October 8

October 8 is the 281st day of the year (282nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 84 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 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).
• 1075 – Dmitar Zvonimir is crowned King of Croatia.
• 1200 – Isabella of Angoulême is crowned Queen consort of England.
• 1322 – Mladen II Šubić of Bribir, defeated in the battle of Bliska, is arrested by the Parliament.
• 1480 – Great standing 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.
• 1573 – End of the Spanish siege of Alkmaar, the first Dutch victory in Eighty Years War.
• 1582 – Because of 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.
• 1645 – Jeanne Mance opened the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal, the first lay hospital in North America.
• 1806 – Napoleonic Wars: Forces of the British Empire lay siege to the port of Boulogne in France by using Congreve rockets, invented by Sir William Congreve.
• 1813 – The Treaty of Ried is signed between Bayern and Austria.
• 1821 – The government of general José de San Martín establishes the Peruvian Navy.
• 1829 – Rail transport: Stephenson's The Rocket wins The Rainhill Trials.
• 1856 – The Second Opium War between several western powers and China begins with the Arrow Incident on the Pearl River.
• 1860 – Telegraph line between Los Angeles and San Francisco opens.
• 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, Peshtigo, Wisconsin, Holland, Michigan, and Manistee, Michigan including the Great Chicago Fire, and the much deadlier Peshtigo Fire.
• 1879 – War of the Pacific: the Chilean Navy defeats the Peruvian Navy in the Battle of Angamos, Peruvian Admiral Miguel Grau is killed in the encounter.
• 1895 – Eulmi incident- Queen Min of Joseon is assassinated by Japanese infiltrators inside and her corpse burnt by Korean people Gyeongbok Palace.
• 1904 – Edmonton, Alberta is incorporated as a city.
• 1904 – Prince Albert, Saskatchewan is incorporated as a city.
• 1912 – First Balkan War begins: Montenegro declares war against the Ottoman Empire.
• 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.
• 1928 – Joseph Szigeti gives the first performance of Alfredo Casella's Violin Concerto.
• 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 – World War II: The Battle of Crucifix Hill occurs on Crucifix Hill just outside Aachen. Capt. Bobbie Brown receives a Medal of Honor for his heroics in this battle.
• 1952 – The Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash kills 112 people.
• 1956 – New York Yankees's Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series; one of only 21 perfect games in MLB history.
• 1962 – Spiegel scandal: Der Spiegel publishes the article "Bedingt abwehrbereit" ("Conditionally prepared for defense") about a NATO manoeuvre 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 is soon accused of treason.
• 1962 – Algeria joins the United Nations.
• 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.
• 1969 – The opening rally of the Days of Rage occurs, organized by the Weather Underground in Chicago, Illinois.
• 1970 – Vietnam War: In Paris, a Communist delegation rejects US President Richard Nixon's October 7 peace proposal as "a manoeuvre to deceive world opinion".
• 1973 – Yom Kippur War: Gabi Amir's armored brigade attacks Egyptian occupied positions on the Israeli side of the Suez Canal, in hope of driving them away. The attack fails, and over 150 Israeli tanks are destroyed.
• 1973 – Greek military junta of 1967–1974: Junta strongman George Papadopoulos appoints Spyros Markezinis as Prime Minister of Greece with the task to lead Greece to parliamentary rule.
• 1974 – Franklin National Bank collapses due to fraud and mismanagement; at the time it is the largest bank failure in the history of the United States.
• 1978 – Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.60 mph at Blowering Dam, Australia.
• 1982 – Poland bans Solidarity and all trade unions.
• 1982 – Cats opens on Broadway and runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000.
• 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 – Croatia votes to sever constitutional relations with Yugoslavia, rendering the country fully independent.
• 2001 – A twin engine Cessna and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) jetliner collide in heavy fog during takeoff from Milan, Italy killing 118 people.
• 2001 – U.S. President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security.
