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Selected: August 9
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1936 — , August 9

  • Germany: Day 9 of 16 of the Summer Olympic Games in Berlin. Jesse Owens win his fourth gold medal, becoming the first American to win four medals in one Olympiad.
    Spotlight...

    Jesse Owens, center

    Owens commented that Hitler, although biased against people of African descent, rose and waved at him as he paraded with other medal winners before the German leader, but Franklin Roosevelt, however, "didn't even send me a telegram."

    The audience was enthralled by his performance and Jesse Owens became the celebrated hero of Berlin. Jesse Owens had won the heart and mind of Germany and the world. In the streets, children "played" Jesse Owens, and the Führer's radio sports reporters had a hard time explaining how an African-American had managed to relegate the sure, prospective and "white" winners to second places. Everybody could see how upset Hitler was about this success.

    However, in the 2014 documentary "Britain's Greatest Pilot: The Extraordinary Story of Captain 'Winkle' Brown," Eric Brown, who was there at the 1936 Olympics, says that stories of Owens being snubbed by Hitler are simply not true; that he personally witnessed Hitler shaking hands with Jesse Owens and congratulating him on his accomplishments.

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  • Spain: Day 24 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War. Republican troops land on the island of Ibiza in the Mediterranean Sea and quickly defeat the Nationalist garrison.

1937 — , August 9

  • Spain: Day 389 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War. Falangist artillery units bombard Madrid.
  • CBI - China: Day 34 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 9 of 12 of the Battle of Chahar.
    • The Oyama Incident in Shanghai takes place, which provides the Japanese the excuse to launch a second assault on the city.

1938 — , August 9

  • Spain: Day 754 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
  • CBI - China: Day 399 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 60 of 139 of the Battle of Wuhan. Other Chinese troops capture Datianshan. After dark, Japanese troops attack at Maanshan.
  • CBI - Russia: Day 12 of 14 of the Battle of Lake Khasan, a border dispute between the Soviet Union and Japan. Soviet troops drive Japanese out of the Lake Khasan region on the northeastern Chinese border.

1939 — , August 9

  • Germany: Germany sends a message to Poland saying that their unwillingness to cooperate to work with them by refusing their demands to annex Danzig, might lead to war and that Germany will not be held responsible for starting an armed conflict.
  • CBI - China: Day 764 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 57 of 68 of the Battle of Tianjin.
  • CBI - Mongolia: Day 91 of 129 of the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, a border dispute between the Soviet Union and Japan.

1940 — , August 9

  • USA: Robert Goddard launches his last test vehicle, a rocket that forces fuel into the engine by utilizing turbo-pumps.
    Spotlight...

    Robert H Goddard in Roswell, NM, 1938

    Goddard is credited with these firsts...

    First explored mathematically the practicality of using rocket propulsion to reach high altitudes and even the moon (1912)
    First received US patent for idea of multi-stage rocket (1914)
    First proved, by actual static test, that a rocket will work in a vacuum, that it needs no air to push against
    First developed and shot a liquid fuel rocket (March 16, 1926)
    First shot a scientific payload (barometer and camera) in a rocket flight (1929)
    First used vanes in the rocket motor blast for guidance (1932)
    First developed gyro control apparatus for rocket flight (1932)
    First developed pumps suitable for rocket fuels
    First launched successfully a rocket with a motor pivoted on gimbals under the influence of a gyro mechanism (1937)

    Remarkable man.

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  • Atlantic: German sub U-30 sinks the Swedish merchant ship CANTON 70 miles west of Ireland.
  • ETO - UK: Day 31 of 114 of the Battle of Britain. Bad weather puts the battle on hold. Goering believes his Luftwaffe has control of the air and orders new tactics to destroy the RAF.
  • USSR: The new Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic is officially incorporated into the Soviet Union.
  • East Africa: Day 61 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt. Italian troops make slow progress in British Somaliland as both sides begin bombing each other.
  • CBI - China: Day 1,130 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 269 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi. British troops start to withdraw from Shanghai and northern China.

1941 — , August 9

  • ETO - France: Legless RAF fighter Ace Douglas Bader's Spitfire is shot up, forcing him to bail out over occupied France where he is taken prisoner. One of his prosthetic legs is damaged in the bailout. Respectful German captors will authorize the RAF to drop a replacement.
  • Canada: Churchill arrives in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, to meet with President Roosevelt for the Atlantic Conference to discuss Soviet aid.
  • Russian Front - Finland: Day 42 of 142 of Operation SILVER FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign to capture the Russian port of Murmansk in the Arctic.
  • Russian Front - Finland: Day 40 of 140 of Operation ARCTIC FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland.
  • Russian Front - Finland: Day 49 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko. The Soviet sub ShCh-307 sinks the German sub U-144 west of Hiiumaa Island in the Baltic Sea.
  • Russian Front: Day 49 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA, the invasion of the USSR.
  • Russian Front - North: Army Group North continues their slow advance toward Leningrad.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 17 of 38 of the Battle of Gomel, Belarus. Heavy fighting continues at Gomel.
  • Russian Front - South: German Army Group South resumes its offensive to the east along the river Bug. Romanian troops capture the village of Ponyatovka and the railroad town of Razdelnaya.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 2 of 70 of the Siege of Odessa, Ukraine.
  • MTO - Libya: Day 122 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk.
  • East Africa: Day 426 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
  • CBI - China: Day 1,495 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.

