Workmen prepare to take down the letter "D" in the famed "Hollywood" sign, the last one to be removed from the sign that has stood in the Hollywood Hills overlooking Los Angeles for 55 years, on Aug. 12, 1978. The old sign, made from telephone poles and plywood, had gradually succumbed to high winds and dry rot and is to be replaced with a new one. The new sign is being financed by several fund raising projects. The Mulholland Highway sign is shown in the foreground. (AP Photo/Wally Fong)

Today is Sunday, Aug. 8, the 220th day of 2021. There are 145 days left in the year.

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Today’s Highlight in History

On August 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon, facing damaging new revelations in the Watergate scandal, announced he would resign the following day.

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British actor Roger Moore is seen at Checkpoint Charlie in West Berlin, Aug. 11, 1982. Moore was shooting scenes for his new movie "Octopussy" in Berlin. (AP Photo/Elke Bruhn-Hoffman)

On this date

In 1814, during the War of 1812, peace talks between the United States and Britain began in Ghent, Belgium.

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

In 1937, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan completed its occupation of Beijing.

In 1942, during World War II, six Nazi saboteurs who were captured after landing in the U.S. were executed in Washington, D.C.; two others who cooperated with authorities were spared.

District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry gestures that he will not make a comment as he leaves U.S. District Court in Washington on Friday, August 10, 1990 following the jury?s verdict in his drug and perjury trial. Barry was found guilty of one cocaine possession charge and found innocent on another cocaine possession charge. A mistrial was declared on the remaining 12 charges, including the most serious perjury charges, after the jury reported it was deadlocked. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman signed the U.S. instrument of ratification for the United Nations Charter. The Soviet Union declared war against Japan during World War II.

In 1963, Britain’s “Great Train Robbery” took place as thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in banknotes.

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 ended up doing.

In 1994, Israel and Jordan opened the first road link between the two once-warring countries.

In 2000, the wreckage of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, which sank in 1864 after attacking the Union ship Housatonic, was recovered off the South Carolina coast and returned to port.

President Bill Clinton shakes hands with a crowd of port employees and contract workers at the Port of Los Angeles on Thursday, August 8, 1996 in Los Angeles. During his speech, Clinton was interrupted several times by hecklers. (AP Photo/Joe Marquette)

In 2003, the Boston Roman Catholic archdiocese offered $55 million to settle more than 500 lawsuits stemming from alleged sex abuse by priests. (The archdiocese later settled for $85 million.)

In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the U.S. Supreme Court’s first Hispanic and third female justice.

In 2017, singer Glen Campbell died in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 81; he had announced in 2011 that he’d been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Ten years ago: Eager to calm a nervous nation, President Barack Obama dismissed an unprecedented downgrade by Standard & Poor’s of the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA-plus, declaring: “No matter what some agency may say, we’ve always been and always will be a triple-A country.”

Five years ago: A fire and power outage at a Delta Air Lines data center in Atlanta resulted in the cancellation of 2,300 flights over a four-day period. At the Rio Olympics, Ryan Murphy gave the Americans their sixth straight gold medal in the men’s 100-meter backstroke, winning with a time of 51.97 seconds; Lilly King of the United States won gold in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke in 1 minute, 4.93 seconds.

One year ago: A fire inside a police union building led authorities in Portland, Oregon, to declare a riot and force protesters away from the office as violent demonstrations continued in the city. The Mid-American Conference became the first of the conferences competing at college football’s highest level to cancel its fall schedule because of the coronavirus. (The conference later became the last to reverse course, scheduling a six-game regular football season.)

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Nita Talbot is 91. Actor Dustin Hoffman is 84. Actor Connie Stevens is 83. Country singer Phil Balsley (The Statler Brothers) is 82. Actor Larry Wilcox is 74. Actor Keith Carradine is 72. Movie director Martin Brest is 70. Radio-TV personality Robin Quivers is 69. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is 68. Percussionist Anton Fig is 68. Actor Donny Most is 68. Rock musician Dennis Drew (10,000 Maniacs) is 64. TV personality Deborah Norville is 63. Rock musician The Edge (U2) is 60. Rock musician Rikki Rockett (Poison) is 60. Rapper Kool Moe Dee is 59. Middle distance runner Suzy Favor Hamilton is 53. Rock singer Scott Stapp is 48. Country singer Mark Wills is 48. Actor Kohl Sudduth is 47. Rock musician Tom Linton (Jimmy Eat World) is 46. Singer JC Chasez (‘N Sync) is 45. Actor Tawny Cypress is 45. R&B singer Drew Lachey (lah-SHAY’) (98 Degrees) is 45. R&B singer Marsha Ambrosius is 44. Actor Lindsay Sloane is 44. Actor Countess Vaughn is 43. Actor Michael Urie is 41. Tennis player Roger Federer is 40. Actor Meagan Good is 40. Rock musician Eric Howk (Portugal. The Man) is 40. Actor Jackie Cruz (TV: “Orange is the New Black”) is 37. Britain’s Princess Beatrice of York is 33. Actor Ken Baumann is 32. Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo is 32. Pop singer Shawn Mendes is 23. Actor Bebe Wood (TV: “The Real O’Neals”) is 20.

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AUGUST 9

On August 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, a U.S. B-29 Superfortress code-named Bockscar dropped a nuclear device (“Fat Man”) over Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people.

In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order nationalizing silver.

In 1936, Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics as the United States took first place in the 400-meter relay.

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AUGUST 10

On August 10, 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as the second female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1945, a day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Imperial Japan conveyed its willingness to surrender provided the status of Emperor Hirohito remained unchanged. (The Allies responded the next day, saying they would determine the Emperor’s future status.)

In 1969, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered in their Los Angeles home by members of Charles Manson’s cult, one day after actor Sharon Tate and four other people were slain.

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AUGUST 11

On August 11, 1992, the Mall of America, the nation’s largest shopping-entertainment center, opened in Bloomington, Minnesota.

In 1949, President Harry S. Truman nominated General Omar N. Bradley to become the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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AUGUST 12

On August 12, 1985, the world’s worst single-aircraft disaster occurred as a crippled Japan Airlines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashed into a mountain, killing 520 people. (Four people survived.)

In 1867, President Andrew Johnson sparked a move to impeach him as he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, with whom he had clashed over Reconstruction policies. (Johnson was acquitted by the Senate.)

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AUGUST 13

On August 13, 1910, Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, died in London at age 90.

In 1846, the American flag was raised in Los Angeles for the first time.

In 1860, legendary sharpshooter Annie Oakley was born in Darke County, Ohio.

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AUGUST 14

On August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law.

In 1975, the cult classic movie musical “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick, had its world premiere in London.

In 1997, an unrepentant Timothy McVeigh was formally sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing. (McVeigh was executed by lethal injection in 2001.)