This day in geek history: October 8
1920
Frank Herbert's birthday: Frank Herbert was a science fiction author, journalist, and photographer, and is best known for his Dune series. Dune, the first book in the series, was published in 1965 and is considered a classic in the science fiction genre (Wikipedia quotes it as being the best selling science fiction novel of all time). He died February 11, 1986.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert