August 8th

1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena, in the South Atlantic. The remainder of his life was spent there in exile.

1844 - After the killing of Joseph Smith, Bringham Young was chosen to lead the Mormons.

1866 - African-American explorer Matthew A. Henson was born. Henson, along with Robert Peary and their Eskimo guide, were the first people to reach the North Pole.

1876 - Thomas Edison received a patent for the mimeograph. The mimeograph was a "method of preparing autographic stencils for printing."

1899 - The refrigerator was patented by A.T. Marshall.

1911 - The number of representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives was established at 435. There was one member of Congress for every 211,877 residents.

1945 - The United Nations Charter was signed by U.S. President Truman.

1950 - Whataburger opened its restaurant in Corpus Christi, TX.

1966 - Michael DeBakey became the first surgeon to install an artificial heart pump in a patient.

1974 - U.S. President Nixon announced that he would resign the following day.

1978 - The U.S. launched Pioneer Venus II, which carried scientific probes to study the atmosphere of Venus.

1989 - The space shuttle Columbia took off from Cape Canaveral, FL. The trip was said to be a secret five-day military mission.

1992 - The "Dream Team" clinched the gold medal at the Barcelona Summer Olympics. The U.S. basketball team beat Croatia 117-85.