1942 — , August 9

  • Atlantic: German U-boats sink 7 ships in an Allied convoy in the North Atlantic.
  • Germany: During their liquidation of the Mir ghetto in western Byelorussia, the Germans are met with armed resistance.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 336 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 97 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 11 of 64 of the 1st Battle of Rzhev-Sychevka, Russia. German troops near Rzhev continue their attempts to break their encirclement.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 43 of 150 of Germany's CASE BLUE, the failed offensive to take the Caucasus oil fields. The German 17th Army captures Krasnodar, on the river Kuban.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 18 of 20 of Germany's Operation EDELWEISS. The 1st Panzer Army captures the Maikop oilfields, which were set afire by the Soviets before leaving.
  • East Africa: Day 97 of 186 of the Battle of Madagascar.
  • CBI - China: Day 1,860 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 87 of 124 of Japan's Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, launched to punish anyone suspected of aiding the Doolittle raiders in China. Roughly 250,000 Chinese will be killed.
    • US P-40s continue to support the Chinese ground forces near Linchwan.
    • Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in Bombay by British troops for launching his "Quit India" movement, which demands an end to British rule of India.
  • PTO - Alaska: Day 64 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. US 11th Air Force hits Kiska and Attu Islands.
  • PTO - Malaya: Day 172 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 20 of 119 of the Battle of the Kokoda Track. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support.
  • PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 3 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal. US 5th Army Air Force provides air support.
  • PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 2 of 2 of the Naval Battle of Savo Island (north of Guadalcanal). The battle ends in a Japanese victory, having sunk five Allied warships. The US Navy is forced to retreat from the area, leaving the Marines stranded on Guadalcanal.

1943 — , August 9

  • ETO - France: US 8th Air Force B-26s bomb the St Omer/Ft Rouge Airfield.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 701 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 462 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 36 of 50 of the Battle of Kursk, Russia.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 29 of 38 of the Battle of Orel, Russia.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 3 of 57 of the 2nd Battle of Smolensk, Russia.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 3 of 14 of the Battle of Spas-Demensk, Russia.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 18 of 23 of the Battle of Belgorod, Russia. Soviet troops continue attacking in the Belgorod-Bogodukhov area.
  • Russian Front - South: Day 28 of 48 of the USSR's Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive. The outflanked Germans continue retreating.
  • MTO - Italy: Day 32 of 40 of the Battle of Sicily. RAF and US Air Forces provide air support. US troops reach Torrenuovo while other units to the south drive the enemy back to the Simeto River between Cesaro and Randazzo.
  • CBI - China: Day 2,225 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
  • PTO - Alaska: Day 429 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 110 of 148 of the 2nd Battle of Lae-Salamaua. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support.
  • PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 51 of 67 of the Battle of New Georgia. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support. The main body of Japanese troops move to Kolombangara while two US groups make contact at a roadblock southwest of Triri.

1944 — , August 9

  • USA: The US Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.
    Spotlight...

    Smokey Bear's debut poster, released 09 Aug 44

    Smokey Bear became very popular across America as his image began springing up on a variety of forest fire prevention materials. In 1947, the familiar slogan "Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires!" came along.

    In the spring of 1950, in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico, a young bear cub found himself caught in a burning forest. He took refuge in a tree, and while managing to stay alive was left badly burned. The firefighters who retrieved him were so moved by his bravery, they named him Smokey.

    News about this real bear named Smokey spread across the Nation, and he was soon given a new home at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. As the living symbol of Smokey Bear, he played an important role in spreading messages of wildfire prevention and forest conservation. Smokey died in 1976 and was returned to Capitan, New Mexico, where he is buried in the State Historical Park.

    During World War II, the Japanese considered using wildfires as a possible terror weapon against America. Known as the Lookout Raids, on 28 Aug 42 a Japanese seaplane was catapulted from submarine I-25 to drop firebombs on a forest in Oregon to see how easily they might be able to cause widespread destruction and panic, but the six trees they ignited were quickly and easily extinguished. On 09 Sep 42 another Japanese floatplane bombed Oregon forests with incendiaries with a similar lack of result. US newspapers voluntarily withheld information of these attacks from the public.

    Between 1944 and 1945, the Japanese military launched almost ten thousand incendiary bomb-bearing balloons across the Pacific ocean. Carried by the jet stream, they were intended to spark forest fires across the western US and shake American morale. The results were negligible. The first balloon bomb reached the US on 01 Nov 44. On 05 May 45, however, an unexploded balloon bomb was discovered in an Oregon forest and went off, killing five children and a woman.

    Early in the war it was felt that if Americans knew how wildfires could harm the war effort, they would better cooperate with the Forest Service to eliminate any kind of fire, as this 1943 poster, with its overly stereotyped depiction of Tojo, shows.

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  • ETO - UK: Day 58 of 86 of the V-1 "Buzz Bomb" offensive on Britain.
  • ETO - France: Day 16 of 29 of the Breakout Battle of Normandy. Allied Air Forces provide air support. German Panzers fight viciously with the Canadians and Poles outside of Caen.
  • ETO - France: Day 9 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
  • ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force bombs tank factories, airfields and fuel depots in southeast Germany.
  • Russian Front - Finland: Day 15 of 19 of the Battle of Ilomantsi, North Karelia.
  • Russian Front - Finland: Day 50 of 50 of the Battle of Karelia. Soviet troops withdraw from this area and attack toward the port city of Vyborg.
  • Russian Front - North: Day 190 of 191 of the Battle of the Narva Isthmus, Estonia. Day 16 of 19 of the Battle of Tannenberg Line, Estonia. The Germans continue holding the Sinimaed Hills west of Narva.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 13 of 32 of the Battle of Kaunas, Lithuania.
  • Russian Front - Center: Day 4 of 9 of the Battle of Osovets, Poland.
  • MTO: US 15th Air Force bombs targets in Hungary and Yugoslavia.
  • MTO - Italy: Allied troops continue pressing the German line holding the Po Valley. Allied Air Forces provide air support.
  • MTO - France: US Air Forces bomb targets in southern France.
  • CBI - Burma: Day 158 of 166 of the UK's Operation THURSDAY. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
  • CBI - Burma: Day 131 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive. US 14th Air Force provides air support.
  • CBI - China: Day 2,591 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 115 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
  • PTO - Caroline Islands: US planes hits targets on Yap Island.
  • PTO - Dutch New Guinea: Day 39 of 61 of the Battle of Noemfoor. Although the island has been declared secured, bitter fighting from Japanese continues.
  • PTO - Mariana Islands: Day 20 of 21 of the 2nd Battle of Guam. US 7th Air Force provides air support. Although this battle is declared as completed, it'll be a while before it's really over.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 75 of 83 of the Battle of Biak. There are still 3,000 Japanese soldiers on the island who won't give up.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 239 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 110 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. 5th Air Force provides air support.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 57 of 80 of the Battle of Lone Tree Hill.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 31 of 47 of the Battle of Driniumor River, a failed Japanese offense on US troops near Aitape.
  • PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 283 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 13th Air Force provides air support.

1945 — , August 9

  • PTO - Japan: US 20th Air Force: The B-29 Superfortress BOCKSCAR drops the second and final atomic bomb of the war on Nagasaki. Japanese business man Tsutomu Yamaguchi had been in Hiroshima during the first bombing and had returned home to Nagasaki only to experience and survive the second.
    Spotlight...

    Photo shows the mushroom cloud from the atomic bomb rising over Nagasaki a few seconds before the blast wave hits photographer Hiromiti Matuda.

    Similar to the events of 06 Aug 45 in Hiroshima, at about 7:50 am Japanese time, an air raid alert was sounded in Nagasaki, but the "all clear" signal was given at 8:30. When only two B-29 Superfortresses were sighted at 10:53, the Japanese apparently assumed that the planes were only on reconnaissance and no further alarm was given.

    Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a survivor of both
    Hiroshima and Nagasaki

    There were at least 160 people who suffered the effects of both bombings, known as "niju hibakusha" in Japan. On 24 March 2009, the Japanese government officially recognized Tsutomu Yamaguchi (1916-2010) as a double hibakusha. He was confirmed to be 1.9 miles from ground zero in Hiroshima on a business trip when Little Boy was detonated. He was seriously burnt on his left side and spent the night in Hiroshima. He arrived at his home city of Nagasaki on 8 August, the day before Fat Man was dropped, and he was exposed to residual radiation while searching for his relatives. He was the first officially recognized survivor of both bombings. He died in Nagasaki on 4 January 2010, at the age of 93.

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  • CBI - China: Day 2,956 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
    • Day 1 of 25 of the Soviet Invasion of Manchuria. Soviet troops on the Manchurian border sweep into northern China and northern Korea and overwhelm the Japanese defenses.
    • US 14th Air Force attacks railroad traffic in China.
  • CBI - Malaya: The USS BLENNY sinks three small Japanese vessels in the South China Sea. The USS CHUB sinks a small Japanese boat in the Java Sea.
  • PTO - Borneo: Day 61 of 67 of the Battle of North Borneo. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support.
  • PTO - Japan: After the second atomic bomb, Emperor Hirohito and Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki decide to seek an immediate peace with the Allies.
  • PTO - Japan: Warplanes from US and British carriers attack targets in the Japanese home islands. Meanwhile, The US battleships USS SOUTH DAKOTA, USS INDIANA and USS MASSACHUSETTS bombard Kamaishi.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 591 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
  • PTO - New Guinea: Day 475 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
  • PTO - Philippines: Day 293 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
  • PTO - Philippines: Day 238 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. The battle is said to over but hold-outs will continue fighting until the end of the war.
  • PTO - Philippines: Day 153 of 159 of the Battle of Mindanao Island. The battle is said to over but hold-outs will continue fighting until the end of the war.
Day-By-Day listings for August 9 were last modified on Thursday, August 1, 2019
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