Daily Almanac: August 9, 2023

Sunrise/Sunset:

RISE: 6:52 a.m.
SET: 8:54 p.m.

High/Low Temperatures:

HIGH: 84 °F
LOW: 65 °F

Today is…:

• Book Lovers Day
• National Polka Day
• National Veep Day

What Happened On This Day:

• 1945 An Atomic Bomb is dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. 3 days after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, the city of Nagasaki was destroyed by a 21 kiloton atomic bomb nicknamed Fat Boy. About 40 to 80 thousand people were estimated killed during this American-led attack towards the end of the Second World War. A few days later on August 15, Japan surrendered to the Allies, effectively bringing the War to a close by September, 1945.
• 1930 Betty Boop Makes Her Debut. The animated cartoon character made her first appearance in the cartoon, Dizzy Dishes. Thought to be modeled after singer Helen Kane, Betty was shown as a woman with an exaggerated body and a child-like face. Created by animator Max Fleischer, she is one of most recognizable cartoon characters in the world.
• 1854 Henry David Thoreau Publishes Walden. An American transcendentalist, Thoreau wrote the book in a span of just over two years while residing near Walden Pond, a lake in Concord Massachusetts. The book, which is also known as Walden; or, Life in the Woods is about his time living near the lake and is a reflection on living a life of simplicity and austerity.

Births On This Day:

• 1963 Whitney Houston

American singer, actress, producer, model

• 1922 Philip Larkin

English poet

Deaths On This Day:

• 2012 David Rakoff

Canadian/American author, actor
• 1995 Jerry Garcia

American singer-songwriter, guitarist