Notable Deaths on October 8

Q: Who died on October 8?

Notable people who died on October 8 include: Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, Pilgrim I, Xiao Sagezhi, Helen of Zadar, Princess Constance of Greater Poland (born c.1245).

Q: What is Wendell Willkie known for?

Wendell Willkie, American captain, lawyer, and politician (born 1892)

1944 — Wendell Willkie

American captain, lawyer, and politician (born 1892)

October 8 has seen 107 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 705 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · October 8 — Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 107 people 705 – 2025

Did you know

involvement in World War II, won the 1940 election with about 55% of the popular vote and took the electoral college vote by a wide margin.

Did you know

Willkie appealed to many convention delegates as the Republican field's only interventionist: although the U.S

Did you know

Wendell Lewis Willkie was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 Republican nominee for president of the United States

Did you know

remained neutral prior to Pearl Harbor, he favored greater U.S

Did you know

involvement in World War II to support Britain and other Allies

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan

Umayyad caliph (born 646)

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam, was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from April 685 until his death in October 705. A member of the first generation of born Muslims, his early life in Medina was occupied with…

705

Pilgrim I

archbishop of Salzburg

Pilgrim I was a Bavarian nobleman and churchman. He served as the archbishop of Salzburg from 907 until his death and was in charge of the East Frankish royal chapel and chancery under Conrad I from 911 until 918.

923

Xiao Sagezhi

Chinese Khitan empress

Xiao Sagezhi, posthumous name Empress Huaijie (懷節皇后), was an empress consort of the Khitan-led Liao dynasty of China. She was one of the two empresses of Emperor Shizong and was the mother of Emperor Jingzong.

951

Helen of Zadar

queen consort of the Kingdom of Croatia

Helen of Zadar, also known as Helen the Glorious, was the queen consort of the Kingdom of Croatia, as the wife of King Michael Krešimir II, from 946 to 969, a period which was marked by "peace, order and expeditious…

976

Princess Constance of Greater Poland (born c.1245)

Constance of Greater Poland was a princess of Greater Poland, a member of the House of Piast, and by marriage a Margravine of Brandenburg–Stendal.

1281

John I

Duke of Brittany (born 1217)

John I, known as John the Red due to the colour of his beard, was Duke of Brittany from 1221 to his death and 2nd Earl of Richmond in 1268.

1286

Emperor Fushimi of Japan (born 1265)

Emperor Fushimi was the 92nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1287 through 1298.

1317

Cola di Rienzo

Roman tribune (born c.1313)

Nicola di Lorenzo Gabrini, commonly known as Cola di Rienzo or Rienzi, was an Italian politician and leader, who styled himself as the "tribune of the Roman people".

1354

John Beauchamp

3rd Baron Beauchamp

John de Beauchamp, 3rd Baron Beauchamp de Somerset was an English peer.

1361

Jacqueline

Countess of Hainaut (born 1401)

Jacqueline, of the House of Wittelsbach, was a noblewoman who ruled the counties of Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut in the Low Countries from 1417 to 1433. She was also Dauphine of France for a short time between 1415 and…

1436

Filippo Lippi

artist (born 1406)

Filippo Lippi, also known as Lippo Lippi, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Quattrocento and a Carmelite priest. He was an early Renaissance master of a painting workshop, who taught many painters. Sandro…

1469

Marina de Guevara

Spanish nun executed by the Spanish inquisition (born 1517),

Marina de Guevara, was a Spanish nun. Accused of being a Lutheran by the Spanish Inquisition, she was executed in the famous auto da fe in Valladolid on 8 October 1559.

1559

Ishikawa Goemon

ninja and thief of Japan (born 1558)

Ishikawa Goemon was the leader of a group of bandits during the Azuchi-Momoyama period in Japan. Over time, and especially during the Edo period (1603–1867), his life and deeds became a center of attention, and he…

1594

Antoine de Montchrestien

French soldier, playwright, and economist (born 1575)

Antoine de Montchrestien was a French soldier, dramatist, adventurer and economist.

1621

Christen Sørensen Longomontanus

Danish astronomer and mathematician (born 1562)

Christen Sørensen Longomontanus was a Danish astronomer.

