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. In 2024, a passenger plane crashed in a gated residential community in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state, killing all 61 people aboard. Tennis Hall of Famer Rod Laver is 88.