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.

Historical Events

314 - Roman Emperor Licinius is defeated by his colleague Constantine I 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 317.60mph 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.

Births

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)
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
1958 - Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist
1959 - Nick Bakay, American actor, voice actor, and comedian
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 wrestler
1985 - Eiji Wentz, German-Japanese entertainer and singer

Deaths

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 Boieldieu, 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)
1944 - Wendell Willkie, American politician and Presidential candidate (b. 1892)
1945 - Felix Salten, Austrian author (b. 1869)
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)
1999 - John McLendon, American basketball coach (b. 1915)
2004 - Jacques Derrida, French philosopher (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

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

External links

BBC: On This Day

October 7 - October 9 - September 8 - November 8 - more historical anniversaries

Gourt Home::Gourt :: October 8

Historical Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links