This day in history

[October 08, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, Oct. 8, the 281st day of 2009. 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, Wis., and in several communities in Michigan.

On this date:

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

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 Harry S. 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 1959, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series, defeating the Chicago White Sox 9-3 in Game 6 at Comiskey Park.

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

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

Ten years ago: A damage award to State Farm auto insurance customers swelled to nearly $1.2 billion after a judge in Illinois ruled that the nation's largest auto insurer had committed fraud by using generic auto-body repair parts. (However, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the judgment in 2005.) President Bill Clinton dedicated a new U.S. embassy in Ottawa. Laila Ali, the 21-year-old daughter of Muhammad Ali, made her pro boxing debut by knocking out April Fowler 31 seconds into the fight in Verona, N.Y.

Five years ago: In a testy debate rematch, President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry quarreled over the war in Iraq, jobs, education, health care, abortion, the environment, cheaper drugs and tort reform at a town hall session in St. Louis. A videotape surfaced showing kidnappers beheading British hostage Kenneth Bigley in Iraq. Martha Stewart reported to the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia to begin serving her sentence for lying about a stock sale. Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize. World-renowned French philosopher Jacques Derrida died in Paris at age 74.

One year ago: After a day of bouncing higher and lower, Wall Street plunged again. The Dow Jones industrial average lost another 189 points to close at 9,258 -- the sixth straight day of losses for the Dow. A gunman killed a men's store employee at Knoxville Center Mall in Tennessee; William Johnson faces charges of felony murder, aggravated kidnapping and attempted murder. German farmer Karl Merk, who received the world's first complete double arm transplant, told reporters that incredulity gave way to joy when he woke from surgery to discover he had arms again. Japan's Osamu Shimomura and Americans Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. Stage and TV actress Eileen Herlie died in New York at age 90.

Today's birthdays: Entertainment reporter Rona Barrett is 73. Actor Paul Hogan is 70. R&B singer Fred Cash (The Impressions) is 69. Civil rights activist, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, is 68. Comedian Chevy Chase is 66. Author R.L. Stine is 66. Country singer Susan Raye is 65. TV personality Sarah Purcell is 61. Actress Sigourney Weaver is 60. R&B singer Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool & the Gang) is 59. Producer-director Edward Zwick is 57. Country singer-musician Ricky Lee Phelps is 56. Actor Michael Dudikoff is 55. Comedian Darrell Hammond is 54. Actress Stephanie Zimbalist is 53. Rock musician Mitch Marine is 48. Actress Kim Wayans is 48. Rock singer Steve Perry (Cherry Poppin' Daddies) is 46. Actor Ian Hart is 45. Gospel/R&B singer CeCe Winans is 45. Rock musician C.J. Ramone (The Ramones) is 44. Actress-producer Karyn Parsons is 43. Singer-producer Teddy Riley is 43. Actress Emily Procter is 41. Actor Dylan Neal is 40. Actor-screenwriter Matt Damon is 39. Actress Kristanna Loken is 30. R&B singer Byron Reeder (Mista) is 30. Actor Nick Cannon is 29. Actor Max Crumm is 24. Actor Angus T. Jones is 16. Actress Molly Quinn is 16.

Thought for today: "History is the propaganda of the victors." -- Ernst Toller, German poet and dramatist (1893-1939)

[Associated Press]

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