8 August: Nixon Back On Top; Yet Six Yrs. Later, You Really Won't Have Nixon (Or Napoleon) To Kick Around Any More

By The Associated Press: Today is Saturday, Aug. 8, the 220th day of 2009. There are 145 days left in the year. AP A/V. UPI Almanac.Today's Highlight in History: On Aug. 8, 1974, in the wake of damaging new revelations in the Watergate scandal, President Richard M. Nixon announced during a prime-time address that he would resign at noon the following day, and that Vice President Gerald R. Ford would succeed him.Hear astoundingly paranoid fool President Richard M. Nixon give it up. On this date: In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena to spend the remainder of his days in exile. In 1844, Brigham Young was chosen to lead the Mormons following the killing of Joseph Smith. In 1876, Thomas A. Edison received a patent for his mimeograph.

In 1940, the German Luftwaffe began a series of daylight air raids on Britain. In 1942, six convicted Nazi saboteurs who'd landed in the U.S. were executed in Washington, D.C.; two others were spared. In 1945, President Harry S. Truman signed the United Nations Charter. The Soviet Union declared war against Japan during World War II. In 1953, the United States and South Korea initialed a mutual security pact. In 1963, Britain's "Great Train Robbery" took place as thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in banknotes. In 1968, the Republican national convention in Miami Beach, Fla., nominated Richard M. Nixon for president on the first ballot. [Six yrs. to the day later, it was all over, & Nixon was officially the World's Biggest Loser! — Ed.]In 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew branded as "damned lies" reports he had taken kickbacks from government contracts in Maryland, and vowed not to resign — which he ended up doing. In 1978, the U.S. launched Pioneer Venus 2, which carried scientific probes to study the atmosphere of Venus. In 1988, U. N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar announced a cease-fire between Iran and Iraq.

In 1994, Israel and Jordan opened the first road link between the two once-warring countries. Ten years ago: Opening a new attack on the Republican tax-cut measure, President Bill Clinton warned the nation's governors at their meeting in St. Louis that the $792 billion package would trigger "huge cuts" in Medicare, farm programs and other spending critical to their voters. Five years ago: Alan Keyes, the Republican two-time presidential hopeful, threw his hat into Illinois' U.S. Senate race. (He ended up losing in a landslide to Democrat Barack Obama.) In 2005, Iran resumed work at a uranium conversion facility after suspending activities for nine months to avoid U.N. sanctions. In 2006, Sen. Joseph Lieberman lost the Connecticut Democratic primary to political newcomer Ned Lamont. (Lieberman won re-election to the Senate by running as an independent). In 2007, U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct on a charge of making sexual advances to an undercover police officer at a Minneapolis airport restroom. The first tornado recorded in the New York City borough of Brooklyn touched down, damaging some houses. One year ago: China opened the Summer Olympic Games with an extravaganza of fireworks and pageantry. A charter bus crashed near Sherman, Texas, killing 17 members of a Vietnamese-American Catholic group en route to Missouri. Former Democratic presidential candidate and vice-presidential nominee John Edwards admitted having an extramarital affair. Russia sent an armored column into the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia after Georgia launched an offensive to crush separatists there. Today's Birthdays: Producer Dino DeLaurentiis is 90. Actress Esther Williams is 88. Actor Richard Anderson is 83. Joan Mondale, wife of former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, is 79. Actress Nita Talbot is 79. Singer Mel Tillis is 77. Actor Dustin Hoffman is 72. Actress Connie Stevens is 71. Country singer Phil Balsley (The Statler Brothers) is 70. Actor Larry Wilcox is 62. Actor Keith Carradine is 60. R&B singer Airrion Love (The Stylistics) is 60. Movie director Martin Brest is 58. Radio-TV personality Robin Quivers is 57. Actor Donny Most is 56. Rock musician Dennis Drew (10,000 Maniacs) is 52. TV personality Deborah Norville is 51. Actor-singer Harry Crosby is 51. Rock musician The Edge (U2) is 48. Rock musician Rikki Rockett (Poison) is 48. Rapper Kool Moe Dee is 47. Rock musician Ralph Rieckermann is 47. Middle distance runner Suzy Favor-Hamilton is 41. Rock singer Scott Stapp is 36. Country singer Mark Wills is 36. Actor Kohl Sudduth is 35. Rock musician Tom Linton (Jimmy Eat World) is 34. Singer JC Chasez ('N Sync) is 33. Actress Tawny Cypress is 33. R&B singer Drew Lachey (98 Degrees) is 33. R&B singer Marsha Ambrosius (Floetry) is 32. Actress Countess Vaughn is 31. Actor Michael Urie is 29. Tennis player Roger Federer is 28. Actress Meagan Good is 28. Britain's Princess Beatrice of York is 21. Today In Entertainment History -- In 1911, the newsreel became a standard feature at U.S. movie screenings when the French film company Pathe began releasing weekly black-and-white features to theaters. In 1960, Decca Records in Britain destroyed 25,000 copies of the song "Tell Laura I Love Her" by Ray Peterson. The company said the song was "too tasteless and vulgar for the English sensibility." [Yeah, like that Dickens guy. He wasn't vulgar. — Ed.] In 1970, singer Bessie Smith finally received a marker for her grave in Philadelphia, 33 years after her death. Janis Joplin cited Smith as one of her influences and bought the marker for the grave. In 1975, singer Hank Williams Jr. suffered severe head injuries [How could anyone tell? — Ed.] when he fell while mountain climbing in Montana. He returned to performing months later. In 1982, singer Mickey Thomas of Jefferson Starship married Sara Kendrick in San Francisco. [Has there ever been anything more trivial published anywhere? — Ed.] In 1986, singer David Crosby was paroled from a Texas prison. He had been serving time for drug and weapons charges. In 1992, Metallica singer James Hetfield was injured by a stage explosion at a concert in Montreal. At that same show, Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose lost his voice and cut short their set. Fans rioted when the concert ended early. In 1996, singer Mel Torme was hospitalized after a stroke that left his left side weakened and affected his speech. In 1999, violence broke out for the second night in a row in the parking lot outside a Dave Matthews Band concert in Hartford, Conn. Police say people outside the show threw bottles and rocks. [Fucking dirty neo-hippies. — Ed.] In 2001, actor Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were divorced after 11 years of marriage. In 2004, a bus driver for the Dave Matthews Band dumped human waste from the bus into the Chicago River and onto a tour boat carrying more than 100 passengers. The band later settled with the state of Illinois, and the driver plead guilty to reckless conduct and pollution charges. [More atrocities? What's w/this "Dave Matthews" & his "Band?" — Ed.] Actress Fay Wray, the damsel held atop the Empire State Building by the giant ape in "King Kong," died in New York City at age 96. Thought for Today: "The time to relax is when you don't have time for it." — Sydney J. Harris, American journalist (1917-1986).