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This Date in History (Aug. 9)

1902 – Edward VII was crowned king of England following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.

1945 – The United States exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki, Japan, instantly killing an estimated 39,000 people. The explosion came three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

1969 – Actress Sharon Tate and four other people were found murdered in Los Angeles; cult leader Charles Manson and a group of his followers were later convicted of the crime.

1974 – Nine Canadians peacekeppers are killed when a Syrian anti-aircraft missile shoots down a UN transport plane en route to Damascus from Beirut; providing air transport and communications support to the UN Emergency Force

1974 – Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States following the resignation of Richard M. Nixon.

2000 – Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. announced it was recalling 6.5 million tires that had been implicated in hundreds of accidents and at least 46 deaths.