August 9 is the 221st day of the year. there are 144 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Friday or Saturday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Monday or Wednesday (56).
+ 1892 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.
+ 1930 – Betty Boop makes her cartoon debut in Dizzy Dishes.
+ 1944 – The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.
+ 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.
+ 2014 – Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American male in Ferguson, Missouri, was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer after reportedly assaulting the officer and attempting to steal his weapon, sparking protests and unrest in the city.
( Births )
+ 1928 – Bob Cousy, American basketball player and coach
+ 1943 – Ken Norton, American boxer and actor (d. 2013)
+ 1963 – Whitney Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (d. 2012)
+ 1967 – Deion Sanders, American football and baseball player