• 2005 – 2005 Kashmir earthquake: Thousands of people are killed by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in parts of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

Births

• 1515 – Margaret Douglas, English wife of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox (d. 1578)
• 1585 – Heinrich Schütz, German organist and composer (d. 1672)
• 1676 – Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro, Spanish monk and scholar (d. 1764)
• 1713 – Yechezkel Landau, Polish rabbi (d. 1793)
• 1715 – Michel Benoist, French scientist and missionary (d. 1774)
• 1720 – Jonathan Mayhew, American minister (d. 1766)
• 1747 – Jean-François Rewbell, French lawyer and politician (d. 1807)
• 1765 – Harman Blennerhassett, English-Irish lawyer and politician (d. 1831)
• 1789 – John Ruggles, American politician (d. 1874)
• 1789 – William John Swainson, English-New Zealand ornithologist and entomologist (d. 1855)
• 1807 – Harriet Taylor Mill, English philosopher and activist (d. 1858)
• 1818 – John Henninger Reagan, American politician (d. 1905)
• 1834 – Walter Kittredge, American violinist and composer (d. 1905)
• 1847 – Rose Scott, Australian activist (d. 1925)
• 1848 – Pierre De Geyter, Belgian composer (d. 1932)
• 1850 – Henry Louis Le Chatelier, French chemist (d. 1936)
• 1863 – Edythe Chapman, American actress (d. 1948)
• 1864 – Ozias Leduc, Canadian painter (d. 1955)
• 1870 – Louis Vierne, French organist and composer (d. 1937)
• 1875 – Laurence Doherty, English tennis player (d. 1919)
• 1876 – Frederick Montague, 1st Baron Amwell, English politician (d. 1966)
• 1877 – Hans Heysen, German-Australian painter (d. 1968)
• 1878 – Walter Katzenstein, German rower (d. 1929)
• 1883 – Dick Burnett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1977)
• 1883 – Otto Heinrich Warburg, German physiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
• 1884 – Walther von Reichenau, German general (d. 1942)
• 1887 – Huntley Gordon, Canadian-American actor (d. 1956)
• 1888 – Ernst Kretschmer, German psychiatrist (d. 1964)
• 1889 – Collett E. Woolman, American businessman, co-founded Delta Air Lines (d. 1966)
• 1890 – Snuffy Browne, Barbadian cricketer (d. 1964)
• 1890 – Eddie Rickenbacker, American soldier and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1973)
• 1890 – Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (d. 1971)
• 1893 – Clarence Williams, American pianist and composer (d. 1965)
• 1895 – Zog I of Albania (d. 1961)
• 1895 – Juan Perón, Argentinian general and politician, 29th President of Argentina (d. 1974)
• 1896 – Julien Duvivier, French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1967)
• 1897 – Rouben Mamoulian, Georgian-American director and screenwriter (d. 1987)
• 1901 – Eivind Groven, Norwegian composer and theorist (d. 1977)
• 1910 – Kirk Alyn, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1910 – Paulette Dubost, French actress (d. 2011)
• 1910 – Gus Hall, American soldier and politician (d. 2000)
• 1910 – Ray Lewis, Canadian runner (d. 2003)
• 1913 – Robert R. Gilruth, American pilot and engineer (d. 2000)
• 1917 – Billy Conn, American boxer (d. 1993)
• 1917 – Walter Lord, American historian and author (d. 2002)
• 1917 – Danny Murtaugh, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1976)
• 1917 – Rodney Robert Porter, English biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
• 1918 – Halfdan Hegtun, Norwegian radio host and politician (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Ron Randell, Australian-American actor (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Jens Christian Skou, Danish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1919 – Kiichi Miyazawa, Japanese politician, 78th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Frank Herbert, American author (d. 1986)
• 1921 – Abraham Sarmiento, Filipino jurist (d. 2010)
