
English forces attacked the Spanish Armada, permanently crippling Spain’s “invincible” fleet.
1786
Dr. Michael-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat became the first to climb Mont Blanc.
1876
Thomas Edison patented the mimeograph machine.
1900
The first Davis Cup tennis tournament began at the Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
1963
In “The Great Train Robbery,” some 15 thieves robbed the Glasgow-to-London mail train, making off with more than $6 million in cash.
1969
Sharon Tate, wife of director Roman Polanski, and four others were murdered by members of Charles Manson’s “family.”
1974
President Nixon announced he would resign the following day as a result of the Watergate scandal.
2008
The Summer Olympic Games opened in Beijing, China.
Birthdays
Emiliano Zapata
Pronunciation: [AmElyä´nO säpä´tä]
c.1879–1919, Mexican revolutionary, born in Morelos.
Charles Bulfinch
architect (1763)
Matthew Henson
arctic explorer (1866)
Sara Teasdale
poet (1884)
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
author (1896)
Dustin Hoffman
actor (1937)