August eighth

Today's Highlight in History:
On August eighth, 1974, President Nixon announced he would resign following new damaging revelations in the Watergate scandal.

On this date:
In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena to spend the remainder of his days in exile.

In 1876, Thomas A. Edison received a patent for his mimeograph.

In 1942, six convicted Nazi saboteurs who'd landed in the US were executed in Washington DC; two others received life imprisonment.

In 1945, President Truman signed the United Nations Charter.

In 1945, the Soviet Union declared war against Japan during World War Two.

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, Richard M. Nixon was nominated for president at the Republican national convention in Miami Beach.

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 eventually did.

In 1978, the US launched "Pioneer Venus Two," which carried scientific probes to study the atmosphere of Venus.

Ten years ago: As the Persian Gulf crisis deepened, American forces began taking up positions in Saudi Arabia; Iraq announced it had annexed Kuwait; President Bush warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that "a line has been drawn in the sand."

Five years ago: President Clinton, during a visit to Baltimore, ordered all companies doing business with the federal government to report the pollution they cause.

One year ago: Opening a new attack on the Republican tax-cut measure, President 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.

"I think most people are more important than their opinions."

-- Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine author (1899-1986).