• 1922 – Nils Liedholm, Swedish footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2007)
• 1924 – Alphons Egli, Swiss politician
• 1924 – Thirunalloor Karunakaran, Indian poet and scholar (d. 2006)
• 1924 – John Nelder, English statistician (d. 2010)
• 1926 – Raaj Kumar, Pakistani-Indian actor (d. 1996)
• 1927 – Jim Elliot, American missionary (d. 1956)
• 1927 – César Milstein, Argentinian-English biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
• 1928 – M. Russell Ballard, American lieutenant and religious leader
• 1928 – Neil Harvey, Australian cricketer
• 1928 – Bill Maynard, English actor
• 1929 – Didi, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2001)
• 1930 – Alasdair Milne, Indian-English director and producer (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Toru Takemitsu, Japanese composer (d. 1996)
• 1931 – Bill Brown, Scottish footballer (d. 2004)
• 1932 – Ray Reardon, Welsh snooker player
• 1934 – Gerry Hitchens English footballer (d. 1983)
• 1934 – James Holshouser, American politician, 68th Governor of North Carolina (d. 2013)
• 1935 – Albert Roux, French-English chef
• 1936 – Rona Barrett, American columnist and businesswoman
• 1938 – William Corlett, English author and playwright (d. 2005)
• 1938 – Walter Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey coach and author
• 1938 – Fred Stolle, Australian tennis player
• 1939 – Paul Hogan, Australian actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1939 – Elvīra Ozoliņa, Latvian javelin thrower
• 1939 – Harvey Pekar, American author and critic (d. 2010)
• 1939 – Lynne Stewart, American lawyer
• 1940 – Fred Cash, American singer (The Impressions)
• 1941 – Jesse Jackson, American minister and activist
• 1943 – Chevy Chase, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
• 1943 – R. L. Stine, American author, screenwriter, and producer
• 1944 – Dale Dye, American captain and actor
• 1944 – Ed Kirkpatrick, American baseball player (d. 2010)
• 1944 – Susan Raye, American singer
• 1946 – Jean-Jacques Beineix, French director and producer
• 1946 – Dennis Kucinich, American politician, 53rd Mayor of Cleveland
• 1947 – Emiel Puttemans, Belgian runner
• 1947 – Stephen Shore, American photographer
• 1948 – Benjamin Cheever, American author
• 1948 – Claude Jade, French actress (d. 2006)
• 1948 – Pedro López, Colombian serial killer
• 1948 – Sarah Purcell, American radio and television host
• 1948 – Johnny Ramone, American guitarist and songwriter (The Ramones) (d. 2004)
• 1949 – Jerry Bittle, American cartoonist (d. 2003)
• 1949 – Hamish Stuart, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Average White Band)
• 1949 – Sigourney Weaver, American actress and producer
• 1950 – Robert "Kool" Bell, American singer-songwriter and bass player (Kool & the Gang)
• 1951 – Jack O'Connell, American educator and politician
• 1951 – Timo Salonen, Finnish rally driver
• 1952 – Takis Koroneos, Greek basketball player and coach
• 1952 – Jan Marijnissen, Dutch politician
• 1952 – Edward Zwick, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1954 – Michael Dudikoff, American actor
• 1954 – Huub Rothengatter, Dutch race car driver
• 1955 – Bill Elliott, American race car driver
• 1955 – Alain Ferté, French race car driver
• 1955 – Darrell Hammond, American comedian and actor
• 1955 – Lonnie Pitchford, American guitarist (d. 1998)
• 1956 – Jeff Lahti, American baseball player
• 1956 – Stephanie Zimbalist, American actress
• 1957 – Antonio Cabrini, Italian footballer and manager
• 1958 – Steve Coll, American journalist and author
• 1958 – Bret Lott, American author
• 1958 – Ursula von der Leyen, Belgian-German politician
• 1959 – Nick Bakay, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1959 – Mike Morgan, American baseball player and coach
• 1959 – Erik Gundersen, Danish motorcycle racer
