8 October 1361
A judicial combat was (supposedly) held on the Île Notre Dame in Paris between a dog and the man suspected of the murder of its master. The dog was victorious and the man hanged.
8 October 1480
In what became known as the Great Stand on the Ugra river, the Russians, under Ivan III, faced down the Tatar Great Horde’s attempt to invade Muscovy.
8 October 1582
In Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland, the implementation of Pope Gregory XIII’s controversial new calendar (which we still use today) means that, spookily, this day never happens.
8 October 1878
English artist Alfred Munnings is born at Mendham in Suffolk. Best known for his paintings of horses, he will become president of the Royal Academy in 1944 and receive a knighthood in the same year.
8 October 1879
A Chilean naval squadron captured the Peruvian ironclad Huascar off Angamos Point, north of Antofagasta, Chile. The elimination of the threat posed by the Huascar enabled the Chileans to mount a number of seaborne operations against Peru.
8 October 1952
112 people were killed and 340 injured when two express trains collided at Harrow and Wealdstone station and a third train crashed into the wreckage.
8 October 1967
Former Prime Minister Clement Attlee dies aged 84.
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