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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).

1480 - Great standing on the Ugra river

1582 - Due to 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.

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.

1888 - Melville Fuller is sworn in as the 8th Chief Justice of the United States.

1895 - Queen Min of Joseon, the last empress of Korea, is assassinated.

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.

1927 - In Game 4 of the 1927 Stanley Cup, Boston Bruins defenseman Billy Coutu starts a brawl, punching referee Jerry LaFlamme. As a result, Coutu becomes the first player to be suspended for life from the NHL.

1927 - Murderers' Row: the New York Yankees sweep the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the 1927 World Series in four games.

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 radio show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet debuts

1952 - A three-train disaster in London kills 112 people.

1956 - New York Yankees baseball pitcher Don Larsen pitches the first (and only) perfect game in World Series history in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.

1957 - Baseball: Walter O'Malley announces that the Dodgers are going to move from Brooklyn, New York to Los Angeles, California

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.

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."

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 Airport Gardermoen, Norway opens.

1999 - New Coligny Calendar, NCC, The beginning of a new era of the Colignay 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, which will be headed by Tom Ridge.

2003 - Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark's engagement to Australian lawyer Mary Donaldson is announced

2004 - Martha Stewart goes to jail.

2004 - Schapelle Corby is arrested for drug smuggling in Bali.

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

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1515 - Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (d. 1578)

1676 - Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro, Spanish scholar (d. 1764)

1713 - Yechezkel Landau, Polish rabbi and Talmudist (d. 1793)

1715 - Michel Benoist, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1774)

1720 - Jonathan Mayhew, American minister and patriot (d. 1766)

1747 - Jean-François Rewbell, French politician (d. 1807)

1765 - Harman Blennerhassett, Irish lawyer (d. 1831)

1789 - John Ruggles, American politician (d. 1874)

1818 - John Henninger Reagan, American politician (d. 1905)

1834 - Walter Kittredge, American musician/composer (d. 1905)

1850 - Henri Louis le Chatelier, French chemist (d. 1936)

1863 - Edythe Chapman, American actress (d. 1948)

1864 - Ozias Leduc, Québécois painter (d. 1955)

1870 - Louis Vierne, French organist (d. 1937)

1877 - Hans Heysen, German-born landscape artist (d. 1968)

1883 - Otto Heinrich Warburg, German physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)

1887 - Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor (d. 1956)

1888 - Ernst Kretschmer, German psychiatrist (d. 1964)

1889 - C. E. Woolman, American airline founder (d. 1966)

1890 - Edward Rickenbacker, American pilot (d. 1973)

1890 - Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (d. 1971)

1895 - Juan Perón, President of Argentina (d. 1974)

1895 - Zog I, King of Albania (d. 1961)

1896 - Julien Duvivier, French film director (d. 1967)

1901 - Doris Allen, American psychologist (d. 2002)

1901 - Eivind Groven, Norwegian composer (d. 1977)

1910 - Kirk Alyn, American actor (d. 1999)

1910 - Gus Hall, American union organizer (d. 2000)

1910 - Ray Lewis, Canadian runner (d. 2003)

1917 - Billy Conn, American boxer (d. 1993)

1917 - Walter Lord, American author (d. 2002)

1917 - Danny Murtaugh, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976)

1917 - Rodney Robert Porter, English biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)

1918 - Jens Christian Skou, Danish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

1920 - Frank Herbert, American writer (d. 1986)

1924 - Alphons Egli, member of the Swiss Federal Council

1927 - Jim Elliot, American missionary (d. 1956)

1927 - César Milstein, Argentine scientist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)

1928 - Neil Harvey, Australian cricketer

1928 - Bill Maynard, British actor

1932 - Ray Reardon, Welsh snooker player

1936 - Rona Barrett, American gossip columnist

1938 - Fred Stolle, Australian tennis player

1938 - Walter Gretzky, father of Wayne Gretzky

1939 - Paul Hogan, Australian actor

1940 - Fred Cash, American singer (The Impressions)

1941 - Jesse Jackson, American clergyman and civil rights activist

1943 - Chevy Chase, American comedian and actor

1943 - R. L. Stine, American author

1944 - Susan Raye, American country singer

1946 - Jean-Jacques Beineix, French film director

1946 - Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Congressman

1948 - Sarah Purcell, American television host

1948 - Johnny Ramone, American guitarist (The Ramones) (d. 2004)

1948 - Pedro López, Colombian serial killer

1949 - Sigourney Weaver, American actress

1950 - Robert Kool Bell, American musician (Kool & the Gang)

