Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date
Thursday, October 8, 2026
Today is the 281st day of 2026. There are 84 days left in this year.
Notable Events
1871
The Great Chicago Fire erupted.
1892
Sergei Rachmaninoff first publicly performed his piano ''Prelude in C-sharp Minor'' in Moscow.
1918
Sgt. Alvin C. York almost single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and captured 132 in the Argonne Forest in France.
1934
Bruno Hauptmann was indicted for murder in the death of the infant son of Charles A. Lindbergh.
1944
''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' made its debut on CBS Radio.
1945
President Truman announced that the secret of the atomic bomb would be shared only with Britain and Canada.
1956
Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series game as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0.
1970
Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn was named winner of the Nobel Prize for literature.
1982
All labor organizations in Poland, including Solidarity, were banned.
1985
The hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro killed American passenger Leon Klinghoffer, dumping his body and wheelchair overboard.
Notable Births
1890
American aviation hero Eddie Rickenbacker was born in Columbus, Ohio.
Notable Deaths
1869
Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, died in Concord, N.H.