More on this Day - October, 8 | Britannica (2025)

Go to Today's Date

138 Biographies

See Featured Events On This Day

Matt Damon

American actor, screenwriter, and producer

October 8, 1970 -

Matt Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and producer who was noted for his clean-cut good looks and intelligent performances. He won an Academy Award for best original screenplay for Good Will Hunting...

R.L. Stine

American author

October 8, 1943 -

R.L. Stine is an American novelist who was best known for his horror books for children, including the Goosebumps and Fear Street series. Stine graduated from the Ohio State University in 1965, having...

Franklin Pierce

14th president of the United States

November 23, 1804 - October 8, 1869

14th president of the United StatesFranklin Pierce was the 14th president of the United States (1853–57). He failed to deal effectively with the corroding sectional controversy over slavery in the decade...

John Hancock

United States statesman

January 12, 1737 - October 8, 1793

John Hancock was an American statesman who was a leading figure during the Revolutionary War and the first signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. After graduating from Harvard (1754), Hancock...

Reed Hastings

American entrepreneur

October 8, 1960 -

Reed Hastings is an American entrepreneur who was cofounder (1997) of Netflix, a media-streaming and video-rental company. He served as its CEO (1998–2020) and co-CEO (2020–23) before becoming executive...

Jesse Jackson

American minister and activist

October 8, 1941 -

Jesse Jackson is an American civil rights leader, Baptist minister, and politician whose bids for the U.S. presidency (in the Democratic Party’s nomination races in 1983–84 and 1987–88) were the most successful...

Jacques Derrida

French philosopher

July 15, 1930 - October 8, 2004

Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher whose critique of Western philosophy and analyses of the nature of language, writing, and meaning were highly controversial yet immensely influential in much of...

Clement Attlee

prime minister of United Kingdom

January 3, 1883 - October 8, 1967

Clement Attlee was a British Labour Party leader (1935–55) and prime minister (1945–51). He presided over the establishment of the welfare state in Great Britain and the granting of independence to India,...

Juan Perón

president of Argentina

October 8, 1895 - July 1, 1974

Juan Perón was an army colonel who became president of Argentina (1946–52, 1952–55, 1973–74) and was the founder and leader of the Peronist movement. Perón in his career was in many ways typical of the...

Premchand

Indian author

July 31, 1880 - October 8, 1936

Premchand was an Indian author of novels and short stories in Hindi and Urdu who pioneered in adapting Indian themes to Western literary styles. Premchand worked as a teacher until 1921, when he joined...

Willy Brandt

German statesman

December 18, 1913 - October 8, 1992 or October 9, 1992

Willy Brandt was a German statesman, leader of the German Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, or SPD) from 1964 to 1987, and chancellor of the Federal Republic...

Frank Herbert

American author

October 8, 1920 - February 11, 1986

Frank Herbert was an American science-fiction writer noted as the author of the best-selling Dune series of futuristic novels, a group of highly complex works that explore such themes as ecology, human...

Wendell Willkie

American politician

February 18, 1892 - October 8, 1944

Wendell Willkie was a U.S. Republican presidential candidate in 1940 who tried unsuccessfully to unseat President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He subsequently became identified with his famous “One World” concept...

Dennis Kucinich

American politician

October 8, 1946 -

Dennis Kucinich is an American politician who served as mayor of Cleveland (1977–79) and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1997–2013) and who sought the Democratic nomination for president...

John Cairncross

British civil servant and spy

July 25, 1913 - October 8, 1995

John Cairncross was a British literary scholar and civil servant who was identified in the 1990s as the “fifth man” in the notorious Cambridge spy ring that included Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean,...

Edward Vernon Rickenbacker

American pilot

October 8, 1890 - July 23, 1973

Edward Vernon Rickenbacker was a pilot, industrialist, and the most celebrated U.S. air ace of World War I. Rickenbacker developed an early interest in internal-combustion engines and automobiles, and,...

Yongzheng

emperor of Qing dynasty

December 13, 1678 - October 8, 1735

Yongzheng was the reign name (nianhao) of the third emperor (reigned 1722–35) of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12), during whose rule the administration was consolidated and power became concentrated in...