• 1960 – Reed Hastings, American businessman, co-founded Netflix
• 1960 – Lorenzo Milá, Spanish journalist
• 1960 – Ralf Minge, German footballer and manager
• 1960 – François Pérusse, Canadian singer-songwriter and comedian
• 1961 – Steven Bernstein, American trumpet player and composer (Sex Mob, The Lounge Lizards, and Spanish Fly)
• 1961 – Simon Burke, Australian actor
• 1961 – Ted Kooshian, American pianist (Ed Palermo Big Band)
• 1962 – Bruno Thiry, Belgian race car driver
• 1964 – Jakob Arjouni, German author (d. 2013)
• 1964 – Igor Jijikine, Russian actor
• 1964 – CeCe Winans, American singer (BeBe & CeCe Winans)
• 1965 – Matt Biondi, American swimmer
• 1965 – Peter Greene, American actor
• 1965 – Ardal O'Hanlon, Irish comedian, actor, and screenwriter
• 1965 – C. J. Ramone, American singer-songwriter and bass player (The Ramones, 22 Jacks, Los Gusanos, and The Ramainz)
• 1966 – Art Barr, American wrestler (d. 1994)
• 1966 – Felipe Camiroaga, Chilean television host and actor (d. 2011)
• 1966 – Karyn Parsons, American actress and producer
• 1967 – Yvonne Reyes, Venezuelan actress
• 1968 – Ali Benarbia, Algerian footballer
• 1968 – Zvonimir Boban, Croatian footballer
• 1968 – Emily Procter, American actress
• 1968 – CL Smooth, American rapper and producer (Pete Rock & CL Smooth)
• 1968 – Leeroy Thornhill, English keyboard player (The Prodigy)
• 1969 – Julia Ann, American porn actress
• 1969 – Jeremy Davies, American actor
• 1969 – Dylan Neal, Canadian-American actor
• 1970 – Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, Congolese colonel
• 1970 – Matt Damon, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1970 – Anne-Marie Duff, English actress
• 1970 – Tetsuya Nomura, Japanese video game designer and director
• 1971 – Monty Williams, American basketball player and coach
• 1972 – Terry Balsamo, American guitarist (Cold, Limp Bizkit, and Evanescence)
• 1972 – Kim Myung-min, South Korean actor
• 1972 – Stanislav Varga, Slovak footballer and manager
• 1973 – Jim Fairchild, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Grandaddy and Modest Mouse)
• 1974 – Martin Henderson, New Zealand actor
• 1974 – Fredrik Modin, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1974 – Koji Murofushi, Japanese hammer thrower
• 1976 – Galo Blanco, Spanish tennis player and coach
• 1976 – Renate Groenewold, Dutch speed skater
• 1977 – Anne-Caroline Chausson, French cyclist
• 1977 – Jamie Marchi, American voice actress, director, and screenwriter
• 1977 – Erna Siikavirta, Finnish singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Lordi)
• 1978 – Antonino D'Agostino, Italian footballer
• 1978 – Mick O'Driscoll, Irish rugby player
• 1979 – Paul Burchill, English wrestler
• 1979 – Kristanna Loken, American actress and producer
• 1979 – Gregori Chad Petree, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Shiny Toy Guns, Cloud2Ground, and pc Quest)
• 1980 – Nick Cannon, American actor, rapper, and producer
• 1980 – The Miz, American wrestler and actor
• 1980 – Rajesh Sharma, Canadian-Indian Politician
• 1981 – Ruby, Egyptian singer and actress
• 1981 – Raffi Torres, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1981 – Kalil Wilson, American singer and producer
• 1983 – Mario Cassano, Italian footballer
• 1983 – Michael Fraser, Scottish footballer
• 1983 – Mihkel Kukk, Estonian javelin thrower
• 1983 – Abhishek Nayar, Indian cricketer
• 1983 – Travis Pastrana, American motorcycle racer
• 1984 – Domenik Hixon, American football player
• 1984 – Malcolm Shabazz, French-American criminal (d. 2013)
• 1985 – Bruno Mars, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1985 – Eiji Wentz, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor (WaT)
• 1986 – Louis Dodds, English footballer
• 1986 – Michele Sepe, Italian rugby player
• 1987 – Aya Hirano, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1987 – Taylor Price, American football player
