Historical EventsToday: 08 October

Events

• 314 - Roman Emperor Licinius is defeated by his colleague Constantine I at the Battle of Cibalae, and loses his European territories.


• 451 - At Chalcedon, a city of Bithynia in Asia Minor, the first session of the Council of Chalcedon begins (ends on November 1).


• 1075 - Dmitar Zvonimir is crowned king of Croatia.


• 1480 - Great standing on the Ugra river, a standoff between the forces of Akhmat Khan, Khan of the Great Horde, and the Grand Duke Ivan III of Russia, which resulted in the retreat of the Tataro-Mongols and eventual disintegration of the Horde.


• 1582 - Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.


• 1600 - San Marino adopts its written constitution.


• 1821 - The government of general José de San Martín establishes the Peruvian Navy.


• 1856 - The Second Opium War between several western powers and China begins with the Arrow Incident on the Pearl River.


• 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Perryville - Union forces under General Don Carlos Buell halt the Confederate invasion of Kentucky by defeating troops led by General Braxton Bragg at Perryville, Kentucky.


• 1871 - Four major fires break out on the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago, Peshtigo, Wisconsin, Holland, Michigan, and Manistee, Michigan. The Great Chicago Fire is the most famous of these, having left nearly 100,000 people homeless, although the Peshtigo Fire killed as many as 2,500 people making it the deadliest fire in United States history.


• 1879 - War of the Pacific: the Chilean Navy defeats the Peruvian Navy in the Battle of Angamos, Peruvian Admiral Miguel Grau is killed in the encounter.


• 1895 - Eulmi incident- Queen Min of Joseon, the last empress of Korea, is assassinated and her corpse burnt by the Japanese in Gyeongbok Palace.


• 1912 - First Balkan War begins: Montenegro declares war against Turkey.


• 1918 - World War I - In the Argonne Forest in France, United States Corporal Alvin C. York almost single-handedly kills 25 German soldiers and captures 132.


• 1928 - Joseph Szigeti debuted Alfredo Casella's Violin Concerto.


• 1932 - The Indian Air Force is established.


• 1939 - World War II: Germany annexes Western Poland.


• 1941 - World War II: In their invasion of the Soviet Union, Germany reaches the Sea of Azov with the capture of Mariupol.


• 1944 - The Battle of Crucifix Hill, a World War II battle, occurs on Crucifix Hill just outside of Aachen. Capt. Bobbie Brown receives a Medal of Honor for his heroics in this battle.


• 1952 - Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash kills 112 people.


• 1962 - Spiegel scandal: Der Spiegel publishes the article "Bedingt abwehrbereit" ("Conditionally prepared for defense") about a NATO manoeuver called "Fallex 62", which uncovered the sorry state of the Bundeswehr (Germany's army) facing the communist threat from the east at the time. The magazine was soon accused of treason.


• 1967 - Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia.


• 1968 - Vietnam War: Operation Sealords - United States and South Vietnamese forces launch a new operation in the Mekong Delta.


• 1969 - The opening rally of the Days of Rage occurs, organized by the Weather Underground in Chicago, Illinois.


• 1970 - Vietnam War: In Paris, a Communist delegation rejects US President Richard Nixon's October 7 peace proposal as "a maneuver to deceive world opinion."


• 1973 - Yom Kippur War: Gabi Amir's armored brigade attacks Egyptian occupied positions on the Israeli side of the Suez Canal, in hope of driving them away. The attack fails, and over 150 Israeli tanks are destroyed.


• 1974 - Franklin National Bank collapses due to fraud and mismanagement; at the time it was the largest bank failure in the history of the United States.


• 1978 - Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.60mph at Blowering Dam, Australia.


• 1982 - Poland bans Solidarity.


• 1990 - Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: In Jerusalem, Israeli police kill 17 Palestinians and wound over 100 near the Dome of the Rock mosque on the Temple Mount


• 1991 - The Croatian Parliament cuts all remaining ties with Yugoslavia


• 1998 - Oslo Gardermoen airport opening after the close down of Fornebu.


• 1999 - New Coligny Calendar, NCC, The beginning of a new era of the Coligny calendar, the oldest material Celtic calendar.


• 2001 - A twin engine Cessna and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) jetliner collide in heavy fog during takeoff from Milan, Italy killing 118.


• 2001 - U.S. President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security.


• 2005 - The Kashmir earthquake hits parts of northern South Asia at 03:50 UTC.