October 8
Today in America's Present Past
1633 | Massachusetts Bay Colony formed its first government.
1793 | Founder John Hancock died.
1838 | Politician and diplomat John Hay was born.
1855 | Indian Wars: Rogue River Wars start.
1869 | POTUS: President Franklin Pierce died.
1869 | Inventor J. Frank Duryea was born.
1871 | The Great Chicago fire starts.
1871 | A massive forest fire destroys Peshtigo, Wisconsin, killing between 1,200 and 2,500 people.
1873 | First women’s prison opened (in Indianapolis, Indiana).
1888 | SCOTUS: Chief Justice Melville Fuller was sworn in.
1889 | Entrepreneur C.E. Woolman was born.
1890 | Aviator Eddie Rickenbacker was born.
1914 | Poet Adelaide Crapsey died.
1918 | WWI: Alvin York single-handedly wipes out a German machine gun nest in WWI.
1927 | Missionary Jim Elliot was born.
1934 | Bruno Hauptmann was indicted for the murder of Charles Lindbergh’s son.
1935 | Entertainer American Ozzie Nelson wed Harriet Hilliard.
1936 | Entrepreneur William Henry Stark died.
1941 | Activist Jessie Jackson was born.
1942 | Radio: “The Abbott and Costello Show” debuted.
1943 | Author Robert Lawrence Stine was born.
1944 | Radio: “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” debuted.
1944 | Politician Wendell Wilkie died.
1945 | Inventor Percy Spencer patented the microwave oven.
1943 | Comedian Cornelius Chase was born.
1949 | Actress Sigourney Weaver was born.
1952 | Director Edward Zwick was born.
1960 | Entrepreneur Reed Hastings was born.
1964 | Musician Priscilla “CeCe” Winan was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1969 | Civil Rights: Days of Rage Weathermen riots start in Chicago, Illinois.
1970 | Actor Matt Damon was born.
1980 | Actor Nick Cannon was born.
1985 | Musician Bruno Mars was born.
1985 | War on Terror: Islamic terrorists murder Leon Klinghoffer.
1998 | Congress: The U.S. House votes to begin Impeachment hearings on President Clinton.
2003 | Peter Agre and Roderick MacKinnon win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
2011 | Musician Roger Williams died.