Today in History, August 8th
On August 8, 1974, Richard Nixon announced he would resign the presidency. Plus the Soviet war on Japan and Sonia Sotomayor's swearing-in.
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August 8 is best known for 1974, when Richard Nixon went on television and announced that he would resign the presidency, the first U.S. president ever to do so. The date also saw the Soviet Union declare war on Japan in 1945 and Sonia Sotomayor sworn in as the first Hispanic justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009.
The big story: Nixon announces he will resign (1974)
Watergate started small. On June 17, 1972, five men were caught breaking into the Democratic National Committee offices in Washington’s Watergate complex, and one of them worked security for Nixon’s reelection campaign. Reporting by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post, Senate hearings, and the discovery of a secret White House taping system pulled the story ever closer to the Oval Office. By late July 1974, the House Judiciary Committee had approved three articles of impeachment. The Supreme Court forced the release of the tapes, and on August 5 a transcript showed Nixon telling an aide to have the FBI stop its investigation. On the evening of August 8, 1974, Nixon spoke to the nation from the Oval Office and said he would step down. The resignation took effect just before noon the next day, and Vice President Gerald R. Ford was sworn in minutes later as the 38th president.
More events on August 8
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1844 | Brigham Young was chosen to lead the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the killing of founder Joseph Smith. |
| 1863 | Robert E. Lee offered to resign as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, more than a month after his retreat from Pennsylvania. |
| 1918 | Allied forces opened a major offensive at Amiens, on the Somme, against worn-out German lines in World War I. |
| 1929 | The 776-foot German airship Graf Zeppelin left Lakehurst, New Jersey, on a round-the-world flight it completed in about three weeks. |
| 1942 | Six German saboteurs were executed in Washington, D.C. Two others who helped the FBI went to prison instead. |
| 1945 | President Harry S. Truman signed the United Nations Charter, making the U.S. the first country to complete ratification. |
| 1945 | The Soviet Union declared war on Japan. More than a million Soviet troops poured into Japanese-held Manchuria the next day. |
| 1986 | Spike Lee’s first feature film, She’s Gotta Have It, opened in U.S. theaters. |
| 1988 | The Chicago Cubs hosted the first night game at Wrigley Field. |
| 2008 | War broke out between Russia and Georgia. It lasted five days. |
| 2009 | Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the first Hispanic justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. |
Born on August 8
- 1879: Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary and champion of land for peasant farmers, born in Anenecuilco.
- 1921: Esther Williams, champion swimmer turned Hollywood box-office star, born in Inglewood, California.
- 1981: Roger Federer, Swiss tennis great and winner of 20 Grand Slam singles titles, born in Basel.
Sources
- Nixon resigns, History.com
- This Day in History: August 8, History.com
- Emiliano Zapata, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Esther Williams, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Roger Federer, Encyclopaedia Britannica
