Historical Events
Capture of Damascus
Oct 1 World War I: Combined Arab and British force under the Lawrence of Arabia, T. E. Lawrence captures Damascus from the Turks
- Oct 3 Boris becomes king of Bulgaria
- Oct 3 Brothers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn open Selwyn Theater at 229 W 42nd St, Times Square, NYC: now known as American Airlines Theatre
- Oct 6 US ship Otranto sinks between Scotland & Ireland, 425 die
Sgt. Alvin York Kills 25 German Soldiers
Oct 8 American soldier Alvin York single-handedly attacks German gun nest, killing at least 25 and capturing 132 Germans
- Oct 10 Baden's Geisz forms government
- Oct 11 Major tsumani shakes Caribbean
- Oct 12 Cloquet fire kills 453 and injures or displaces 52,000 people
- Oct 15 British Q-ship Cymric sinks British submarine J6
- Oct 17 De Kooy airport in Netherlands opens
- Oct 17 Yugoslavia proclaims itself a republic
- Oct 18 Czechoslovakia declares independence from Austro-Hungarian Empire
- Oct 18 NHL's Quebec Bulldogs sold to a Toronto businessman P. J. Quinn
- Oct 18 Russian 10th Army drives out White armies of Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad)
End of World War I
Oct 20 In order to secure a WWI armistice, Germany agrees to further concessions
Gift of Stonehenge
Oct 26 Cecil Chubb gives prehistoric monument Stonehenge to the British nation
- Oct 26 Germany's supreme commander General Eric Ludendorff resigns, protesting the terms to which the German Government has agreed in negotiating an armistice
- Oct 26 Soldiers revolt at Harskamp, Veluwe
- Oct 28 Czechoslovakia gains independence as Austria-Hungary breaks up
Event of Interest
Oct 28 Republic of Czechoslovakia created with Tomáš Masaryk as its 1st president
- Oct 28 Tomáš Massaryk claims independence for Czechoslovakia
- Oct 29 German sailors refuse to obey orders to fight British naval forces and lead a revolt in the naval ports of Wilhelmshaven, beginning the German Revolution
- Oct 30 Slovakia asks for creation of Czechoslovakian state
- Oct 30 WWI: Turkey signs an armistice with the Allies, agreeing to end hostilities at noon on 31 October
- Oct 31 Short-lived Banat Republic founded in territory where Romania, Hungary and Serbia meet
The 1918 Flu Pandemic
Oct 31 Spanish flu kills 21,000 people in the US in a single week
Famous Birthdays
- Oct 1 Antonio Iglesias Álvares, Spanish pianist, composer, educator and critic, born in Orense, Spain (d. 2011)
- Oct 4 Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1998)
- Oct 4 Red Munger, American baseball (MLB All Star 1944, 47, 49; St. Louis Cardinals), born in Houston, Texas (d. 1996)
- Oct 7 Guido Aristarco, Italian film critic (Cinema Nuovo), born in Fossacesia, Italy (d. 1996)
- Oct 7 Helmut Dantine, Austrian-American actor (Shadow of the Cloak), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1982)
- Oct 7 Marcus Klingburg, Israeli epidemiologist and soviet spy, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 2015)
- Oct 8 Jens Christian Skou, Danish scientist (Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1997), born in Lemvig, Denmark (d. 2018)
- Oct 8 Ron Randell, Australian actor (Loves of Carmen, I am a Camera), born in Sydney, New South Wales (d. 2005)
- Oct 9 E. Howard Hunt, American intelligence officer involved in Watergate break-in, born in Hamburg, New York (d. 2007)
- Oct 9 Lila Kedrova, Russian-born actress (Zorba the Greek (1964), Sword of the Valiant, The Tenant), born in Petrograd, Russia (d. 2000)
- Oct 9 Walter Burkemo, American golfer (PGA C'ship 1953), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1986)
- Oct 10 Bobby Byrne, American orchestra leader (Club Seven), born in Columbus, Ohio (d. 2006)
- Oct 10 George Rhodes, American pianist, composer, arranger, and music director (Sammy Davis, Jr. Show), born in Indiana (d. 1985)
- Oct 10 Jean Gimpel, French author and medievalist, born in Paris, France (d. 1996)
- Oct 10 Yigal Allon (né Peikowitz) Israeli politician (Deputy Prime Minister, 1968-74), born in Kfar Tavor, Palestine (d. 1980)
Jerome Robbins (1918-1998)
Oct 11 American Tony and Academy Award-winning theater and ballet choreographer and director (West Side Story; Peter Pan), born in Manhattan, New York
- Oct 12 Emil Cossetto, Croatian composer, born in Trieste, Austria-Hungary (d. 2006)
- Oct 13 Jack MacGowran, Irish actor (King Lear, The Quiet Man, The Exorcist), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1973)
- Oct 13 Robert Walker, American actor and writer (Strangers on a Train, Bataan, Madame Curie), born in Salt Lake City, Utah (d. 1951)
- Oct 14 Doug Ring, Australian cricketer (Australian leggie of the late 40's early 50's), born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia (d. 2003)
- Oct 14 Marcel Chaput, French Canadian politician, born in Hull, Quebec (d. 1991)
- Oct 16 Bill Nichols, American politician (Rep-D-AL, 1967-88), born in Monroe County, Mississippi (d. 1988)
- Oct 16 Géori Boué, French soprano, born in Toulouse, France (d. 2017)
- Oct 16 Tony Rolt, English auto racer (24 Hours of Le Mans, 1953; British Empire Trophy, 1939), born in Bordon, England (d. 2008)
Rita Hayworth (1918-1987)
Oct 17 American actress (Gilda; Cover Girl; The Lady from Shanghai), born in New York City
- Oct 18 Constantine Mitsotakis [Konstantinos Mitsotakis], Prime Minister of Greece (1990 –1993), born in Halepa, Crete (d. 2017)
- Oct 18 James Cameron Tudor, Barbadian politician and diplomat (founded Democratic Labour Party), born in St Michael, Barbados (d. 1995)
- Oct 18 Robert "Bobby" Troup, American jazz pianist and actor (Emergency; Acapulco), born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (d. 1999)
- Oct 19 Charles Evans, British mountaineer and surgeon (deputy leader 1953 British Everest expedition, led 1955 British Kangchenjunga expedition), born in Liverpool, England (d. 1995)
- Oct 19 Louis Althusser, French Marxist philosopher ("For Marx"; "Reading Capital") who strangled his wife, born in Birmendreïs, French Algeria (d. 1990)
- Oct 20 Robert Lochner, German journalist (help JFK with "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech), born in New York City (d. 2003)
- Oct 22 Lou Klein, American baseball infielder (St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia A's) and manager (Chicago Cubs), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1976)
- Oct 23 James Daly, American actor (Medical Center, Planet of the Apes), born in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin (d. 1978)
- Oct 23 Mary Jeanette "Peggy" Moran, American actress (Double Date, Horror Island), born in Clinton, Iowa (d. 2002)
Jim Peters (1918-1999)
Oct 24 English long-distance runner who was 1st to complete a marathon in under 2 hours 20 minutes, born in Hackney, London
- Oct 25 (Greig) "Chubby" Jackson, American big band jazz double-bassist, bandleader, and TV host, born in New York City (d. 2003)
- Oct 26 (George) "Snuffy" Stirnweiss, American MLB baseball second baseman, 1943-52, 2X All-Star. AL Batting Title, 3X World Series (New York Yankess and 2 other teams), born in New York City (d. 1958)
- Oct 26 Ivor Francis, Canadian-American radio, stage, and screen character actor (Dusty's Trail; The Prisoner of Second Avenue), and acting teacher, born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 1986)
- Oct 26 Kamal El Mallakh, Egyptian archaeologist (King Khufu Solar ship), and journalist, born in Upper Egypt (d. 1987)
- Oct 27 Paul Dixon, Ohio talk show host (Paul Dixon Show), born in Albia, Iowa (d. 1974)
- Oct 27 Teresa Wright, American actress (Shadow Of A Doubt; Pride of the Yankees; The Best Years of Our Lives), born in Harlem, New York (d. 2005)
- Oct 28 Harold Shepherdson, British soccer trainer, born in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire (d. 1955)
- Oct 29 Bernard Gordon, American writer and producer (Earth vs. the Flying Saucers), born in New Britain, Connecticut (d. 2007)
- Oct 31 Ian Stevenson, Canadian-American parapsychologist and reincarnation expert, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2007)
Famous Weddings
Charlie Chaplin
Oct 23 Actor Charlie Chaplin (29) weds Mildred Harris (17)
Famous Deaths
- Oct 5 Roland Garros, French stunt flyer, dies
- Oct 6 Arthur O'Hara Wood, Australian tennis player (Australasian C'ship 1914), dies in action WWI at 28
- Oct 7 Hubert Parry, English musicologist and composer (Jerusalem), dies at 70
- Oct 9 Mikhail Vasilyevich Alekseyev, Imperial Russian general and WWI Chief of Staff, murdered at 60
- Oct 9 Raymond Duchamp-Villon, French cubist sculptor (Head of Baudeaire), dies at 41
- Oct 13 Gerrit Engelke, German writer and poet (Briefer der Liebe), dies fighting in WWI at 27
- Oct 15 Sai Baba of Shirdi, Indian saint (b. circa 1838)
- Oct 16 Felix Arndt, American organist, pianist, arranger, and composer ("Desecration Rag"; "Nola"), dies during the Spanish Flu pandemic at 29 [1]
- Oct 17 Gordon White, cricketer (WW I Superb South African batsman 1905-12), dies
- Oct 19 Harold Lockwood, American actor (Tess of the Storm Country), dies from the flu at 31
- Oct 19 Joseph Lesage, French painter/etcher (WWI), dies at 34
- Oct 22 Myrtle Gonzalez, American silent film actress regarded as Hollywood's first Latin and Hispanic movie star actress (Missy, The Chalice of Courage, Her Great Part), dies from influenza and heart ailment at 27
- Oct 24 Alexander Charles Lecocq, composer, dies at 86
- Oct 28 Edward Bouchet, American Physicist, 1st African American to receive US Ph.D, dies at 66
- Oct 28 Ulisse Dini, Italian mathematician and politician (Fondamenti per la teorica delle funzioni di variabili reali), dies at 72
- Oct 31 Egon Schiele, Austrian painter and graphic artist, dies at 28
- Oct 31 [Stephen] István Tisza, Hungarian PM (1903-05, 1913-17), assassinated by soldiers at 57
