This day in history

[October 08, 2008]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Oct. 8, the 282nd day of 2008. There are 84 days left in the year. The Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, begins at sunset.

Today's highlight in history:

On Oct. 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire erupted; fires also broke out in Peshtigo, Wis., and in the Michigan communities of Holland, Manistee and Port Huron.

On this date:

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

In 1892, Sergei Rachmaninoff first publicly performed his piano Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Opus 3, Number 2, in Moscow.

In 1918, Sgt. Alvin C. York almost single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and helped capture 132 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 son of Charles A. Lindbergh.

In 1945, President Truman announced that the secret of 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 1970, Soviet author Aleksander Solzhenitsyn was named winner of the Nobel Prize for literature.

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

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

Ten years ago: The House triggered an open-ended impeachment inquiry against President Clinton in a momentous 258-176 vote; 31 Democrats joined majority Republicans in opening the way for nationally televised impeachment hearings. Portuguese novelist Jose Saramago won the Nobel literature prize.

Five years ago: A day after being elected governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was promised "a very smooth transition" by ousted Gov. Gray Davis and vowed to "open up the books" in dealing the state's ailing economy. Americans Peter Agre and Roderick MacKinnon won the Nobel Prize in chemistry; American Robert Engle and Briton Clive Granger won the Nobel Prize in economics. Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames was tabbed to become the first black captain in NHL history.

One year ago: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced his country would halve its remaining troop contingent in Iraq in the spring of 2008. (Britain ended up postponing the withdrawal amid a spike in militia violence.) Michael Devlin was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping one of two boys he'd held captive in his suburban St. Louis apartment. (Devlin later pleaded guilty to dozens of other counts, resulting in a total of 74 life sentences.) Americans Mario R. Capecchi, Oliver Smithies and Briton Martin J. Evans won the 2007 Nobel Prize in medicine. Racing great John Henry, the thoroughbred who'd earned more than $6.5 million before retiring as a gelding, was euthanized at the Kentucky Horse Park at age 32.

Today's birthdays: Entertainment reporter Rona Barrett is 72. Actor Paul Hogan is 69. Rhythm-and-blues singer Fred Cash (The Impressions) is 68. Rev. Jesse Jackson is 67. Comedian Chevy Chase is 65. Author R.L. Stine is 65. Country singer Susan Raye is 64. TV personality Sarah Purcell is 60. Actress Sigourney Weaver is 59. Rhythm-and-blues singer Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool & the Gang) is 58. Producer-director Edward Zwick is 56. Country singer-musician Ricky Lee Phelps is 55. Actor Michael Dudikoff is 54. Comedian Darrell Hammond is 53. Actress Stephanie Zimbalist is 52. Rock musician Mitch Marine is 47. Rock singer Steve Perry (Cherry Poppin' Daddies) is 45. Actor Ian Hart is 44. Gospel/rhythm-and-blues singer CeCe Winans is 44. Rock musician C.J. Ramone (The Ramones) is 43. Singer-producer Teddy Riley is 42. Actress Emily Procter is 40. Actor-screenwriter Matt Damon is 38. Actress Kristanna Loken is 29. Rhythm-and-blues singer Byron Reeder (Mista) is 29. Actor Nick Cannon is 28. Actor Max Crumm is 23. Actor Angus T. Jones is 15.

Thought for today: "Politics are usually the executive expression of human immaturity." -- Vera Brittain, British author (1893-1970)

[Associated Press]

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