1952 - Jan Marijnissen, Dutch politician

1952 - Edward Zwick, American film director/producer

1954 - Michael Dudikoff, American actor

1955 - Bill Elliott, American NASCAR driver

1956 - Stephanie Zimbalist, American actress

1956 - Jeff Lahti, American baseball player

1958 - Steve Coll, American journalist

1959 - Nick Bakay, American actor

1959 - Mike Morgan, American baseball player

1960 - François Pérusse, Québécois humorist (2 minutes du peuple)

1964 - CeCe Winans, American singer

1965 - Ardal O'Hanlon, Irish comedian

1965 - C-Jay Ramone, American bassist (The Ramones)

1966 - Art Barr, American professional wrestler (d. 1994)

1968 - Leeroy Thornhill, British musician (The Prodigy)

1969 - Julia Ann, American porn actress

1969 - Dylan Neal, Canadian actor

1970 - Matt Damon, American actor

1970 - Gauri Khan, wife of Indian actor Shahrukh Khan

1970 - Tetsuya Nomura, Japanese video-game designer

1972 - DJ Q-Ball, American musician (Bloodhound Gang)

1974 - Fredrik Modin, Swedish hockey player

1976 - Renate Groenewold, Dutch speed skater

1977 - Anne-Caroline Chausson, French mountain-bike rider

1979 - Kristanna Loken, American actress and model

1980 - Mike Mizanin, American professional wrestler and host of Smackdown!

1980 - Nick Cannon, American rapper and actor

1983 - Travis Pastrana, American motorsports competitor

1985 - Eiji Wentz, German-Japanese entertainer

1987 - Dustin Breeding, American singer (B5)

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976 - Jelena of Zadar, Croatian queen

1286 - John I of Dreux, Duke of Brittany (b. 1217)

1317 - Fushimi, Emperor of Japan (b. 1265)

1621 - Antoine de Montchrétien, French dramatist and economist

1647 - Christian Sørensen Longomontanus, Danish astronomer (b. 1562)

1652 - John Greaves, English mathematician and antiquarian (b. 1602)

1656 - John George I, Elector of Saxony (b. 1585)

1659 - Jean de Quen, French Jesuit missionary and historian

1735 - Yongzheng Emperor of China (b. 1678)

1754 - Henry Fielding, English author (b. 1707)

1772 - Jean Joseph de Mondonville, French composer (b. 1711)

1793 - John Hancock, American revolutionary and businessman (b. 1737)

1795 - Andrew Kippis, English non-conformist clergyman and biographer (b. 1725)

1809 - James Elphinston, Scottish philologist (b. 1721)

1834 - François-Adrien Boïeldieu, French composer (b. 1775)

1869 - Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States (b. 1804)

1894 - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American physician and writer (b. 1809)

1897 - Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter (b. 1830)

1928 - Larry Semon, comedian (b. 1889)

1931 - Sir John Monash, Australian soldier general (b. 1865)

1936 - William Henry Stark, American business leader (b. 1851)

1936 - Red Ames, American baseball player (b. 1882)

1942 - Sergei Chaplygin, Soviet engineer

1944 - Wendell Willkie, American politician and Presidential candidate (b. 1892)

1945 - Felix Salten, Austrian author (b. 1869)

1952 - Joe Adams, American baseball player (b. 1877)

1953 - Nigel Bruce, British actor (b. 1895)

1953 - Kathleen Ferrier, British contralto (b. 1912)

1958 - Ran Bosilek, Bulgarian author and translator (b. 1886)

1967 - Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1883)

1970 - Mitr Chaibancha, Thai film actor (b. 1934)

1970 - Jean Giono, French author (b. 1895)

1973 - Gabriel Marcel, French philosopher (b. 1889)

1982 - Fernando Lamas, Argentine actor (b. 1916)

1982 - Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, Canadian-born peace activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1889)

1983 - Joan Hackett, American actress (b. 1934)

1990 - B.J. Wilson, English drummer, mainly with Procol Harum (b. 1947)

1992 - Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1913)

1997 - Bertrand Goldberg, American architect (b. 1913)

1999 - John McLendon, American basketball coach (b. 1915)

2004 - Jacques Derrida, French philosopher (b. 1930)

2004 - James Chace, American historian (b. 1931)

2006 - Mark Porter, New Zealand racing driver (b. 1975)

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RC Saints - Saint Susan of Blois

Wales and Cornwall - Saint Keyne

Bolivia - reportedly, Che Guevara is honoured on this day at which he was captured in La Higuera, as San Ernesto, answering prayers for rain.

Also see October 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

French Republican Calendar - Citrouille (Pumpkin) Day, seventeenth day in the Month of Vendémiaire

Day of Independence in Croatia