Today in History

Today is Thursday, October 8, the 281st day of 2015. There are 84 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On October 8, 2005, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake flattened villages on the Pakistan-India border, killing an estimated 86,000 people.

On this date:

In 1869, the 14th president of the United States, Franklin Pierce, died in Concord, New Hampshire.

In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire erupted; fires also broke out in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, and in several communities in Michigan.

In 1890, American aviation hero Eddie Rickenbacker was born in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1918, U.S. Army Cpl. Alvin C. York led an attack that killed 25 German soldiers and captured 132 others in the Argonne Forest in France.

In 1934, Bruno Hauptmann was indicted by a grand jury in New Jersey for murder in the death of the kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman told a press conference in Tiptonville, Tennessee, that the secret scientific knowledge behind the atomic bomb would be shared only with Britain and Canada.

In 1956, Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series to date as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5, 2-0.

In 1957, the Brooklyn Baseball Club announced it was accepting an offer to move the Dodgers from New York to Los Angeles.

In 1967, former British Prime Minister Clement Attlee died in London at age 84.

In 1970, Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn was named winner of the Nobel Prize for literature.

In 1982, all labor organizations in Poland, including Solidarity, were banned.

In 1998, the House triggered an open-ended impeachment inquiry against President Bill Clinton in a momentous 258-176 vote; 31 Democrats joined majority Republicans in opening the way for nationally televised impeachment hearings.

Ten years ago: An Associated Press Television News crew covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina videotaped three New Orleans police officers beating retired teacher Robert Davis. (Two of the officers involved were fired; one of them, Lance Schilling, committed suicide, while the other, Robert Evangelist, was cleared of battery and false imprisonment and reinstated to the police force.) Auto supplier Delphi Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Delphi emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2009.)

Five years ago: Imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, prompting a furious response from China. British aid worker Linda Norgrove, who'd been taken captive in Afghanistan, was killed during a U.S. special forces rescue attempt, apparently by a U.S. grenade. Gen. James Jones announced he was quitting as President Barack Obama's national security adviser. Albertina Walker, the Grammy-winning singer from Chicago known as the "Queen of Gospel," died at age 81.

One year ago: President Barack Obama told top military commanders at the Pentagon that he was confident the U.S. would keep making progress in its fight against the Islamic State group. Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who was the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, died at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas 10 days after being admitted. U.S. researchers Eric Betzig and William Moerner and German scientist Stefan Hell were named recipients of the Nobel Prize for chemistry for giving optical microscopes much sharper vision than was thought possible.

Today's Birthdays: Entertainment reporter Rona Barrett is 79. Actor Paul Hogan is 76. Rhythm-and-blues singer Fred Cash (The Impressions) is 75. Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson is 74. Comedian Chevy Chase is 72. Author R.L. Stine is 72. Actor Dale Dye is 71. Country singer Susan Raye is 71. TV personality Sarah Purcell is 67. Rhythm-and-blues singer Airrion Love (The Stylistics) is 66. Actress Sigourney Weaver is 66. Rhythm-and-blues singer Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool & the Gang) is 65. Producer-director Edward Zwick is 63. Country singer-musician Ricky Lee Phelps is 62. Actor Michael Dudikoff is 61. Comedian Darrell Hammond is 60. Actress Stephanie Zimbalist is 59. Rock musician Mitch Marine is 54. Actress Kim Wayans is 54. Rock singer Steve Perry (Cherry Poppin' Daddies) is 52. Actor Ian Hart is 51. Gospel/rhythm-and-blues singer CeCe Winans is 51. Rock musician C.J. Ramone (The Ramones) is 50. Actress-producer Karyn Parsons is 49. Singer-producer Teddy Riley is 49. Actress Emily Procter is 47. Actor Dylan Neal is 46. Actor-screenwriter Matt Damon is 45. Actress Kristanna Loken is 36. Rhythm-and-blues singer Byron Reeder (Mista) is 36. Rock-soul singer-musician Noelle Scaggs (Fitz and the Tantrums) is 36. Actor Nick Cannon is 35. Actor Max Crumm is 30. Singer-songwriter-producer Bruno Mars is 30. Actor Angus T. Jones is 22. Actress Molly Quinn is 22.

Thought for Today: "Don't let yesterday use up too much of today." -- Will Rogers, American humorist (1879-1935).

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