On October 8th...

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1469 Painter Fra Filippo Lippi died.

1600 San Marino adopted a constitution.

1633 The Massachusetts Bay Colony formed its first government.

1754 Author Henry Fielding died.

1769 Captain James Cook landed in what is now New Zealand.

1793 John Hancock, first signer of the Declaration of Independence, died.

1806 British forces laid siege to the French port of Boulogne using rockets invented by Sir William Congreve.

1838 American statesman John M. Hay was born.

1840 The first Hawaiian constitution was proclaimed.

1862 Otto von Bismarck became Prime Minister of Germany.

1869 Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States, died.

1871 The Chicago fire began.

1873 The first women's prison run by women opened at the Indiana Reformatory Institute.

1879 The Chilean Navy defeated the Peruvian Navy in the Battle of Angamos.

1890 Edward Vernon Rickenbacker, America's first "air ace," was born.

1894 Chemical engineer Norbert Rillieux died.

1895 Juan Peron, two-time President of Argentina, was born.

1896 Dow Jones started reporting an average of selected industrial stocks.

1904 The first Vanderbilt Cup auto race was held at Hicksville, Long Island, New York.

1911 Psychologist Alfred Binet died.

1912 Montegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire, touching off the Balkan Wars.

1918 American soldier Alvin York single-handedly attacked a German gun nest, killing 25 and capturing 132 Germans.

1920 Author Frank Herbert was born.

1932 The Indian Air Force was established.

1933 Coit Tower was dedicated in San Francisco, California, as a monument to firefighters.

1934 Bruno Hauptmann was indicted for the murder of Charles Lindbergh's son.

1936 Gossip columnist Rona Barrett was born.

1939 Germany annexed Western Poland.
1939 Actor Paul Hogan died.

1941 Reverend Jesse Jackson was born.

1942 Abbott and Costello launched their weekly radio show.

1943 Actor Chevy Chase was born.
1943 Author R.L. Stine was born.

1944 "Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" debuted on CBS Radio.
1944 American politician Wendell Willkie died.

1945 The microwave oven was patented.

1949 Actress Sigourney Weaver was born.

1953 Actor Nigel Bruce died.

1955 Race car driver Bill Elliott was born.

1957 A 2,400-mile telephone cable between California and Hawaii was placed in operation.

1963 The Sultan of Zanzibar ceded his mainland possessions to Kenya.

1967 Former British Prime Minister Clement Attlee died.

1968 Actress Emily Procter was born.

1970 Actor Matt Damon was born.

1971 John Lennon released "Imagine."

1972 American politician Prescott Bush died.

1979 Actress Emmaline Henry died.

1982 Actor Fernando Lamas died.

1983 Politician Robert Docking died.

1985 Singer/songwriter Bruno Mars was born.

1989 Actor Edward Woods died.

1992 Willy Brandt, former Chancellor of Germany, died.

2001 A twin engine Cessna and a Scandinavian Airlines System passenger jet collided in heavy fog during takeoff from Milan, Italy, killing 118 persons.

2011 Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, died.

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This page was last updated on October 08, 2018.