Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Oct. 8, the 281st day of 2019. There are 84 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 8, 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.

On this date:

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

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 1944, "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," starring Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, made its debut on C-B-S Radio.

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

In 1985, the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro killed American passenger Leon Klinghoffer, who was in a wheelchair, and threw his body overboard.

In 1997, Scientists reported the Mars Pathfinder had yielded what could be the strongest evidence yet that Mars might once have been hospitable to life.

In 2002, A federal judge approved President George W. Bush's request to reopen West Coast ports, ending a 10-day labor lockout that was costing the U.S. economy an estimated $1 to $2 billion a day.

In 2004, thirty-four people, most of them Israelis, were killed when suicide bombers blew up the Taba Hilton Hotel in Egypt.

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

In 2017, Harvey Weinstein was fired from The Weinstein Company amid allegations that he was responsible for decades of sexual harassment against actresses and employees. Vice President Mike Pence left the 49ers-Colts game in Indianapolis after about a dozen San Francisco players took a knee during the national anthem.

Ten years ago: An Arizona sweat lodge ceremony turned deadly as some participants became ill and collapsed inside the 415-square-foot structure; three died. (Motivational speaker James Arthur Ray, who'd led the ceremony, was convicted in 2011 of three counts of negligent homicide and served 20 months in prison.) A powerful car bomb exploded outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul, killing 17 people. Romanian-born German writer Herta Mueller won the Nobel Prize in literature.

Five years 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.

One year ago: President Donald Trump said he had no plans to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The Nobel Prize in economics was awarded to American researchers William Nordhaus of Yale University and Paul Romer of New York University; Nordhaus was honored for his work on the economics of climate change, and Romer had produced research showing how governments can advance innovation. The New York Yankees lost by the largest margin in the team's long post-season history, 16-1, to the Boston Red Sox; Boston's Brock Holt became the first player ever to hit a single, double, triple and home run in the same post-season game. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees became the NFL's all-time leader in yards passing during a 43-19 win over the Washington Redskins.

Today's Birthdays: Entertainment reporter Rona Barrett is 83. Actor Paul Hogan is 80. Rhythm-and-blues singer Fred Cash (The Impressions) is 79. Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson is 78. Comedian Chevy Chase is 76. Author R.L. Stine is 76. Actor Dale Dye is 75. Country singer Susan Raye is 75. TV personality Sarah Purcell is 71. Rhythm-and-blues singer Airrion Love (The Stylistics) is 70. Actress Sigourney Weaver is 70. Rhythm-and-blues singer Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool & the Gang) is 69. Producer-director Edward Zwick is 67. Country singer-musician Ricky Lee Phelps is 66. Actor Michael Dudikoff is 65. Comedian Darrell Hammond is 64. Actress Stephanie Zimbalist is 63. Rock musician Mitch Marine is 58. Actress Kim Wayans is 58. Rock singer Steve Perry (Cherry Poppin' Daddies) is 56. Actor Ian Hart is 55. Gospel/rhythm-and-blues singer CeCe Winans is 55. Rock musician C.J. Ramone (The Ramones) is 54. Actress-producer Karyn Parsons is 53. Singer-producer Teddy Riley is 53. Actress Emily Procter is 51. Actor Dylan Neal is 50. Actor-screenwriter Matt Damon is 49. Actor-comedian Robert Kelly is 49. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is 49. Actor Martin Henderson is 45. Actress Kristanna Loken is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Byron Reeder (Mista) is 40. Rock-soul singer-musician Noelle Scaggs (Fitz and the Tantrums) is 40. Actor Nick Cannon is 39. Actor J.R. Ramirez is 39. Actor Max Crumm is 34. Singer-songwriter-producer Bruno Mars is 34. Actor Angus T. Jones is 26. Actress Molly Quinn is 26. Actress/singer Bella Thorne is 22.

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

Copyright 2019, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.