Today in History

Today is Thursday, Oct. 8, the 282nd day of 2020. There are 84 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire erupted; fires also broke out in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, and in several communities in Michigan.

On this date:

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

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 1981, at the White House, President Ronald Reagan greeted former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon, who were preparing to travel to Egypt for the funeral of Anwar Sadat.

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 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.

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

In 2014, 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.

In 2017, Harvey Weinstein was fired from The Weinstein Company amid allegations that he was responsible for decades of sexual harassment. 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.

In 2018, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees became the NFL's all-time leader in yards passing during a 43-19 win over Washington.

Ten 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.

Five years ago: Volkswagen's top U.S. executive, Michael Horn, offered deep apologies yet sought to distance himself from the emissions scandal enveloping the world's largest automaker, asserting before a congressional subcommittee that top corporate officials had no knowledge of the cheating software installed in 11 million diesel cars. Svetlana Alexievich, a Belarusian journalist and prose writer, won the Nobel Prize in literature. Chef Paul Prudhomme, 75, who'd sparked a nationwide interest in Cajun food, died in New Orleans.

One year ago: White House Counsel Pat Cipollone sent a letter to House leaders declaring that President Donald Trump would not cooperate with what the letter called an "illegitimate" impeachment investigation; Democrats responded that the letter was a clear reason to write an article of impeachment charging Trump with obstruction. Home in Vermont while recovering from a heart attack a week earlier, Bernie Sanders said he had no plans to abandon his Democratic presidential campaign, but that he might slow down from a frenetic pace that could have contributed to his health problems. Democrat Joe Biden unveiled an education plan that would make community and technical college free, and federal college loan programs more generous. Business executive Gregory Abbott and his wife Marcia were each sentenced to a month in prison for paying $125,000 to rig their daughter's college entrance exams.

Today's Birthdays: Entertainment reporter Rona Barrett is 84. Actor Paul Hogan is 81. Rhythm-and-blues singer Fred Cash (The Impressions) is 80. Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson is 79. Comedian Chevy Chase is 77. Author R.L. Stine is 77. Actor Dale Dye is 76. Country singer Susan Raye is 76. TV personality Sarah Purcell is 72. Rhythm-and-blues singer Airrion Love (The Stylistics) is 71. Actor Sigourney Weaver is 71. Rhythm-and-blues singer Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool & the Gang) is 70. Producer-director Edward Zwick is 68. Country singer-musician Ricky Lee Phelps is 67. Actor Michael Dudikoff is 66. Comedian Darrell Hammond is 65. Actor Stephanie Zimbalist is 64. Rock musician Mitch Marine is 59. Actor Kim Wayans is 59. Rock singer Steve Perry (Cherry Poppin' Daddies) is 57. Actor Ian Hart is 56. Gospel/rhythm-and-blues singer CeCe Winans is 56. Rock musician C.J. Ramone (The Ramones) is 55. Actor-producer Karyn Parsons is 54. Singer-producer Teddy Riley is 54. Actor Emily Procter is 52. Actor Dylan Neal is 51. Actor-screenwriter Matt Damon is 50. Actor-comedian Robert Kelly is 50. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is 50. Actor Martin Henderson is 46. Actor Kristanna Loken is 41. Rhythm-and-blues singer Byron Reeder (Mista) is 41. Rock-soul singer-musician Noelle Scaggs (Fitz and the Tantrums) is 41. Actor Nick Cannon is 40. Actor J.R. Ramirez is 40. Actor Max Crumm is 35. Singer-songwriter-producer Bruno Mars is 35. Actor Angus T. Jones is 27. Actor Molly Quinn is 27. Actor/singer Bella Thorne is 23.