On This Day October 8

1993
No sex after divorce: A group of Italian Roman Catholic bishops announces that those who have sex after divorce will not be allowed to take part in communion.

1987
Jerry Falwell resigns from the PTL ministry after a bankruptcy court rejected his reorganization plan. The ministry was $50,000,000 in debt.

1984
The Burning Bed, starring Farrah Fawcett, airs on NBC provoking violent acts by several viewers.

1956
First perfect no-hitter World Series baseball game: Don Larsen pitching for the New York Yankees and beating the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0.

1918
World War I - Sgt. York: The legendary U.S. war hero singlehandedly kills 25 members of a German machine-gun battalion and captures 132 others during the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

1904
First Vanderbilt Cup auto race, the winner was George Heath driving a Panhard.

1871
Great Chicago Fire: Over four square miles of Chicago is destroyed and 250 people are killed - It was not started by Mrs. O'Leary's cow.

1950
Kool (Robert Bell), American singer, with Kool and the Gang, Ladies Night (1979, #1) and Celebration (1980, #1).

1949
Sigourney Weaver (Susan Weaver), American actress. Film: Alien (1979), Ghostbusters (1984), and Gorillas in the Mist (1988).

1943
Chevy Chase (Cornelius Crane Chase), American Emmy-winning actor, comedian, short-lived talk show host. TV: Saturday Night Live.

1936
Rona Barrett (Rona Burnstein), American gossip columnist and TV personality.

1927 d. 1956
Jim Elliot, American missionary to Ecuador's Quechua Indians. His was killed by the Aucas while trying to minister to them. Quote: "It is dangerous to get the cart before the horse, but essential in God's program to get the heart before the course." His death was the basis for the book/movie End of the Spear. (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

1920 d. 1986
Frank Patrick Herbert, American science-fiction author, Dune (1965).

1917 d. 1993
Billy Conn, American Hall of Fame boxer. In 1941, while leading Joe Louis 8 rounds to 4, instead of playing it safe and taking the decision, he decided to slug it out with the heavyweight champ. Louis quickly knocked him out.

1895 d. 1974
Juan Domingo Per¢n, President of Argentina (1946-55, 73-74). His opposition to the Church led to his excommunication by Pope Pius XII. He was forced to resign in 1955 after a revolt, but was welcomed back in 1973 by an unstable country.

1890 d. 1973
Eddie Rickenbacker, American aviator and race car driver, called "The Ace of Aces." He was the most decorated pilot of World War I.

1869 d. 1967
Frank James Duryea, American inventor, designed the first successful gas-powered car in the U.S. and won the first U.S. automobile race (1895).

1810 d. 1885
James Wilson Marshall, American pioneer. He started the California Gold Rush when he discovered gold at Sutter's Mill (1848).

1585 d. 1672
Heinrich Schutz, German composer, called the "Father of German music." He composed Dafne (1727), the first German opera.

1982 b. 1915
Fernando Lamas, Argentine actor, the Latin Lover of U.S. films during the 1950s.

1793 b. 1737
John Hancock, 4th and 13th president of the Continental Congress (1775-77, 1785-86), signer of the Declaration of Independence, and first governor of Massachusetts (1780-85).

October 8

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