Historical Events
- Oct 1 Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Carl Erskine sets a Baseball World Series record with 14 strikeouts in a 3-2 Game 3 win against NY Yankees at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn
- Oct 1 Indian state of Andhra Pradesh partitioned from Madras
- Oct 1 KJEO TV channel 47 in Fresno, CA (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting
- Oct 1 KYTV TV channel 3 in Springfield, MO (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Oct 1 WATE TV channel 6 in Knoxville, TN (ABC/NBC) begins broadcasting
- Oct 1 WREX TV channel 13 in Rockford, IL (ABC) begins broadcasting
Music History
Oct 2 Victor Borge's one-man show "Comedy in Music" opens at John Golden Theatre, NYC; runs for 849 performances, a Guinness world record
- Oct 3 7th NHL All-Star Game, Montreal Forum, Montreal, QC: All-Stars beat Montreal Canadiens, 3-1
- Oct 3 KGGM TV channel 13 in Albuquerque, NM (CBS) begins broadcasting
World Series
Oct 3 NY Yankees legendary center fielder Mickey Mantle hits a grand slam off Russ Meyer; Bronx Bombers hold on to win, 11-7 v Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5 of Baseball World Series; NY wins series, 4-2
- Oct 3 Ryder Cup Golf, Wentworth: San Snead wins 6 of 7 matches to lead US to 6th consecutive Cup win, 6½-5½ over Great Britain
World Series
Oct 4 50th Baseball World Series: NY Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium for 4-2 series win; Yankees record 5th consecutive WS; MVP: NY 2B Billy Martin
World Record Marathon
Oct 4 British runner Jim Peters sets world marathon record 2:18:34.8 in the Turku Marathon in Finland
Chief Justice Earl Warren
Oct 5 Earl Warren sworn in as 14th Chief Justice of US Supreme Court
- Oct 5 The first documented recovery meeting of Narcotics Anonymous is held.
- Oct 6 WTVM TV channel 9 in Columbus, GA (ABC) begins broadcasting
Sports History
Oct 7 Bill Veeck tells St. Louis Browns stockholders he faces bankruptcy unless they drop their suit to block his move to Baltimore, they comply
Sports History
Oct 8 Birmingham, Alabama, bars Jackie Robinson's Negro-White All-Stars from playing there Robinson gives in & drops white players from his group
- Oct 8 WTAP TV channel 15 in Parkersburg-Marietta, WV (NBC) begins
Guyanese Constitution
Oct 9 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill aproves Guyanese Constitution
Konrad Adenauer Reelected
Oct 9 Konrad Adenauer elected Chancellor of West Germany
- Oct 12 US & Greece sign peace treaty (US bases)
- Oct 13 Burglar alarm-ultrasonic or radio waves patented by Samuel Bagno
- Oct 14 1st 3 Dutch female police officers go into service
- Oct 14 Belgian Convair crashes at Frankfurt, 44 die
- Oct 14 Charley Dressen resigns rather than take 1 year contract as Dodger mgr
- Oct 14 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Emu Field, Australia
Event of Interest
Oct 14 US President Dwight D. Eisenhower promises to fire any federal worker taking 5th amendment with regard to communist party affiliation
- Oct 14 WTEN TV channel 10 in Albany, New York (ABC) begins broadcasting
- Oct 15 John Patrick's play "Teahouse of the August Moon" premieres in New York
- Oct 15 KOIN TV channel 6 in Portland, OR (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Oct 15 WJNL (now WFAT) TV channel 19 in Johnstown, PA (IND) begins
Event of Interest
Oct 16 Fidel Castro sentenced to 15 years (Havana)
- Oct 18 Willie Thrower becomes 1st black NFL quarterback in modern times
- Oct 18 WLJT TV channel 11 in Lexington, TN (PBS) begins broadcasting
- Oct 18 WTVK TV channel 26 in Knoxville, TN (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Oct 19 1st jet transcontinental nonstop scheduled service
- Oct 19 Dystopian novel "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury is published in the US