1647

John Greaves

English mathematician and astronomer (born 1602)

John Greaves was an English mathematician, astronomer and antiquarian.

1652

John George I

Elector of Saxony (born 1585)

John George I, was Elector of Saxony from 1611 to 1656. He led Saxony through the Thirty Years' War, which dominated his 45-year reign.

1656

Jean de Quen

French missionary, priest, and historian (born 1603)

Jean de Quen was a French Jesuit missionary, priest and historian. As head of Jesuit missions of New France, he founded the mission to Saguenay. In 1647, Jean de Quen was the first European to reach the shores of…

1659

Yongzheng Emperor of China (born 1678)

The Yongzheng Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Shizong of Qing, personal name Yinzhen, was the fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the third Qing emperor to rule over China proper.

1735

Henry Fielding

English novelist and playwright (born 1707)

Henry Fielding was an English writer and judge known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His famous novels include Shamela (1741), Joseph Andrews (1742), The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749) and…

1754

Jean-Joseph de Mondonville

French violinist and composer (born 1711)

Jean-Joseph de Mondonville, also known as Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville, was a French violinist and composer. He was a younger contemporary of Jean-Philippe Rameau and enjoyed great success in his day.…

1772

John Hancock

American merchant and politician, 1st Governor of Massachusetts (born 1737)

John Hancock was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He was the longest-serving president of the Continental Congress, having served as the second…

1793

Andrew Kippis

English minister and author (born 1725)

Andrew Kippis was an English nonconformist clergyman and biographer.

1795

Emmanuele Vitale

Maltese general and politician (born 1758)

Emmanuele Vitale was a Maltese notary, commander and statesman. During the Siege of Malta, he commanded 10,000 irregular Maltese soldiers.

1802

Thomas Cochran

Canadian lawyer and judge (born 1777)

Thomas Cochran was a Nova Scotia lawyer and judge in Prince Edward Island and Upper Canada.

1804

James Elphinston

Scottish orthographer, phonologist, and linguist (born 1721)

James Elphinston was a well noted 18th-century Scottish educator, orthographer, phonologist and linguistics expert.

1809

Juan O'Donojú

last Spanish ruler of Mexico (born 1762)

Juan José Rafael Teodomiro de O'Donojú y O'Ryan was a Spanish-Irish military officer, diplomat and Viceroy of New Spain from 21 July 1821 to 28 September 1821 during the Mexican War of Independence. He was the last…

1821

François-Adrien Boieldieu

French composer (born 1775)

François-Adrien Boieldieu was a French composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French Mozart". Although his reputation is largely based upon his operas, Boieldieu composed other works and among them, his Harp…

1834

Franklin Pierce

American general, lawyer, and politician, 14th President of the United States (born 1804)

Franklin Pierce was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to national unity, he alienated…

1869

Miguel Grau Seminario

Peruvian admiral (born 1834)

Miguel María Grau Seminario was a Peruvian Navy officer and politician renowned for his role in the War of the Pacific. He earned the nickname "Gentleman of the Seas" for his kind and chivalrous treatment of defeated…

1879

Austin F. Pike

American lawyer and politician (born 1819)

Austin Franklin Pike was a United States representative and senator from New Hampshire. Born in Hebron, New Hampshire, he pursued an academic course, studied law, and was admitted to the bar of Merrimack County in 1845.…

1886

Alexei Savrasov

Russian painter and academic (born 1830)

Alexei Kondratyevich Savrasov was a Russian landscape painter and creator of the lyrical landscape style. The most famous and a celebrated work is The Rooks Have Returned.

1897

Larry Semon

American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1889)

Lawrence Semon was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter during the silent film era. In his day, Semon was considered a major movie comedian, but he is now remembered mainly for working with both Stan…

1928

John Monash

Australian general and engineer (born 1865)

General Sir John Monash was an Australian military commander of the First World War and a civil engineer. He commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade before the war and then, shortly after its outbreak, became commander of…

1931

Premchand

Indian author and screenwriter (born 1880)

Dhanpat Rai Srivastava, better known as Munshi Premchand based on his pen name Premchand, was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani literature.

1936

Red Ames

American baseball player and manager (born 1882)

Leon Kessling "Red" Ames was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1903 to 1919 for the New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia…

1936

Ahmet Tevfik Pasha

Ottoman politician, 292nd Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (born 1845)

Ahmet Tevfik Pasha, later Ahmet Tevfik Okday after the Turkish Surname Law of 1934, was an Ottoman diplomat and statesman of Crimean Tatar origin. He was the last grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire.

1936

William Henry Stark

American businessman (born 1851)

William Henry Stark was an industrial leader whose contributions helped the city of Orange, Texas develop financially. Stark was the president of the Lutcher Moore Cypress Lumber Company of Lutcher, Louisiana.

1936

Sergey Chaplygin

Russian physicist, mathematician, and engineer (born 1869)

Sergey Alexeyevich Chaplygin was a Russian and Soviet physicist, mathematician, and mechanical engineer. He is known for mathematical formulas such as Chaplygin's equation and for a hypothetical substance in cosmology…

1942

Felix Salten

Austrian author and critic (born 1869)

Felix Salten was an Austrian author and literary critic. His most famous work is Bambi, a Life in the Woods, which was adapted into an animated feature film, Bambi, by Walt Disney Productions in 1942.

1945

Joe Adams

American baseball player and manager (born 1877)

Joe Edward "Old Wagon Tongue" Adams was an American Major League Baseball player and minor league manager. He was also known as "Old Wagon Tongue."

1952

Nigel Bruce

British actor (born 1895)

William Nigel Ernle Bruce was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring…

1953

Kathleen Ferrier

English soprano (born 1912)

Kathleen Mary Ferrier was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the classical…

1953

Iry LeJeune

American accordion player (born 1928)

Ira "Iry" LeJeune was one of the best selling and most popular Cajun musicians in the mid to late 1940s into the early 1950s.

1955

Ran Bosilek

Bulgarian author and translator (born 1886)

Ran Bosilek, born Gencho Stanchev Negentsov, was a Bulgarian author of children's books. Three years before his death, in 1955, he translated Astrid Lindgren's children's book "Karlsson-on-the-Roof" into Bulgarian.

1958

Remedios Varo

Spanish-Mexican painter (born 1908)

María de los Remedios Alicia Rodriga Varo y Uranga was a Spanish surrealist painter, writer, and graphic artist. Her work features Surrealist worlds, where science, mysticism, and magic mix together.

1963

Clement Attlee

English soldier, lawyer, and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1883)

Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. Attlee was deputy prime minister during…

1967

Jean Giono

French author and poet (born 1895)

Jean Giono was a French writer who wrote works of fiction mostly set in the Provence region of France.

1970

Gabriel Marcel

French philosopher, playwright, and critic (born 1889)

Gabriel Honoré Marcel was a French philosopher, playwright, music critic and leading Christian existentialist. The author of over a dozen books and at least thirty plays, Marcel's work focused on the modern individual's…

1973

Giorgos Papasideris

Greek singer-songwriter (born 1902)

Giorgos Papasideris was a Greek singer, composer, and lyricist. He was born on Salamis Island. After leaving elementary school, he spent his entire career working professionally in the field of traditional Greek folk…

1977

Bertha Parker Pallan

American archaeologist (born 1907)

Bertha Pallan Thurston Cody was an American archaeologist, working as an assistant in archaeology at the Southwest Museum. She was also married to actor Iron Eyes Cody. She is thought to be the first Native American…

1978

Brian Edmund Baker

English air marshal (born 1896)

Air Marshal Sir Brian Edmund Baker was an officer of the Royal Air Force who served in both World Wars. He was a flying ace in World War I credited, in conjunction with his gunners, with twelve victories, comprising one…

1979

Jayaprakash Narayan

Indian politician (born 1902)

Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava, also known as JP and Lok Nayak, was an Indian politician, theorist and independence activist. He is mainly remembered for leading the mid-1970s opposition against Prime Minister Indira…

1979

Fernando Lamas

Argentinian-American actor and director (born 1916)

Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos was an Argentine-American actor and director of the Golden Age of Argentine cinema. He is the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas.

1982

Philip Noel-Baker

English runner and politician, Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1889)

Philip John Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker was a British politician, diplomat, academic, athlete, and renowned campaigner for disarmament. He carried the British team flag and won a silver medal for the 1500m run at the…

1982

Joan Hackett

American actress (born 1934)

Joan Ann Hackett was an American actress. She acted in film, television, and theater. She played roles in The Group (1966), Will Penny (1968), Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969), The Last of Sheila (1973), and The…

1983

Malcolm Ross

American captain, physicist, and balloonist (born 1919)

Malcolm David Ross was a captain in the United States Naval Reserve (USNR), an atmospheric scientist, and a balloonist who set several records for altitude and scientific inquiry, with more than 100 hours flight time in…

1985

Gordon Welchman

English-American mathematician and scholar (born 1906)

William Gordon Welchman was an English mathematician. During World War II, he worked at Britain's secret decryption centre at Bletchley Park, where he was one of the most important contributors. In 1948, after the war,…

1985

Konstantinos Tsatsos

Greek scholar and politician, 2nd President of Greece (born 1899)

Konstantinos D. Tsatsos was a Greek diplomat, professor of law, scholar and politician. He served as the second President of the Third Hellenic Republic from 1975 to 1980.

1987

Willy Brandt

German lawyer and politician, 4th Chancellor of Germany, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1913)

Willy Brandt was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and concurrently served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1969 to 1974. He was…

1992

Robert Berdella

American serial killer, torturer, and rapist (born 1949)

Robert Andrew Berdella Jr. was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered at least six young men after forcing his victims to endure periods of up to six weeks of captivity. His crimes took…

1992

Oscar M. Ruebhausen

American lawyer (born 1912)

Oscar M. Ruebhausen was an American lawyer, adviser to Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, and president of the New York City Bar Association.

1994

Christopher Keene

American conductor and educator (born 1946)

Christopher Keene was an American conductor.

1995

Bertrand Goldberg

American architect, designed the Marina City Building (born 1913)

Bertrand Goldberg was an American architect and industrial designer, best known for the Marina City complex in Chicago, Illinois, the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world at the time of completion.

1997

John McLendon

American basketball player and coach (born 1915)

John B. McLendon Jr. was an American basketball coach who is recognized as the first African American basketball coach at a predominantly white university and the first African American head coach in any professional…

1999

Charlotte Lamb

English author (born 1937)

Sheila Ann Mary Coates Holland, best known by her pen name Charlotte Lamb, was a British novelist. She signed her novels with her married and maiden names and under the pen names Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf and…

2000

Dmitry Polyansky

First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union (born 1917)

Dmitry Stepanovich Polyansky was a Soviet bureaucrat who was First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union from 1965 to 1973. From 1960 to 1976 he was a full member of the Presidium / Politburo…

2001

Phyllis Calvert

English actress (born 1915)

Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill, known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s such as The Man in Grey (1943) and was one of the…

2002

Jacques Richard

Canadian ice hockey player (born 1952)

Joseph Alfred Gilles Jacques Richard was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Atlanta Flames, Buffalo Sabres, and Quebec Nordiques. After an impressive junior…

2002

James Chace

American historian and author (born 1931)

James Clarke Chace was an American historian, writing on American diplomacy and statecraft. His books include the critically acclaimed Acheson: The Secretary of State Who Created the American World (1998), the…

2004

Mark Porter

New Zealand race car driver (born 1974)

Mark Robert "Didley" Porter was a New Zealand racing driver who competed in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar touring car racing series in Australia.

2006

Constantine Andreou

Greek painter and sculptor (born 1917)

Constantine Andreou was a Brazilian-born Greek painter and sculptor with a highly successful career that spanned six decades. Andreou has been praised by many as an eminent figure in international art of the 20th…

2007

Ângelo Carvalho

Portuguese footballer (born 1925)

Ângelo Ferreira Carvalho , was a Portuguese footballer who played for FC Porto, as defender.

2008

Bob Friend

English journalist (born 1938)

Bob Friend, MBE was one of the original news anchors for the Sky News channel from its launch in 1989 until his retirement in late 2003.

2008

Eileen Herlie

Scottish-American actress (born 1918)

Eileen Herlie was a Scottish actress.

2008

George Emil Palade

Romanian-American biologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1912)

George Emil Palade was a Romanian-American cell biologist. In 1974 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Albert Claude and Christian de Duve. The prize was granted for his innovations in…

2008

Frank Bourgholtzer

American journalist (born 1919)

Frank Bourgholtzer was an American journalist and television correspondent.

2010

Eileen Crofton

British physician and author (born 1919)

Lady Eileen Crofton was a British physician and author. She was best known for her anti-smoking campaigns.

2010

Al Davis

American football coach, general manager, and NFL team owner (born 1929)

Allen R. Davis was an American professional football executive and coach. He was the managing general partner, principal owner and de facto general manager for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL)…

2011

Mikey Welsh

American guitarist and painter (born 1971)

Michael Edward Welsh was an American artist and musician who played bass for several bands, including the rock band Weezer. During Weezer's hiatus, he played with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo in the band Homie, during…

2011

Roger Williams

American pianist (born 1924)

Roger Williams was an American popular music pianist. Described by the Los Angeles Times as "one of the most popular instrumentalists of the mid-20th century", and "the rare instrumental pop artist to strike a lasting…

2011

Varsha Bhosle

Indian singer and journalist (born 1956)

Varsha Bhosle was an Indian singer, journalist and writer based in Mumbai. She was the daughter of acclaimed playback singer Asha Bhosle.

2012

Marilou Diaz-Abaya

Filipino director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1955)

Marilou Correa Diaz-Abaya was a Filipina film director. She was posthumously conferred the Order of National Artists of the Philippines for Film and Broadcast Arts in 2022, she was the founder and president of the…

2012

Eric Lomax

Scottish captain and author (born 1919)

Eric Sutherland Lomax was a British Army officer who was sent to a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in 1942. He is most notable for his book, The Railway Man, about his experiences before, during, and after World War II,…

2012

Nawal Kishore Sharma

Indian politician, 20th Governor of Gujarat (born 1925)

Nawal Kishore Sharma was an Indian politician, who served as Governor of Gujarat state from July 2004 to July 2009.

2012

Philip Chevron

Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1957)

Philip Ryan, professionally known as Philip Chevron, was an Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist and record producer. He was best known as the lead guitarist for the Celtic punk band the Pogues and as the frontman for…

2013

Paul Desmarais

Canadian businessman and philanthropist (born 1927)

Paul Guy Desmarais Sr. was a Canadian financier and philanthropist, based in Montreal. With an estimated family net worth of US$4.5 billion, Desmarais was ranked by Forbes as the fourth wealthiest person in Canada, and…

2013

Rod Grams

American journalist and politician (born 1948)

Rodney Dwight Grams was an American politician and television news anchor who served in both the United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. A local news anchor, Grams became well known for working at…

2013

Rodolphe Kasser

Swiss archaeologist and philologist (born 1927)

Rodolphe Kasser, was a Swiss philologist, archaeologist, and a Coptic scholar. He specialized in ancient Coptic language manuscripts, notably including the Codex Tchacos which includes the Gospel of Judas. He worked as…

2013

Andy Pafko

American baseball player and manager (born 1921)

Andrew Pafko was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs (1943–51), Brooklyn Dodgers (1951–52), and Milwaukee Braves (1953–59). He batted and threw…

2013

Akong Rinpoche

Tibetan-Chinese spiritual leader (born 1939)

Chöje Akong Tulku Rinpoche was a tulku in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and co-founder of the Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland, Tara Rokpa Therapy and charity ROKPA International.

2013

Morris Lurie

Australian author and playwright (born 1938)

Moses "Morris" Lurie was an Australian writer of comic novels, short stories, essays, plays, and children's books. His work focused on the comic mishaps of Jewish-Australian men of Lurie's generation, who are invariably…

2014

Alden E. Matthews

American missionary (born 1921)

Alden Ewart Matthews was a Congregationalist missionary to China and Japan.

2014

Harden M. McConnell

American chemist and academic (born 1927)

Harden M. McConnell was an American physical chemist. His many awards included the National Medal of Science and the Wolf Prize, and he was elected to the National Academy of Science."

2014

Zilpha Keatley Snyder

American author (born 1927)

Zilpha Keatley Snyder was an American author of books for children and young adults. Three of Snyder's works were named Newbery Honor books: The Egypt Game, The Headless Cupid and The Witches of Worm. She was most…

2014

Jeen van den Berg

Dutch speed skater (born 1928)

Jeen van den Berg was a Dutch long track speed skating athlete primarily known as the winner of the Elfstedentocht of 1954. He competed in the race a record seven times, with his first race being in 1947 and his final…

2014

Richard Davies

Welsh-English actor (born 1926)

Dennis Wilfred Davies, known professionally as Richard Davies, was a Welsh actor. He was probably best known for his performance as the exasperated schoolmaster Mr Price in the popular LWT situation comedy Please Sir!.…

2015

Jim Diamond

Scottish singer-songwriter (born 1951)

James Aaron Diamond was a Scottish singer-songwriter, best known for his three top 5 hits: "I Won't Let You Down" (1982), as the lead singer of PhD; and his solo performances "I Should Have Known Better", a United…

2015

Dennis Eichhorn

American author and illustrator (born 1945)

Dennis P. Eichhorn was an American writer, best known for his adult-oriented autobiographical comic book series Real Stuff. His stories, often involving sex, drugs, and alcohol, have been compared to those of Jack…

2015

Lindy Infante

American football player and coach (born 1940)

Gelindo "Lindy" Infante was an American football player and coach, who became an offensive coordinator and head coach in both the National Football League (NFL) and the United States Football League (USFL). Infante…

2015

Paul Prudhomme

American chef and author (born 1940)

Paul Prudhomme, also known as Gene Autry Prudhomme, was an American celebrity chef whose specialties were Creole and Cajun cuisines, which he was also credited with popularizing. He was the chef proprietor of K-Paul's…

2015

Whitey Ford

American professional baseball pitcher (born 1928)

Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford, nicknamed "the Chairman of the Board", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played his entire 16-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees. He was a…

2020

Pat Fischer

American football player (born 1940)

Patrick Fischer was an American professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1961 to 1967, and the Washington Redskins from 1968 to 1977. He…

2024

Tim Johnson

American lawyer and politician (born 1946)

Timothy Peter Johnson was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1997 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States representative for…

2024

Luis Tiant

Cuban baseball player (born 1940)

Luis Clemente Tiant Vega, nicknamed "El Tiante", was a Cuban professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 19 years, primarily for the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox.

2024

Miguel Ángel Russo

Argentine footballer and manager (born 1956)

Miguel Ángel Russo was an Argentine professional football player and manager who played as a defensive midfielder. As a player, Russo spent his entire career in Estudiantes de La Plata. As a manager, he coached for over…

2025

Notable deaths

Who died on October 8?

Wendell Willkie — American lawyer and corporate executive (1892–1944)

FeaturedWendell Willkie

Death year1944

Known forWillkie appealed to many convention delegates as the Republican field's only interventionist: although the U.S

Deaths on this date107 (705 – 2025)

Explore October 8

Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.

Events on October 8 Birthdays on October 8 Deaths on October 8 October 8 quiz

Also on October 8 in History

2020

Second Nagorno-Karabakh War: Azerbaijan twice deliberately targeted the Church of the Holy Savior Ghazanchetsots of Shusha. Wikipedia →

2019

About 200 Extinction Rebellion activists block the gates of Leinster House (parliament) in the Republic of Ireland. Wikipedia →

2016

In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, the death toll rises to nearly 900. Wikipedia →

See all events on October 8

October 7 October 9

Explore notable deaths on the interactive calendar.

Open the Calendar All Blog Posts

Notable Deaths on October 8

1944 — Wendell Willkie

Who died on October 8?

Explore October 8

Also on October 8 in History

History runs on facts, and this project runs on coffee!