378 – Battle of Adrianople: Goth army defeats Roman forces under Emperor Valens, who is killed
1778 – Captain James Cook reaches Cape Prince of Wales, Bering Straits
1859 – Otis Tufts patents the first passenger elevator in the US
1864 – Siege of Fort Morgan, Alabama, by Union forces begins (Confederates surrender 23 August)
1910 – Chicago resident Alva Fisher receives US patent for an electric washing machine
1937 – Ranger (US) easily beats Endeavour II (England) in race 4 to wrap up the 17th America’s Cup yachting series, 4-0; it’s the final competition for 21 years
1944 – WWII: Port Chicago Mutiny – mass work stoppage by munition loaders at Port Chicago Naval facility concerned with conditions after recent explosion in Port Chicago, California; 50 men were tried for mutiny, found guilty and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor
1971 – Operation Demetrius (or Internment) is introduced in Northern Ireland allowing suspected terrorists to be indefinitely detained without trial; the security forces arrested 342 people suspected of supporting paramilitaries
1988 – Just 1 day after 8/8/88 NY’s daily number is 888
2001 – US President George W. Bush announces his support for federal funding of limited research on embryonic stem cells.