October 2008 was the tenth month of the leap year. It began on a Wednesday and ended after 31 days on a Friday.

This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from October 2008.

Template:Portal:Current events/Events by month

Burt F. Bacharach ( /ˈbækəræk/ BAK-ə-rak; born May 12, 1928) is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick. Following on with the initial success of this collaboration, Bacharach went on to produce hits with Dusty Springfield, Bobbie Gentry, Jackie DeShannon and others.

As of 2006^[update], Bacharach had written 70 Top 40 hits in the U.S., and 52 Top 40 hits in the UK.

Burt Bacharach was born in Kansas City, Missouri, but grew up in the Forest Hills section of New York City, graduating from Forest Hills High School in 1946. He is the son of Irma (née Freeman) and Bert Bacharach, a well-known syndicated newspaper columnist, and is of German-Jewish descent. Bacharach studied music at McGill University, under Helmut Blume, at the Mannes School of Music, and at the Music Academy of the West in Montecito, California. His composition teachers included Darius Milhaud, Henry Cowell, and Bohuslav Martinů. Following service in the Army, Bacharach worked as a pianist, both as a solo player and as an accompanist for singers such as Vic Damone, Polly Bergen, Steve Lawrence, the Ames Brothers and Paula Stewart (who became his first wife). For some years he was musical arranger for Marlene Dietrich as well as touring with her.

Medha Patkar (Marathi: मेधा पाटकर, born 1 December 1954) is an Indian social activist. She is known for her role in Narmada Bachao Andolan. She has also filed a public interest petition in the Bombay high court against Lavasa along with other members of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), including Anna Hazare.

MEDHA PATKAR was born in Mumbai Maharashtra in Kudaldeshkar family to Indu and Vasant Khanolkar, a trade union leader and freedom fighter. She was raised by politically and socially active parents. Her father actively fought in the Indian Independence Movement^{[citation needed]}. Her mother was a member of Swadar, an organization setup to help and assist women suffering difficult circumstances arising out of financial, educational, and health related problems. Her parents' activism played a role in shaping her philosophical views.She was often known for her extreme views on growth of country and liberalization.

She got married to Mr. Patkar but got divorced.

She did her M.A. in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

John Paul McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by James Sutton. The character debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 6 September 2006; his storylines have significantly revolved around his sexuality, evolving from the initial denial of his homosexuality, to the pursuit and relations with best friend Craig Dean, the storyline gained a fanbase and garnered them "supercouple status". The storyline received acclaim from LGBT rights charity Stonewall. John Paul later has a relationship with a priest, Kieron Hobbs. In 2008, Sutton quit the serial and his character received a "sunset ending" with Craig, which was promised for fans by executive producer Bryan Kirkwood.

John Paul McQueen was created in 2006; back story given to the character is that he grew up with five sisters (Jacqui, Mercedes, Tina, Carmel, and Michaela), his mum (Myra), and no father. He is characterised as smart, witty, and not afraid to stand up for himself and his beliefs. Sutton described his portrayal of John Paul's personality as different and similar to his own. "He’s very, very quick to take [offence] sometimes," Sutton relayed. "He’s a bit up and down, so that’s a side of him I’m not too keen on, but he’s also very sensitive and loving and he cares a lot about his family and his friends and that side of it is very true to me as well and that’s kind of what I kind of brought to the table." Sutton stated that he had no trouble portraying a gay character because he had "spent a good part of [his] youth [in the theater] and there were a lot of openly gay men".