October 8
is the 281st day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar (282nd in
leap years). There are 84 days remaining in the year.
*
314 -
Roman Emperor Licinius is defeated by his colleague
Constantine I at the
Battle of Cibalae, and loses his European territories.
*
451 - At
Chalcedon, a city of
Bithynia in
Asia Minor, the first session of the
Council of Chalcedon begins (ends on
November 1).
*
1480 -
Great standing on the Ugra river*
1582 - Due to the implementation of the
Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in
Italy,
Poland,
Portugal and
Spain.
*
1600 -
San Marino adopts its written constitution.
*
1862 -
American Civil War:
Battle of Perryville -
Union forces under General
Don Carlos Buell halt the
Confederate invasion of
Kentucky by defeating troops led by General
Braxton Bragg at
Perryville, Kentucky.
*
1871 - Four major fires break out on the shores of
Lake Michigan in
Chicago, Illinois,
Peshtigo, Wisconsin,
Holland, Michigan, and
Manistee, Michigan. The
Great Chicago Fire is the most famous of these, having left nearly 100,000 people homeless, although the
Peshtigo Fire killed as many as 2,500 people making it the deadliest fire in
United States history.
*
1888 -
Melville Fuller is sworn in as the 8th Chief Justice of the United States.
*
1895 -
Queen Min of Joseon, the last
empress of
Korea, was
assassinated.
*
1912 -
First Balkan War begins:
Montenegro declares war against
Turkey.
*
1918 -
World War I - In the
Argonne Forest in
France,
United States Corporal
Alvin C. York almost single-handedly kills 25
German soldiers and captures 132.
*
1927 - In Game 4 of the 1927
Stanley Cup,
Boston Bruins defenseman
Billy Coutu starts a brawl, punching referee
Jerry LaFlamme. As a result, Billy Coutu is the first player to be suspended for life in the NHL.
*
1927 -
Murderer's Row New York Yankees sweep Pirates in 4 games
*
1932 - The
Indian Air Force is established.
*
1939 -
World War II:
Germany annexes Western
Poland.
*
1941 - World War II: In their invasion of the
Soviet Union,
Germany reaches the
Sea of Azov with the capture of
Mariupol.
*
1944 - The
radio show,
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet debuts
*
1952 - A three-train disaster in
London kills 112 people.
*
1956 -
New York Yankees baseball pitcher
Don Larsen pitches first (and only)
perfect game in
World Series history in Game 5 of the
1956 World Series.
*
1957 -
Baseball:
Walter O'Malley announces that the
Dodgers are going to move from
Brooklyn, New York to
Los Angeles, California *
1962 -
Spiegel scandal:
Der Spiegel publishes the article
"Bedingt abwehrbereit" (
"Conditionally prepared for defense") about a
NATO manoeuver called "Fallex 62", which uncovered the sorry state of the
Bundeswehr (Germany's army) facing the
communist threat from the east at the time. The magazine was soon accused of
treason.
*
1967 - Guerrilla leader
Che Guevara and his men are captured in
Bolivia.
*
1968 -
Vietnam War:
Operation Sealords -
United States and
South Vietnamese forces launch a new operation in the
Mekong Delta.
*
1970 - Vietnam War: In
Paris, a
Communist delegation rejects US President
Richard Nixon's October 7 peace proposal as "a maneuver to deceive world opinion."
*
1978 -
Australia's
Ken Warby sets the current world
water speed record of 317.60
mph at Blowering Dam, Australia.
*
1982 -
Poland bans
Solidarity.
*
1990 -
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: In
Jerusalem,
Israeli police kill 17
Palestinians and wound over 100 near the
Dome of the Rock mosque on the
Temple Mount *
1991 - The
Croatian Parliament cuts all remaining ties with
Yugoslavia *
1998 -
Oslo Airport Gardermoen,
Norway opens.
*
1999 -
New Coligny Calendar,
NCC, The beginning of a new era of the
Colignay Calendar, the oldest material
Celtic calendar.
*
2001 - A twin engine
Cessna and
Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) jetliner collide in heavy fog during takeoff from
Milan, Italy killing 118.
* 2001 -
U.S. President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the
Office of Homeland Security, which will be headed by
Tom Ridge.
*
2003 -
Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark's engagement to
Australian lawyer
Mary Donaldson is announced
*
2004 -
Martha Stewart goes to jail.
* 2004 -
Schapelle Corby is arrested for drugs smuggling in Bali.
* 2004 - Glenn Spencer, of
American Patrol simulates the delivery of a
WMD across the US/Mexican border.
*
2005 -
2005 Pakistan earthquake hits parts of northern
South Asia at 03:50 UTC.
*
1515 -
Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (d.
1578)
*
1676 -
Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro, Spanish scholar (d.
1764)
*
1713 -
Yechezkel Landau, Polish rabbi and Talmudist (d.
1793)
*
1715 -
Michel Benoist, French Jesuit missionary and scientist (d.
1774)
*
1720 -
Jonathan Mayhew, American minister and patriot (d.
1766)
*
1747 -
Jean-François Rewbell, French politician (d.
1807)
*
1765 -
Harman Blennerhassett, Irish lawyer (d.
1831)
*
1789 -
John Ruggles, American politician (d.
1874)
*
1818 -
John Henninger Reagan, American and Confederate politician (d.
1905)
*
1834 -
Walter Kittredge, American musician and composer (d.
1905)
*
1850 -
Henri Louis le Chatelier, French chemist (d.
1936)
*
1870 -
Louis Vierne, French organist (d.
1937)
*
1877 -
Hans Heysen, German-born landscape artist (d.
1968)
*
1883 -
Otto Heinrich Warburg, German physician and physiologist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1970)
*
1887 -
Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor (d.
1956)
*
1888 -
Ernst Kretschmer, German psychiatrist (d.
1964)
*
1889 -
C. E. Woolman, American airline founder (d.
1966)
*
1890 -
Edward Rickenbacker, American pilot (d.
1973)
* 1890 -
Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (d.
1971)
*
1895 -
Juan Perón,
President of Argentina (d.
1974)
* 1895 -
Zog I,
King of Albania (d.
1961)
*
1901 -
Doris Allen, American psychologist (d.
2002)
* 1901 -
Eivind Groven, Norwegian composer and ethnomusicologist (d.
1977)
*
1910 -
Kirk Alyn, American actor (d.
1999)
* 1910 -
Gus Hall, American union organizer and Communist Party leader (d.
2000)
* 1910 -
Ray Lewis, Canadian runner (d.
2003)
*
1917 -
Billy Conn, American boxer (d.
1993)
* 1917 -
Walter Lord, American author (d.
2002)
* 1917 -
Danny Murtaugh, baseball player and manager (d.
1976)
* 1917 -
Rodney Robert Porter, English biochemist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
1985)
*
1918 -
Jens Christian Skou, Danish chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate
*
1920 -
Frank Herbert, American writer (d.
1986)
*
1924 -
Alphons Egli, member of the Swiss Federal Council
*
1927 -
Jim Elliot, American missionary (d.
1956)
* 1927 -
César Milstein, Argentine scientist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
2002)
*
1928 -
Neil Harvey, Australian cricketer
* 1928 -
Bill Maynard, British actor
*
1932 -
Ray Reardon, Welsh snooker player
*
1936 -
Rona Barrett, American gossip columnist
*
1938 -
Fred Stolle, Australian tennis player
* 1938 -
Walter Gretzky, father of
Wayne Gretzky*
1939 -
Paul Hogan, Australian actor
*
1941 -
Jesse Jackson, American clergyman and civil rights activist
*
1943 -
Chevy Chase, American comedian and actor
* 1943 -
R. L. Stine, American author
*
1944 -
Susan Raye, American country singer
*
1946 -
Jean-Jacques Beineix, French film director
* 1946 -
Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Congressman and Presidential candidate
*
1948 -
Sarah Purcell, American television host
* 1948 -
Johnny Ramone, American guitarist (
The Ramones) (d.
2004)
*
1949 -
Sigourney Weaver, American actress
*
1950 -
Robert Kool Bell, American musician (
Kool & the Gang)
*
1952 -
Jan Marijnissen, Dutch politician
*
1955 -
Bill Elliott, NASCAR driver, 1988 series champion
*
1956 -
Stephanie Zimbalist, American actress
* 1956 -
Jeff Lahti, baseball player
*
1958 -
Steve Coll,
Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist
*
1959 -
Nick Bakay, American actor, voice actor, and comedian
* 1959 -
Mike Morgan, baseball player
*
1964 -
CeCe Winans, American singer
*
1965 -
Ardal O'Hanlon, Irish comedian
* 1965 -
C-Jay Ramone, American bassist (
The Ramones)
*
1966 -
Art Barr, Professional wrestler
*
1968 -
Leeroy Thornhill, British musician (
The Prodigy)
*
1969 -
Julia Ann, American porn actress
* 1969 -
Dylan Neal, Canadian actor
*
1970 -
Matt Damon, American actor
* 1970 -
Tetsuya Nomura, Japanese Video Games Director, Character Designer and Concept Designer
*
1972 -
DJ Q-Ball, American Musician (
Bloodhound Gang)
*
1973 -
Rhys Evans, Renowned Welsh born raconteur and street performer
*
1976 -
Renate Groenewold, Dutch speed skater
*
1977 -
Anne-Caroline Chausson, French down hill mountain bike rider
*
1979 -
Kristanna Loken, American actress and model
*
1980 -
Mike Mizanin, American professional wrestler and host of
Smackdown!*
1985 -
Eiji Wentz, German-Japanese entertainer and singer
*
1286 -
John I of Dreux,
Duke of Brittany (b.
1217)
*
1317 -
Fushimi, Emperor of Japan (b.
1265)
*
1621 -
Antoine de Montchrétien, French dramatist and economist
*
1647 -
Christian Sørensen Longomontanus, Danish astronomer (b.
1562)
*
1652 -
John Greaves, English mathematician and antiquarian (b.
1602)
*
1656 -
John George I, Elector of Saxony (b.
1585)
*
1659 -
Jean de Quen, French Jesuit missionary and historian
*
1735 -
Yongzheng Emperor of China (b.
1678)
*
1754 -
Henry Fielding, English author (b.
1707)
*
1772 -
Jean Joseph de Mondonville, French composer (b.
1711)
*
1793 -
John Hancock, American revolutionary and businessman (b.
1737)
*
1795 -
Andrew Kippis, English non-conformist clergyman and biographer (b.
1725)
*
1809 -
James Elphinston, Scottish philologist (b.
1721)
*
1834 -
François-Adrien Boïeldieu, French composer (b.
1775)
*
1869 -
Franklin Pierce, 14th
President of the United States (b.
1804)
*
1894 -
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American physician and writer (b.
1809)
*
1897 -
Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter (b.
1830)
*
1928 -
Larry Semon, comedian (b.
1889)
*
1931 - Sir
John Monash, Australian soldier general (b.
1865)
*
1936 -
William Henry Stark, Business leader (b.
1851)
* 1936 -
Red Ames, Baseball player (b.
1882)
*
1942 -
Sergei Chaplygin, Soviet engineer
*
1944 -
Wendell Willkie, American politician and Presidential candidate (b.
1892)
*
1945 -
Felix Salten, Austrian author (b.
1869)
*
1952 -
Joe Adams, Baseball player (b.
1877)
*
1953 -
Nigel Bruce, British actor (b.
1895)
* 1953 -
Kathleen Ferrier, British contralto (b.
1912)
*
1958 - Ran Bosilek, Bulgarian author and translator (b.
1886)
*
1967 -
Clement Attlee,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b.
1883)
*
1970 -
Mitr Chaibancha, Thai film actor (b.
1934)
*
1973 -
Gabriel Marcel, French philosopher (b.
1889)
*
1978 -
Jacques Brel, Belgian singer (b.
1929)
*
1982 -
Fernando Lamas, Argentine actor (b.
1916)
* 1982 -
Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, Canadian-born peace activist, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize (b.
1889)
*
1983 -
Joan Hackett, American actress (b.
1934)
*
1992 -
Willy Brandt,
Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize (b.
1913)
*
1997 -
Bertrand Goldberg, American architect (d.
1913)
*
1999 -
John McLendon, American basketball coach (b.
1915)
*
2004 -
Jacques Derrida, French philosopher (b.
1930)
*
RC Saints - Saint Susan of Blois
*Wales and Cornwall -
Saint Keyne*Bolivia - reportedly,
Che Guevara is honoured on this day at which he was captured in
La Higuera, as
San Ernesto, answering prayers for rain.
*Also see
October 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)*
French Republican Calendar -
Citrouille (Pumpkin) Day, seventeenth day in the
Month of Vendémiaire*
BBC: On This DayOctober 7 -
October 9 -
September 8 -
November 8 - more
historical anniversaries