• 1987 – Ksenia Solo, Latvian-Canadian actress
• 1989 – Mahmut Temür, Turkish footballer
• 1989 – Armand Traoré, French footballer
• 1992 – Lidziya Marozava, Belarusian tennis player
• 1993 – Angus T. Jones, American actor
• 1993 – Barbara Palvin, Hungarian model and actress
• 1993 – Molly Quinn, American actress
• 1993 – Darrell Wallace, Jr., American race car driver
• 1996 – Sara Takanashi, Japanese ski jumper
• 1997 – Bella Thorne, American actress, singer, and dancer

Deaths

• 976 – Helen of Zadar
• 1286 – John I, Duke of Brittany (b. 1217)
• 1317 – Emperor Fushimi of Japan (b. 1265)
• 1621 – Antoine de Montchrestien, French soldier, playwright, and economist (b. 1575)
• 1647 – Christen Sørensen Longomontanus, Danish astronomer (b. 1562)
• 1652 – John Greaves, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1602)
• 1656 – John George I, Elector of Saxony (b. 1585)
• 1659 – Jean de Quen, French missionary, priest, and historian (b. 1603)
• 1735 – Yongzheng Emperor of China (b. 1678)
• 1754 – Henry Fielding, English author and playwright (b. 1707)
• 1772 – Jean-Joseph de Mondonville, French violinist and composer (b. 1711)
• 1793 – John Hancock, American merchant and politician, 1st Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1737)
• 1795 – Andrew Kippis, English clergyman and author (b. 1725)
• 1802 – Emmanuel Vitale, Maltese general (b. 1758)
• 1804 – Thomas Cochran, Canadian lawyer and judge (b. 1777)
• 1809 – James Elphinston, Scottish orthographer, phonologist, and linguist (b. 1721)
• 1834 – François-Adrien Boieldieu, French composer (b. 1775)
• 1869 – Franklin Pierce, American general, lawyer, and politician, 14th President of the United States (b. 1804)
• 1879 – Miguel Grau Seminario, Peruvian admiral (b. 1834)
• 1886 – Austin F. Pike, American politician (b. 1819)
• 1897 – Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter (b. 1830)
• 1920 – John Olin, American wrestler (b. 1886)
• 1928 – Larry Semon, American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer (b. 1889)
• 1931 – John Monash, Australian general and engineer (b. 1865)
• 1936 – Premchand, Indian author (b. 1880)
• 1936 – Red Ames, American baseball player and manager (b. 1882)
• 1936 – William Henry Stark, American businessman (b. 1851)
• 1942 – Sergey Chaplygin, Russian physicist, mathematician, and engineer (b. 1869)
• 1944 – Wendell Willkie, American captain, lawyer, and politician (b. 1892)
• 1945 – Felix Salten, Austrian author and critic (b. 1869)
• 1952 – Joe Adams, American baseball player and manager (b. 1877)
• 1953 – Nigel Bruce, Mexican-American actor and singer (b. 1895)
• 1953 – Kathleen Ferrier, English singer (b. 1912)
• 1955 – Iry LeJeune, American accordion player (b. 1928)
• 1958 – Ran Bosilek, Bulgarian author (b. 1886)
• 1962 – Toivo Aro, Finnish diver (b. 1887)
• 1962 – Solomon Linda, South African singer-songwriter (b. 1909)
• 1963 – Remedios Varo, Spanish-Mexican painter (b. 1908)
• 1967 – Clement Attlee, English soldier, lawyer, and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1883)
• 1970 – Mitr Chaibancha, Thai actor and producer (b. 1934)
• 1970 – Jean Giono, French author (b. 1895)
• 1973 – Gabriel Marcel, French philosopher, playwright, and critic (b. 1889)
• 1977 – Giorgos Papasideris, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1902)
• 1979 – Jayaprakash Narayan, Indian politician (b. 1902)
• 1982 – Fernando Lamas, Argentinian-American actor and director (b. 1915)
• 1982 – Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, English runner, academic, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
• 1983 – Joan Hackett, American actress (b. 1934)
• 1985 – Gordon Welchman, English-American mathematician and scholar (b. 1906)
• 1985 – Malcolm Ross, American captain, physicist, and balloonist (b. 1919)
