Today is Sunday, Aug. 9, the 221st day of 2026. Today in…Today is Sunday, Aug. 9, the 221st day of 2026. Today in history:On Aug. 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, a U.S. B-29 Superfortress dropped an atomic device over Nagasaki; the bombing and subsequent radiation poisoning killed an estimated 74,000 people. Also on this date:In 1173, construction began on the campanile of Pisa Cathedral — better known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. In 1854, Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden,” which described Thoreau’s experiences while living near Walden Pond in Massachusetts, was first published.