Today in History: August 8, devastating Maui wildfires

Today is Saturday, Aug. 8, the 220th day of 2026. There are 145 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 8, 2023, a series of wind-driven wildfires broke out on the Hawaiian island of Maui, destroying the town of Lahaina and killing more than 100 people.

Also 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 1876, Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric pen — the forerunner of the mimeograph machine.

In 1908, Wilbur Wright made the Wright Brothers’ first public flying demonstration, at Le Mans racecourse in France.

In 1911, President William Howard Taft signed a measure raising the number of U.S. representatives from 391 to 433, effective with the next Congress, with a proviso to add two more when New Mexico and Arizona became states.

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

In 1969, photographer Iain Macmillan took the iconic photo of The Beatles that would appear on the cover of their album “Abbey Road.”

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

In 1988, Chicago’s Wrigley Field hosted its first-ever night baseball game; the contest between the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies would be rained out in the fourth inning.

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.

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

In 2022, FBI agents executed a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida; over 13,000 government documents, including 103 classified documents, were seized.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Nita Talbot is 96. Actor Dustin Hoffman is 80. Actor Connie Stevens is 88. Actor Larry Wilcox is 79. Actor Keith Carradine is 77. Movie director Martin Brest is 75. Radio-TV personality Robin Quivers is 74. Percussionist Anton Fig is 73. Actor Donny Most is 73. Rock musician Dennis Drew (10,000 Maniacs) is 69. TV personality Deborah Norville is 68. Rock musician The Edge (U2) is 65. Rock musician Rikki Rockett (Poison) is 65. Rapper Kool Moe Dee is 64. Rock singer Scott Stapp is 53. Country singer Mark Wills is 53. Actor Kohl Sudduth is 52. Rock musician Tom Linton (Jimmy Eat World) is 51. Singer JC Chasez (‘N Sync) is 50. Actor Tawny Cypress is 50. R&B singer Drew Lachey (lah-SHAY’) (98 Degrees) is 50. R&B singer Marsha Ambrosius is 49. Actor Lindsay Sloane is 49. Actor Countess Vaughn is 48. Actor Michael Urie is 46. Retired tennis player Roger Federer is 45. Actor Meagan Good is 45. Britain’s Princess Beatrice of York is 38. Actor Ken Baumann is 37. Pop singer Shawn Mendes is 28.