Today in History, 10/8

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.
1856: The Second Opium War between several western powers and China begins with the Arrow Incident on the Pearl River.
1862: At the Battle of Perryville, Union forces under General Don Carlos Buell halt the Confederate invasion of Kentucky by defeating troops led by General Braxton Bragg.

Gen. Bragg

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.1890: Eddie Rickenbacker, American WWI flying ace, is born.1895: The Eulmi Incident takes place. Queen Min of Joseon, the last empress of Korea, is assassinated and her corpse burnt by the Japanese in Gyeongbok Palace.1918: In the Argonne Forest in France, United States Corporal Alvin C. York almost single-handedly kills 25 German soldiers and captures 132.1920: Frank Herbert, author of the Dune novels, is born.1939: Paul Hogan is born.

1941: In their invasion of the Soviet Union, Germany reaches the Sea of Azov with the capture of Mariupol.
1941: Jesse Jackson is born. Here's his speech from the 1984 DNC, which I have shamelessly ripped off on occasion.

1943: Chevy Chase is born.

1944: The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet debuts on CBS Radio.
1945: President Harry S. Truman announces that the secret of the atomic bomb would be shared only with Britain and Canada.
1946: Dennis Kucinich is born. His wife is smoking hot.1948: Sarah Purcell, host of Real People, is born.

1949: Sigourney Weaver is born.

1954: Michael Dudikoff, star of dozens of low-rent martial arts films like American Ninja 4: The Annihilation, is born.
1955: Lonnie Pitchford, bluesman is born.
1956: Stephanie Zimbalist is born.
1956: Don Larsen pitches the only perfect game in a World Series as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0 in Game 5.1967: Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia.
1969: The opening rally of the Days of Rage occurs, organized by the Weather Underground in Chicago, Illinois.
1970: Matt Damon is born. Matt Damon!

1970: Soviet author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is named winner of the Nobel Prize for literature.1979: Kristanna Loken is born. She played the lady Terminator in the not-really-all-that-good Terminator 3.1982: All labor organizations in Poland, including Solidarity, are banned.
1985: The hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro murder American passenger Leon Klinghoffer and dump his body (and wheelchair) overboard.Today in History elements mostly cribbed from The History Channel, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Jewish World Review, The Writer's Almanac and anything else I can dig up.