9 August in history

6 events that happened on 9 August, from 48 BCE to 1974.

  1. ✦ Anniversary of the day

    48 BCE 1,978 years ago

    Caesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus

    Julius Caesar's veterans routed Pompey's larger army in Thessaly. Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was murdered, and Caesar became master of the Roman world.

    Roman EmpireJulius CaesarPompey

  2. 378 CE 1,648 years ago

    Goths destroy a Roman army and kill Emperor Valens at Adrianople

    Gothic cavalry and infantry overwhelmed the Eastern Roman army near Adrianople in Thrace, killing Emperor Valens and much of his force. Rome was never again able to expel the Goths from its territory.

    Roman EmpireValens

  3. 1173 CE 853 years ago

    Construction begins on the bell tower of Pisa

    Work started on the campanile of Pisa Cathedral. Soft ground made it lean by the time the third storey was built, and it became famous as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

  4. 1945 CE 81 years ago

    US bomber drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki

    The plutonium bomb Fat Man exploded over Nagasaki, killing some 40,000 people at once and many more later. Six days later Japan announced its surrender.

    Nagasaki

  5. 1969 CE 57 years ago

    Manson Family members murder Sharon Tate and four others

    Followers of Charles Manson killed actress Sharon Tate, who was heavily pregnant, and four others at her Los Angeles home. The murders horrified America and Manson became a byword for evil.

  6. 1974 CE 52 years ago

    Gerald Ford becomes president after Nixon resigns

    Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th president, telling Americans 'our long national nightmare is over'. His pardon of Nixon a month later probably cost him the 1976 election.

August

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31

All days of the year →