On this day in...

On this day in...
1892 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.
1936 – Summer Olympic Games: Games of the XI Olympiad: Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the games becoming the first American to win four medals in one Olympiad.
1944 – The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.
1945 – World War II: Nagasaki is devastated when an atomic bomb, "Fat Man", is dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. 39,000 people are killed outright.
1969 – Members of a cult led by Charles Manson brutally murder pregnant actress Sharon Tate (wife of Roman Polanski), coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski, men's hairstylist Jay Sebring, and recent high-school graduate Steven Parent.
1974 – As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, becomes president.
1988 – Wayne Gretzky is traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the most controversial player transactions in ice hockey history, upsetting many Canadians that some considered him a "traitor" to his home country.

Births
1928 – Bob Cousy, American basketball player
1944 – Sam Elliott, American actor
1957 – Melanie Griffith, American actress
1958 – Amanda Bearse, American actress
1963 – Whitney Houston, American singer and actress
1964 – Brett Hull, Canadian-born ice hockey player
1964 – Hoda Kotb, American television news anchor
1966 – Vinny Del Negro, American basketball player and head coach
1967 – Deion Sanders, American football player
1968 – Gillian Anderson, American actress
1970 – Thomas Lennon, American actor
1971 – Mack 10, American rapper
1974 – Derek Fisher, American basketball player
1985 – JaMarcus Russell, American football player

As tempted as I was to go with Derek Fisher's winning shot for about the 10,000th time on the blog, I opted to go with my mom's favorite actor Sam Elliot. Here he is wrapping up 'The Big Lebowski.'