October 8
There 77 days until Christmas.
1480
Great stand on the Ugra river, a standoff between the forces of
Akhmat Khan, Khan of the
Great Horde, and the
Grand Duke Ivan III of Russia, which results in the retreat of the Tataro-Mongols and the eventual disintegration of the Horde.
1645
Jeanne Mance opened the
Hτtel-Dieu de Montrιal, the first lay hospital in North America.
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 including the
Great Chicago Fire, and the much deadlier
Peshtigo Fire.
1918 World War I: In action near Pittem, Belgium, USMC 2nd Lieutenant aviator
Ralph Talbot of Weymouth, Massachusetts becomes the first-ever USMC aviator to earn the
Medal of Honor.
1918 World War I: In the
Argonne Forest, in France, United States Corporal
Alvin C. York kills 28 German soldiers and captures 132, for which he is awarded the Medal of Honor.
1921
KDKA in Pittsburgh's
Forbes Field conducts the first live broadcast of a football game.
1956 New York Yankees's
Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series.
1978 Australia's
Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.60 mph at Blowering Dam, Australia.
1982
Cats opens on Broadway and runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000.
2001 In response to the September 11 attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush announced the creation of the
Office of Homeland Security, with former Pennsylvania Governor
Tom Ridge as its director.
Births
1890 Eddie Rickenbacker; 1920 Frank Herbert; 1936 Rona Barrett; 1939 Harvey Pekar; 1940 Paul Hogan; 1941 Jesse Jackson; 1943 Chevy Chase; 1943 R. L. Stine; 1946 Dennis Kucinich; 1948 Johnny Ramone; 1949 Sigourney Weaver; 1950 Robert "Kool" Bell; 1955 Bill Elliott


; 1955 Darrell Hammond; 1956 Stephanie Zimbalist; 1964 CeCe Winans; 1965 Matt Biondi; 1965 C. J. Ramone; 1968 Emily Procter; 1970 Matt Damon; 1980 Nick Cannon; 1985 Bruno Mars; 1993 Molly Quinn
Deaths
1793 John Hancock; 1869 Franklin Pierce; 1944 Wendell Willkie; 1953 Nigel Bruce; 1983 Joan Hackett; 1992 Willy Brandt; 2011 Al Davis; 2011 Roger Williams; 2015 Paul Prudhomme