• 1987 – Konstantinos Tsatsos, Greek scholar and politician, 2nd President of Greece (b. 1899)
• 1990 – B.J. Wilson, English drummer (Procol Harum) (b. 1947)
• 1992 – Willy Brandt, German politician, 4th Chancellor of Germany, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
• 1995 – Christopher Keene, American conductor (b. 1946)
• 1997 – Bertrand Goldberg, American architect, designed the Marina City Building (b. 1913)
• 1999 – John McLendon, American basketball player and coach (b. 1915)
• 2000 – Charlotte Lamb, English author (b. 1937)
• 2002 – Phyllis Calvert, English actress (b. 1915)
• 2002 – Jacques Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1952)
• 2004 – James Chace, American historian and author (b. 1931)
• 2006 – Mark Porter, New Zealand race car driver (b. 1974)
• 2007 – Constantine Andreou, Greek painter and sculptor (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Bob Friend, English journalist (b. 1938)
• 2008 – Eileen Herlie, Scottish-American actress (b. 1918)
• 2008 – George Emil Palade, Romanian biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
• 2010 – Frank Bourgholtzer, American journalist (b. 1919)
• 2011 – Al Davis, American football player, coach, and manager (b. 1929)
• 2011 – Roger Williams, American pianist (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Varsha Bhosle, Indian singer and journalist (b. 1956)
• 2012 – Donnie Butcher, American basketball player and coach (b. 1936)
• 2012 – Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Filipino director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1955)
• 2012 – Rafael Lesmes, Spanish footballer (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Eric Lomax, Scottish captain and author (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Ken Sansom, American actor and singer (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Nawal Kishore Sharma, Indian politician, 20th Governor of Gujarat (b. 1925)
• 2012 – John Tchicai, Danish-French saxophonist and composer (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Philip Chevron, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Pogues and The Radiators From Space) (b. 1957)
• 2013 – David Clark, English cricketer (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Paul Desmarais, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Rod Grams, American journalist and politician (b. 1948)
• 2013 – Rodolphe Kasser, Swiss archaeologist and philologist (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Andy Pafko, American baseball player and manager (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Rottyful Sky, South Korean singer (b. 1988)
• 2013 – Akong Rinpoche, Tibetan-Chinese spiritual leader (b. 1939)

Holidays and observances

• Air Force Day (India)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Palatias and Laurentia
  • Pelagia (Roman Catholic Church)
  • William Dwight Porter Bliss and Richard T. Ely (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • October 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Earliest day on which Columbus Day can fall, while October 14 is the latest; observed on the second Monday of October (United States)
• Earliest day on which Discoverer's Day can fall, while October 14 is the latest; observed on the second Monday of October (Hawaii)
• Earliest date on which the first day of Fire Prevention Week can fall, while October 14 is the latest; observed on the second week of October. (United States and Canada)
• Earliest day on which International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction can fall, while October 14 is the latest; observed on the second Wednesday of October (Hawaii)
• Independence Day, celebrates the official separation of Croatia from Yugoslavia in 1991.
• Navy Day (Peru)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to October 8.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada