1871 - Great Chicago Fire: A large fire in Chicago, Illinois pre-empts news reporting of the Peshtigo, Wisconsin fire, burns 1,200,000 acres in one day, eventually destroys about 17,450 buildings, kills about 250 people and leaves another 90,000 homeless.
1871 - In Wisconsin, a forest fire starts to burn across six counties, eventually killing over 1,100 people.
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."
2001 - American radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh announces to his listeners that he is completely deaf in his left ear and only has partial hearing in his right ear