This Day in History Quiz: August 9

Question: To what team was Wayne Gretzky traded on August 9, 1988?

Answer: Wayne Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988, a deal that shocked the hockey world and stunned his home country of Canada, where he was a national icon.

Question: On what city in Japan did the United States drop an atomic bomb on August 9, 1945?

Answer: The United States dropped its second atomic bomb of World War II on Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945.

Question: Who defeated Pompey the Great at the Battle of Pharsalus on August 9, 48 BCE?

Answer: Julius Caesar defeated Pompey the Great at the Battle of Pharsalus on August 9, 48 BCE. It was the decisive engagement in the Roman civil war (49–45 BCE) between them.

Question: The songs “Greatest Love of All,” “Saving All My Love for You,” and “How Will I Know” appeared on the debut album of the singer who was born on August 9, 1963. Who is she?

Answer: Whitney Houston was born on August 9, 1963, in Newark, New Jersey. Her debut album, Whitney Houston (1985), included three number-one singles in the United States: “Greatest Love of All,” “Saving All My Love for You,” and “How Will I Know.” 

Question: Where was Michael Brown, a Black teenager, fatally shot by a white police officer on August 9, 2014, setting off days of civil unrest and protests?

Answer: Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager, was fatally shot by a white police officer on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri, resulting in days of civil unrest and protests.