Music History
Oct 19 Singer Julius LaRosa is fired on TV by Arthur Godfrey
- Oct 20 WRAU (now WHOI) TV channel 19 in Peoria, IL (ABC) begins broadcasting
- Oct 22 Laos gains full independence from France
- Oct 23 France grants Laos' sovereignty
- Oct 23 German FR applies to NATO
- Oct 23 WTRF TV channel 7 in Wheeling-Steubenville, WV (CBS) 1st broadcast
- Oct 24 KOOL (now KTSP) TV channel 10 in Phoenix, AZ (CBS) begins broadcasting
NFL Record
Oct 25 Cleveland Browns' QB Otto Graham sets club record with 4 fumbles
- Oct 25 Coal mine in Seraing Belgium explodes, 26 die
Music Release
Oct 25 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 10th Symphony
- Oct 25 KIEM TV channel 3 in Eureka, CA (NBC/CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting
- Oct 26 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Emu Field, Australia
- Oct 28 Bud Grant of CFL Winnipeg Blue Bombers intercepts 5 passes (record)
- Oct 28 Red Barber, resigns as Dodger sportscaster to join Yankees
- Oct 29 A Baltimore group purchases St Louis Browns
- Oct 30 Dr Albert Schweitzer and US Army General George Marshall win Nobel Peace Prize
- Oct 31 TV broadcasting begins in Belgium
Famous Birthdays
Grete Waitz (1953-2011)
Oct 1 Norwegian long distance athlete (9 x NYC Marathon titles; World C'ship gold 1983; 5 x gold World Cross Country; WR x 4), born in Oslo, Norway
- Oct 1 John Hegley, British poet
- Oct 2 Ernest Bai Koroma, Sierra Leonean politician, President of Sierra Leone (2007-), born in Makeni, Sierra Leone
- Oct 3 Karen Bass, American politician and social worker (1st woman elected Mayor of Los Angeles 2022-; Rep-(D)-California 2011-2022), born in Los Angeles, California
- Oct 4 Andreas Vollenweider, Swiss new-age harpist (Down to the Moon), born in Zürich, Switzerland
- Oct 4 Gil "The Bird" Moore, Canadian rock drummer and vocalist (Triumph), born in Toronto, Ontario [some sources give birth date as Feb. 12, 1951]
- Oct 4 Tchéky Karyo, Turkish-French actor
- Oct 5 James Lascelles, British grandson of English princess Mary, born in Bayswater, London
- Oct 5 John Stachniewski, scholar and teacher at Manchester University (UK) (d. 1996)
- Oct 5 Sandra "Puma" Jones, American reggae singer (Black Uhuru, 1979-86), born in Columbia, South Carolina (d. 1990)
- Oct 6 Klaas Bruinsma, Dutch drug lord (d. 1991)
- Oct 7 (Hector) "Tico" Torres, American rock drummer (Bon Jovi - "Livin' On A Prayer"; "It's My Life"), and painter, born in New York City
- Oct 7 Christopher Norris, American actress (Summer of '42, Eat My Dust), born in New York City
- Oct 8 Ricky Lee Phelps, American singer (Kentucky Headhunters - "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett"), born in Paragould, Arkansas
- Oct 8 Robert Saxton, British classical composer (The Circle of Light; Caritas), born in London
- Oct 9 Hank Pfister, American tennis star, born in Bakersfield, California
- Oct 9 Tony Shalhoub, American actor (Wings, Monk, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), born in Green Bay, Wisconsin
- Oct 10 (James) "Midge" Ure, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and synth player ("Dear God"; Ultravox - "We Came to Dance"; Band Aid - "Do They Know It's Christmas?"), born in Glasgow, Scotland
- Oct 10 Gus Williams, American NBA guard (Golden State, Seattle, Washington), born in Mount Vernon, New York
- Oct 11 David Morse, American actor (St Elsewhere, House, Inside Moves), born in Beverly, Massachusetts
- Oct 12 Serge Lepeltier, French politician, born in Le Veurdre, Allier, France
- Oct 13 Bill Schuette, American lawyer and politician (53rd Attorney General of Michigan), born in Midland, Michigan
Pat Day (70 years old)
Oct 13 American thoroughbred jockey (9 x winner of the American Triple Crown; 6 x US Champion in wins; 2 x US Champion in earnings; $298m career purses), born in Brush, Colorado
- Oct 14 Greg Evigan, American actor (BJ & the Bear: Melrose Place), born in South Amboy, New Jersey
- Oct 14 Kazumi Watanabe, Japanese jazz and jazz-fusion guitarist, born in Tokyo, Japan
- Oct 14 Marcel Zeeuw, Surinamese soldier (participant in the Sergeant Coup, 1982), born in Paramaribo, Suriname (d. 2015)
- Oct 14 Roland Butcher, English cricket batsman (3 Tests; 1st cricketer of Caribbean descent to play for England; Middlesex CCC, Barbados, Tasmania, Suffolk CCC), born in Saint Philip Parish, Barbados
- Oct 14 Shelley Ackerman, American astrologer, writer and singer, born in Manhattan, New York
- Oct 15 Betsy Clifford, Canadian alpine skier, born in Ottawa, Ontario
- Oct 15 Joe Klecko, American Pro Football HOF defensive lineman (NFL Defensive Player of the Year 1981; First-team All-Pro 1981, 85; 4 × Pro Bowl; New York Jets), born in Chester, Pennsylvania
- Oct 15 Larry Miller, American comedian and actor (Larry-Pursuit Of Happiness), born in New York City
- Oct 15 Tito Jackson, American singer (Jackson 5 - "ABC"; "Never Can Say Goodbye"), born in Gary, Indiana
- Oct 16 Martha Smith, American actress (Animal House) and model (Playboy playmate July 1973), born in Cleveland, Ohio
- Oct 16 Paulo Roberto Falcão, Brazilian footballer
- Oct 16 Susan Pedersen, American 4 X 100m medley swimmer (Olympic gold 1968)
- Oct 16 Tony Carey, American rock keyboardist, and singer-songwriter (Rainbow; Planet P Project), born in Watsonville, California
- Oct 20 Bill Nunn, American actor (Do the Right Thing), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2016)
Keith Hernandez (70 years old)
Oct 20 American MLB 1st baseman (St Louis Cardinals, NY Mets), born in San Francisco, California
- Oct 21 Charlotte Caffey, American rock guitarist, keyboardist, and vocalist (The Go-Go's - "We Got The Beat"), born in Santa Monica, California
- Oct 21 Eleonora Giorgi, actress (Nu de Femme, To Forget Venice), born in Rome, Italy
- Oct 21 Keith Green, American contemporary Christian music singer-songwriter and pianist ("There Is a Redeemer"; "(Until) Your Love Broke Through"), and minister, born in Brooklyn, NYC (d. 1982)
- Oct 21 Peter Mandelson, British politician
- Oct 23 Gary Wilson, American experimental musician and performance artist (You Think You Really Know Me), born in Endicott, New York
- Oct 23 Pauline Black [Belinda Magnus], English ska singer (Selecter -"On My Radio"), born in Romford, East London
- Oct 24 Billy Thomas, American singer (McBride & Ride - "I Count on You"), born in Fort Meyers, Florida
- Oct 24 James di Donato, open water swimmer, one of the Tiger Twins (world record for swimming the butterfly in 40.6 miles)
- Oct 24 Jonathan di Donato, open water swimmer, one of the Tiger Twins (world record for swimming the butterfly in 40.6 miles)
- Oct 25 Mark McNulty, Irish-Zimbabwean golfer (The Tradition 2007; 16 European Tour titles), born in Bindura, Zimbabwe
- Oct 25 Muffin Spencer-Devlin, American golfer (3 LPGA Tour titles), born in Piqua, Ohio
- Oct 26 Jennifer Roberson, American sci-fi author (Shapechangers, Sword-Maker), born in Kansas City, Missouri
- Oct 26 Julian Keith Strickland, American drummer (B-52's - "Rock Lobster"), born in Athens, Georgia
- Oct 26 Lauren Tewes, American actress (Julie McCoy-Love Boat), born in Braddock, Pennsylvania
- Oct 26 Rosa Monckton, English businesswoman and notable charity fundraiser, born in Westminster, London
- Oct 27 Michael Baker, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut (STS 43, 52, 68, 81), born in Memphis, Tennessee
- Oct 27 Peter Firth, English actor (Equus, Lifeforce, Tess), born in Bradford, England
- Oct 27 Robert Picardo, American actor (Frame Up, Gremlins 2), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Oct 28 Desmond Child [John Barrett], American-Hungarian songwriter (Bon Jovi - "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Livin' on a Prayer"; Aerosmith - "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)"; Ricky Martin - "Livin' la Vida Loca"), and producer, born in Gainesville, Florida
- Oct 28 Mark James, British golfer (Senior Players Championship 2004), born in Manchester, England
- Oct 28 Phil Dwyer, Welsh soccer defender (10 caps; Cardiff City 471 games), born in Cardiff, Wales (d. 2021)
- Oct 28 Pierre Boivin, Canadian businessman and hockey executive
Denis Potvin (70 years old)
Oct 29 Canadian born NHL defenseman (NY Islanders - Norris trophy), born in Vanier, Ontario
- Oct 30 (Piet) "Pete" Hoekstra, Dutch-American politician (Rep-R-Michigan, 1993-11; US Ambassador to the Netherlands, 2018-21), born in Groningen, Netherlands
- Oct 30 Alexander Fedorovich Poleshchuk, Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-16), born in Moscow, Russia
- Oct 30 Charles Martin Smith, American actor (American Graffiti, Never Cry Wolf), born in Van Nuys, California
- Oct 30 Desmond Fitzgerald, Irish medical doctor and President of the University of Limerick (2017-20), born in Dublin
- Oct 30 Kathleen Cody, American actress (Charley & the Angel), born in The Bronx, New York
- Oct 31 John Lucas, NBA guard (Houston, Golden State, Milwaukee), born in Durham, North Carolina
- Oct 31 Michael J. Anderson, American actor (The Man from Another Place), born in Denver, Coloroda
Famous Weddings
Sparky Anderson
Oct 3 American MLB player and future HOF manager Sparky Anderson (19) weds childhood sweetheart Carol Valle (18), until his death in 2010
Hank Aaron
Oct 6 MLB baseball player Hank Aaron (19) weds Barbara Lucas (divorced 1971)
Tony Trabert
Oct 26 Tennis champion Tony Trabert (23) weds beauty queen Shauna Wood at the Salt Lake Country Club in Salt Lake City, Utah
Famous Deaths
- Oct 3 Arnold Bax, British composer known for his orchestral music (Tintagel), and memoirist (Farewell My Youth), dies of heart failure at 69
- Oct 3 Florence Sabin, American Scientist who was the first woman to graduate from Johns Hopkins and the first lifetime woman member of the National Academy of Sciences, dies at 82
- Oct 5 Friedrich Wolf, writer, dies at 64
- Oct 6 Porter Hall, American actor (Half-Breed, Double Indemnity), dies of a heart attack at 64
- Oct 8 Kathleen Ferrier, English contralto singer (Orfeo Ed Evridice), dies of cancer at 41
- Oct 8 Nigel Bruce, British actor (Rebecca, Suspicion, Sherlock Holmes), dies from a heart attack at 58
- Oct 9 James Finlayson, Scottish-American stage, and silent and "talkie" film actor (Laurel and Hardy films), dies of a heart attack at 66
- Oct 11 James Earle Fraser, American sculptor (Indian Head (Buffalo) nickel), dies at 76
- Oct 13 Millard Mitchell, Cuban actor (12 O'Clock High, Gunfighter), dies from lung cancer at 50
- Oct 18 Douwe Kalma, Dutch literary writer and leader (Young Frisian Movement), dies at 57
- Oct 18 Federico Gerdes, composer, dies at 80
- Oct 20 Werner Baumbach, German bomber pilot (Luftwaffe special bombing unit WWII), dies in a plane accident at 36
- Oct 21 Muirhead Bone, Scottish etcher and painter (WWI & WWII war artist), dies at 77
- Oct 23 Maurice Lugeon, Swiss geologist (nappism), dies at 83
- Oct 24 Ernest Irving, English composer, dies at 74
- Oct 27 Zdzislaw Jachimecki, Polish composer and music historian, dies at 71
- Oct 29 William Kapell, American concert pianist and recording artist, dies in a plane crash at 31
- Oct 30 Alice Eastwood, Canadian-American botanist (Handbook of Trees of California), dies at 94
- Oct 30 Emmerich Kálmán, Hungarian composer of operettas, dies at 71
