Historical Events
- Oct 1 Dutch law provides for an 8 hour working day
- Oct 1 Sir Percy Cox landed in Basra to assume his responsibilities as high commissioner in Iraq.
- Oct 2 Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates play first and only MLB triple header in the 20th century; Reds win the first two games, 13-4 and 7-3; Pirates avoid the sweep in the finale, 6-0
- Oct 2 The Chinese sign an agreement with the Russo-Asiatic Bank, largely French and Russian controlled, which will oversee the Chinese Eastern Railway, but give local supervision to China
- Oct 3 American Pro Football Association (later the NFL) plays 1st full round of games; Dayton Triangles beat Columbus Panhandles, 14-0 in first official game at Triangle Park, Dayton
- Oct 3 St Browns 1st baseman George Sisler collects his 257th hit of the season to set MLB record that lasts until the 21st century.; Browns beat White Sox, 16 - 7
- Oct 6 1st brothers oppose each other in World Series, Cleveland's Wheeler Johnston pinch-hits as brother Jimmy plays 3rd base for Brooklyn
- Oct 10 Cleveland Indians outfielder Elmer Smith hits baseball's first ever World Series grand slam and teammate Bill Wambsganss makes the 1st unassisted World Series triple play (Game 5)
- Oct 10 Italy annexes South Tirol (Alto Adige)
- Oct 10 Phoenix Cardinals (then in Chicago) play 1st NFL game, a 0-0 tie
- Oct 12 Baseball World Series: Cleveland Indians beat Brooklyn Robins, 8-1 at League Park for a 5 games to 2 series victory; Indians first Championship
- Oct 12 Construction begins on Holland Tunnel connecting NJ & NYC
- Oct 12 Man O'War's last race & win
- Oct 13 World Series celebration in Wade Park brings out 50,000+ Clevelanders
- Oct 14 Part of Petsamo province ceded by Soviet Union to Finland
Music History
Oct 16 Sigmund Romberg and Alex Gerber's musical "Poor Little Ritz Girl", with additional songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (marking their Broadway debut), closes at the Central Theatre, NYC, after 93 performances
- Oct 17 Decatur Staleys, later known as Chicago Bears, play 1st American Professional Football Association game against an affiliated APFA team; beat Rock Island Independents, 7-0 at Douglas Park, Rock Island, Illinois
- Oct 20 "1st Year" with Frank Craven premieres in NYC
- Oct 23 African demonstrators shot in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- Oct 23 Chicago grand jury indicts Abe Attell, Hal Chase, & Bill Burns as go-betweens in "Black Sox" 1919 World Series Baseball scandal
- Oct 27 League of Nations moves headquarters in Geneva
- Oct 27 Westinghouse radio station in East Pittsburgh, KDKA is granted a Limited Commercial license by the Department of Commerce
- Oct 29 Ed Barrow appointed GM of NY Yankees
- Oct 30 The Communist Party of Australia is founded in Sydney.
- Oct 31 Romania annexes Bessarabia
Famous Birthdays
- Oct 1 Lon "Lonny" Chapman, American actor (Investigator, For the People), born in Tulsa, Oklahoma (d. 2007)
- Oct 1 Walter Matthau, American actor and comedian (The Odd Couple, Bad News Bears), born in New York City (d. 2000)
- Oct 2 Spec Shea, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star, World Series 1947; NY Yankees, Washington Sens), born in Naugatuck, Connecticut (d. 2002)
- Oct 2 William Cramond, Scottish psychiatrist and vice-chancellor (Stirling University), born in Aberdeen, Scotland (d. 2004)
- Oct 4 George Tribe, Australian cricket spin bowler (3 Tests; Northamptonshire; 66 VFL games Footscray), born in Yarraville, Victoria (d. 2009)
- Oct 5 Robert Feenstra, Dutch law historian, born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (d. 2013)
- Oct 6 Lord Donaldson of Lymington, British judge (d. 2005)
- Oct 6 Pietro Consagra, Italian sculptor (d. 2005)
- Oct 7 Georg Leber, German politician (SPD), (d. 2012)
Frank Herbert (1920-1986)
Oct 8 American sci-fi author (Dune series), born in Tacoma, Washington
- Oct 8 Maxi Herber, German figure skater pairs (Olympic gold 1936), born in Munich, Germany (d. 2006)
- Oct 9 Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian poet and writer (Dikt, Jonas), born in Kristiansand, Norway (d. 1976)
- Oct 9 Vivienne Della Chiesa, American lyric soprano who sang on US radio during the 1940s and early 1950s (The American Album of Familiar Music, The Standard Hour), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2009)
- Oct 9 Yusef Lateef [William Huddleston], American jazz saxophonist and flautist, born in Chattanooga, Tennessee (d. 2013)
- Oct 10 Frank Sinkwich, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1942, U of Georgia; NFL Draft #1 pick Detroit Lions 1943; NFL MVP 1944), born in Starjak, Croatia (d. 1990)
- Oct 13 Albert Hague [Marcuse], German-American actor, singer and composer (Fame; How the Grinch Stole Christmas), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2001)
- Oct 13 Laraine Day [La Raine Johnson], American actress (Dr. KIldaire, Foreign Correspondent), born in Roosevelt, Utah (d. 2007)
- Oct 15 Henri Verneuil, French-Armenian playwright and film director (Mélodie en sous-sol), born in Rodosto, Ottoman Turkey (d. 2002)
Mario Puzo (1920-1999)
Oct 15 American novelist (The Godfather, Cotton Club, Earthquake), born in New York City
- Oct 17 Miguel Delibes, Spanish novelist (The Holy Innocents), born in Valladodid, Spain (d. 2010)
- Oct 17 Montgomery Clift, American actor (From Here to Eternity, Judgement at Nuremberg), born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 1966)
- Oct 17 Rudolf Hrusinský, Czech actor and director (Short Cut, Golden Eels), born in Nová Včelnice (d. 1994)
- Oct 18 Melina Mercouri, Greek actress, activist and politician, born in Athens, Greece (d. 1994)
- Oct 19 LaWanda Page [Alberta Peal], American actress (Aunt Esther-Sanford & Sons), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2002)
- Oct 19 Pandurang Shastri Athavale, Indian philosopher, spiritual leader and social revolutionary who founded the Swadhyaya Parivar, born in Roha, Bombay Presidency, British India (d. 2003)
- Oct 20 Dov Noy, Polish-born Jewish scholar of Jewish folklore, born in Kolomyia, Poland (d. 2013) [1]
- Oct 22 Harry Potts, English soccer forward (Burnley, Everton) and manager (Burnley, Shrewsbury Town, Blackpool), born in Sunderland, England (d. 1996)
- Oct 22 Mitzi Green [Elizabeth Keno], American child actress (Huckleberry Finn, Little Orphan Annie), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 1969)
- Oct 22 Timothy Leary, American psychologist & advocate for psychedelic drug use, born in Springfield, Massachusetts (d. 1996)
- Oct 23 Ted Fujita, Japanese meteorologist (d. 1998)
- Oct 23 Vern Stephens, American baseball shortstop (8 x MLB All Star; AL HR leader 1945; 3×AL RBI leader; St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox), born in McAlister, New Mexico (d. 1968)
- Oct 24 Julius Youngner, American scientist, helped develop Salk polio vaccine, born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2017)
- Oct 24 Marcel-Paul Schützenberger, French mathematician, born in Paris (d. 1996)
- Oct 26 T. C. Jones, American female impersonator, born in Scranton, Pennsylvania (d. 1971)
- Oct 27 K. R. Narayanan, 10th President of India (1997-2002), born in Uzhavoor, Kerala (d. 2005)
- Oct 27 Nanette Fabray [Ruby Fabares], American actress and singer (Love Life, Caesar's Hour, One Day at a Time), born in San Diego, California (d. 2018)
- Oct 29 Baruj Benacerraf, Venezuelan-American immunologist (Nobel 1980 - discovery of genes that regulate immune responses and of the role that some of these genes play in autoimmune diseases), born in Caracas, Venezuela (d. 2011)
- Oct 29 Didymos I, Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan (2005-10), born in Mavelikkara, India (d. 2014)
- Oct 30 Christy Ring, Irish hurler (Cork 65 games, scoring tally [33-208], 8 x All-Ireland medals), born in Cloyne, Ireland (d. 1979)
- Oct 31 Dedan Kimathi [wa Waciuri], Kenyan freedom fighter (Mau Mau Uprising), born in Thegenge Village, British Kenya (d. 1957)
- Oct 31 Dick Francis, British jockey and detective writer (Whip Hand, High Stakes), born in Lawrenny, Pembrokeshire, Wales (d. 2010)
- Oct 31 Fritz Walter, German footballer (1. FC Kaiserslautern) and captain of West Germany, born in Kaiserslautern, Germany (d. 2002)
- Oct 31 Helmut Newton, German fashion photographer, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2004)
- Oct 31 Joseph Gelineau, French Catholic Jesuit priest and composer, born in Maine-et-Loire, France (d. 2008)
Famous Deaths
- Oct 2 Max Bruch, German composer (Kol Nidre), dies at 82
- Oct 2 Winthrop M. Crane, American politician, 40th Governor of Massachusetts, dies at 67
- Oct 13 Isaac Capadose, Dutch clergyman in the Catholic Apostolic Church, dies at 86
- Oct 15 Hendrik Peter Staal, Dutch military officer, administrator (Minister of War, 1905-07), and politician (Member of the Senate, 1907-20), dies at 75
- Oct 16 Alberto Nepomuceno, Brazilian composer and conductor (Artemis), dies at 56
- Oct 19 John Reed, American journalist and communist activist (reported on Mexican, Russian revolutions - "Ten Days that Shook the World"), dies of typhus at 32
- Oct 25 Alexander, King of Greece (1917-20), dies after ape bite at 27
- Oct 29 Ernst Perabo, German-American composer and painist, dies at 74
- Oct 31 Alphonse Desjardins, Canadian founder of the Caisses populaires Desjardins, dies at 65