Henry Fielding

English author

April 22, 1707 - October 8, 1754

Henry Fielding was a novelist and playwright, who, with Samuel Richardson, is considered a founder of the English novel. Among his major novels are Joseph Andrews (1742) and Tom Jones (1749). Fielding...

Ursula von der Leyen

German politician

October 8, 1958 -

Ursula von der Leyen is a Belgian-born German politician who is the first woman to serve as Germany’s minister of defense (2013–19). In July 2019 she became the first woman to be elected president of the...

Otto Warburg

German biochemist

October 8, 1883 - August 1, 1970

Otto Warburg was a German biochemist awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1931 for his research on cellular respiration. After earning doctorates in chemistry at the University of Berlin...

John Hay

United States statesman

October 8, 1838 - July 1, 1905

John Hay was the U.S. secretary of state (1898–1905) who skillfully guided the diplomacy of his country during the critical period of its emergence as a great power; he is particularly associated with...

Zog I

king of Albania

October 8, 1895 - April 9, 1961

Zog I was the president of Albania from 1925 to 1928 and king from 1928 to 1939. Though able to manipulate Albania’s internal affairs to his own advantage, he came to depend heavily on Benito Mussolini’s...

Fra Filippo Lippi

Italian painter

c.1406 - October 8, 1469 or October 10, 1469

Fra Filippo Lippi was a Florentine painter in the second generation of Renaissance artists. While exhibiting the strong influence of Masaccio (e.g., in Madonna and Child, 1437) and Fra Angelico (e.g.,...

Walther von Reichenau

German general

October 8, 1884 - January 17, 1942

Walther von Reichenau was a German field marshal who commanded the army that captured Warsaw (1939) and the 6th Army in its encircling movement through Belgium (1940) on the Western front during World...

Henry Christophe

ruler of Haiti

October 6, 1767 - October 8, 1820

Henry Christophe was a leader in the war of Haitian independence (1791–1804) and later president (1807–11) and self-proclaimed King Henry I (1811–20) of northern Haiti. The facts of Christophe’s early...

Sir John Monash

Australian engineer and soldier

June 27, 1865 - October 8, 1931

Sir John Monash was a civil engineer and soldier, best known for his role as commander of the Australian army corps in France during World War I. Monash attended Scotch College and Melbourne University,...

Ram Vilas Paswan

Indian politician

July 5, 1946 - October 8, 2020

Ram Vilas Paswan was an Indian politician and government official who was a long-serving national parliamentarian and was the founder and longtime leader of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), a regional political...

Margaret Douglas, countess of Lennox

English noble

October 8, 1515 - March 7, 1578

Margaret Douglas, countess of Lennox was a prominent intriguer in England during the early reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Lady Margaret Douglas was the daughter of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and...

Heinrich Schütz

German composer

October 8, 1585 - November 6, 1672

Heinrich Schütz was a composer, widely regarded as the greatest German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1599 he became a chorister at Kassel, where the landgrave of Hesse-Kassel provided him with...

Marina Ivanovna Tsvetayeva

Russian poet

October 8, 1892 - August 31, 1941

Marina Ivanovna Tsvetayeva was a Russian poet whose verse is distinctive for its staccato rhythms, originality, and directness and who, though little known outside Russia, is considered one of the finest...

Faith Ringgold

American artist and author

October 8, 1930 - April 13, 2024

Faith Ringgold was an American artist and author who became famous for innovative quilted narrations that communicate her political beliefs. Jones grew up in New York City’s Harlem district, and while...

César Milstein

Argentine immunologist

October 8, 1927 - March 24, 2002

César Milstein was an Argentine-British immunologist who in 1984, with Georges Köhler and Niels K. Jerne, received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work in the development of monoclonal...

Betty Boothroyd

British politician

October 8, 1929 - February 26, 2023

Betty Boothroyd was a British Labour Party politician who was the first female speaker of the House of Commons (1992–2000). Boothroyd, whose parents were textile workers, grew up in northern England. She...

Gabriel Marcel

French philosopher and author

December 7, 1889 - October 8, 1973

Gabriel Marcel was a French philosopher, dramatist, and critic who was associated with the phenomenological and existentialist movements in 20th-century European philosophy. His work and style are often...

Philip John Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker

British statesman

November 1, 1889 - October 8, 1982

Philip John Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker was a British statesman and advocate of international disarmament who received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1959. Fluent in seven languages, he campaigned widely...

Gus Hall

American politician

October 8, 1910 - October 13, 2000

Gus Hall was an American political organizer who was the general secretary of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA; 1959–2000) and a four-time candidate for U.S. president (1972,...

Warren Truss

Australian politician

October 8, 1948 -

Warren Truss is an Australian politician who served as leader of the Nationals (formerly [1982–2006] National Party of Australia) from 2007 to 2016. He also held various cabinet positions in Liberal-National...

Kathleen Ferrier

British singer

April 22, 1912 - October 8, 1953

Kathleen Ferrier was a contralto who was one of the most widely beloved British singers of her day. She won a national piano competition at the age of 15 and the following year earned a certificate as...

Jayaprakash Narayan

Indian political leader

October 11, 1902 - October 8, 1979

Jayaprakash Narayan was an Indian political leader and theorist. Narayan was educated at universities in the United States, where he became a Marxist. Upon his return to India in 1929, he joined the Indian...

Helen Morgan

American actress and singer

August 2, 1900 - October 8, 1941

Helen Morgan was an American actress and singer whose talent was shown to greatest effect in the 1920s and ’30s as a nightclub performer of songs of heartbreak and hard living. Helen Riggins took the name...

Felix Salten

Austrian novelist

September 6, 1869 - October 8, 1945

Felix Salten was an Austrian novelist and journalist, author of the children’s classic and adult allegory Bambi, a sensitively told subjective story of the life of a wild deer. As a self-taught young writer...

John Cowper Powys

British author

October 8, 1872 - June 17, 1963

John Cowper Powys was a Welsh novelist, essayist, and poet, known chiefly for his long panoramic novels, including Wolf Solent (1929), A Glastonbury Romance (1932), and Owen Glendower (1940). He was the...

Théodore Chassériau

French painter

September 20, 1819 - October 8, 1856

Théodore Chassériau was a French painter who attained some measure of success in his attempt to fuse the Neoclassicism of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and the Romanticism of Eugène Delacroix. As a boy,...

Komitas

Armenian composer

October 8, 1869 - October 22, 1935

Komitas was an ethnomusicologist and composer who created the basis for a distinctive national musical style in Armenia. Orphaned at age 11, he was sent to study liturgical singing at a seminary in Vagarshapat...

Neil Harvey

Australian cricketer

October 8, 1928 -

Neil Harvey is an Australian cricketer who was noted as an outstanding left-handed batsman. Harvey first gained recognition in 1948 as the youngest member of the Australian team against India at Melbourne....

John Henninger Reagan

United States political leader

October 8, 1818 - March 6, 1905

John Henninger Reagan was an American congressman who was postmaster general of the Confederate States of America and later coauthor of the bill creating the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission. Reagan...

Jean Giono

French author

March 30, 1895 - October 8, 1970

Jean Giono was a French novelist, a celebrant of nature whose works are set in Provence and whose rich and diverse imagery has been widely admired. A love of nature came to Giono from his mountain town...

Rouben Mamoulian

American director

October 8, 1897 - December 4, 1987

Rouben Mamoulian was a Georgian-born American theatrical and motion-picture director noted for his contribution to the development of cinematic art at the beginning of the sound era. His achievements included...

Miyazawa Kiichi

prime minister of Japan

October 8, 1919 - June 28, 2007

Miyazawa Kiichi was the prime minister of Japan from 1991 to 1993. Born into a family of politicians, Miyazawa graduated in law from Tokyo Imperial University in 1941 and soon secured a civilian position...

Cola Di Rienzo

Italian leader

1313 - October 8, 1354

Cola Di Rienzo was an Italian popular leader who tried to restore the greatness of ancient Rome. He later became the subject of literature and song, including a novel by the English novelist E.G.E. Bulwer-Lytton...