more events on October 8
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2001
US President George W. Bush establishes the Office of Homeland Security.
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1991
Croatia votes to sever its ties with Yugoslavia.
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1982
The musical Cats begins a run of nearly 18 years on Broadway.
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1978
Ken Warby of Australia sets the world water speed record, 317.60 mph, at Blowering Dam in Australia; no other human has yet (2013) exceeded 300 mph on water and survived.
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1973
In the Yom Kippur War an Israeli armored brigade makes an unsuccessful attack on Egyptian positions on the Israeli side of the Suez Canal.
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1970
Matt Damon, actor, screenwriter, producer, philanthropist; shared Academy Award and Golden Globe for screenplay Good Will Hunting; appeared in Saving Private Ryan, Invictus.
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1969
The “Days of Rage” begin in Chicago; the Weathermen faction of the Students for a Democratic Society initiate 3 days of violent antiwar protests.
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1968
U.S. forces in Vietnam launch Operation SEALORDS (South East Asia Lake, Ocean, River and Delta Strategy), an attack on communist supply lines and base areas in and around the Mekong Delta.
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1967
Guerrilla Che Guevara captured in Bolivia.
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1965
C. J. Ramone, musician, sometimes vocalist of The Ramones.
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1959
Erik Gundersen, motorcycle speedway rider; won 3 Speedway World Championships, 2 Long Track World Championships, and 7 World Team Cup awards (riding for Denmark in the latter).
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1956
Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitches the first perfect game in World Series history against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
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1952
Edward Zwick, director, producer whose films often are based on historic events (Glory, The Last Samurai).
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1949
Sigourney Weaver, actress; (Aliens film series, Gorillas in the Mist).
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1948
Johnny Ramone, musician, songwriter, founding member of The Ramones band.
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1943
R. L. Stine, author, screenwriter, producer; known as the “Stephen King of children’s literature” for his hundreds of horror novels written for younger readers.
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Chevy Chase, actor, comedian, known for his roles on Saturday Night Live TV series and comedic movies (National Lampoon’s Summer Vacation, Caddyshack).
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1941
Jesse Jackson, civil rights leader.
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1939
Lynne Stewart, US attorney convicted of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists (2005) and perjury (2010).
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Paul Hogan, comedian, actor; won Golden Globe for his role as “Crocodile” Dundee (1986).
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Nazi Germany annexes Western Poland.
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1936
Rona Barrett, gossip columnist; co-host of NBC’s Tomorrow program (1980-81).
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1932
Indian Air Force established.
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1926
Cesar Milstein, molecular biologist.
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1922
Lilian Gatlin becomes the first woman pilot to fly across the United States.
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1921
First live radio broadcast of a football game; Harold W. Arlin was the announcer when KDKA of Pittsburgh broadcast live from Forbes Field as the University of Pittsburgh beat West Virginia University 21–13.
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1919
The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives pass the Volstead Prohibition Enforcement Bill.
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1918
US Army corporal Alvin C. York kills 28 German soldiers and captures 132 in the Argonne Forest; promoted to sergeant and awarded US Medal of Honor and French Croix de Guerre.
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1917
Rodney Porter, British biochemist and Nobel Proze winner.
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1912
First Balkan War begins as Montenegro declares war against the Ottoman Empire.
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1906
Karl Ludwig Nessler first demonstrates a machine in London that puts permenant waves in hair. The client wears a dozen brass curlers, each wearing two pounds, for the six-hour process.
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1900
Maximilian Harden is sentenced to six months in prison for publishing an article critical of the German Kaiser.
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1897
Journalist Charles Henry Dow, founder of the Wall Street Journal, begins charting trends of stocks and bonds.
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1895
Juan Peron, Argentinean dictator.
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1890
Eddie Rickenbacker, U.S. fighter pilot in World War I, aviation pioneer.
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1871
The Great Chicago Fire begins in southwest Chicago, possibly in a barn owned by Patrick and Katherine O’Leary. Fanned by strong southwesterly winds, the flames raged for more than 24 hours, eventually leveling three and a half square miles and wiping out one-third of the city. Approximately 250 people were killed in the fire; 98,500 people were left homeless; 17,450 buildings were destroyed.
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1862
The Union is victorious at the Battle of Perryville, the largest Civil War combat to take place in Kentucky.
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1855
Arrow, a ship flying the British flag, is boarded by Chinese who arrest the crew, thus beginning the Second Chinese War.
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1840
King William I of Holland abdicates.
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1810
James Wilson Marshall, discoverer of gold in California.
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1690
Belgrade is retaken by the Turks.
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876
Charles the Bald is defeated at the Battle of Andernach.