Today in History: August 8, devastating Maui wildfires
FILE - The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP, File)
Today in history:
On August 8, 2023, a series of wind-driven wildfires broke out on the Hawaiian island of Maui, destroying the town of Lahaina and killing more than 100 people.
Also on this date:
In 1814, during the War of 1812, peace talks between the United States and Britain began in Ghent, Belgium.
In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena to spend the remainder of his days in exile.
In 1876, Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric pen—the forerunner of the mimeograph machine.
In 1908, Wilbur Wright makes the Wright Brothers’ first public flying demonstration, at Le Mans racecourse in France.
In 1911, President William Howard Taft signed a measure raising the number of U.S. representatives from 391 to 433, effective with the next Congress, with a proviso to add two more when New Mexico and Arizona became states.
In 1963, Britain’s “Great Train Robbery” took place as thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in banknotes.
In 1969, photographer Iain Macmillan took the iconic photo of The Beatles that would appear on the cover of their album “Abbey Road.”
In this photo made from a television screen broadcasting an NBC Special Report, President Richard M. Nixon appears on national television, Thursday, Aug. 8, 1974, to announce his resignation. (AP Photo/Ray Stubblebine)
In this photo made from a television screen broadcasting an NBC Special Report, President Richard M. Nixon appears on national television, Thursday, Aug. 8, 1974, to announce his resignation. (AP Photo/Ray Stubblebine)
In 1974, President Richard Nixon, facing damaging new revelations in the Watergate scandal, announced he would resign the following day.
In 1988, Chicago’s Wrigley Field hosted its first-ever night baseball game; the contest between the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies would be rained out in the fourth inning.
The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised from a barge by crane Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2000, at the former Charleston Naval Base in North Charleston, S.C. The Hunley, which sank with its crew of nine on Feb. 17, 1864 after blowing up the Union blockade ship Housatonic with a charge of black powder, was lifted from its watery grave about four miles off nearby Sullivans Island, secured on a barge and transported to a conservation lab at the old base. (AP Photo/Paula Illingworth)
The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised from a barge by crane Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2000, at the former Charleston Naval Base in North Charleston, S.C. The Hunley, which sank with its crew of nine on Feb. 17, 1864 after blowing up the Union blockade ship Housatonic with a charge of black powder, was lifted from its watery grave about four miles off nearby Sullivans Island, secured on a barge and transported to a conservation lab at the old base. (AP Photo/Paula Illingworth)
In 2000, the wreckage of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, which sank in 1864 after attacking the Union ship Housatonic, was recovered off the South Carolina coast and returned to port.
Sonia Sotomayor, left, President Obama’s choice to replace retiring Justice David Souter, takes the oath from Chief Justice John Roberts to become the Supreme Court’s first Hispanic justice and only the third woman in the court’s 220-year history, in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009. She is joined by her brother, Juan Luis Sotomayor, and her mother Celina Sotomayor. Sotomayor, 55, has been a federal judge for 17 years. The Senate confirmed Sotomayor’s nomination Thursday by a 68-31 vote. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sonia Sotomayor, left, President Obama’s choice to replace retiring Justice David Souter, takes the oath from Chief Justice John Roberts to become the Supreme Court’s first Hispanic justice and only the third woman in the court’s 220-year history, in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009. She is joined by her brother, Juan Luis Sotomayor, and her mother Celina Sotomayor. Sotomayor, 55, has been a federal judge for 17 years. The Senate confirmed Sotomayor’s nomination Thursday by a 68-31 vote. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the U.S. Supreme Court’s first Hispanic and third female justice.
In 2022, FBI agents executed a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida; over 13,000 government documents, including 103 classified documents, were seized.
