Historical Events
Sports History
Oct 1 Future Baseball Hall of Fame player and manager Leo Durocher ends his 45 year career in the sport when he resigns as Houston Astros manager
- Oct 1 USSR-West Germany gas tunnel opens
Event of Interest
Oct 3 Willi Stoph succeeds Walter Ulbricht as State Council of the German Democratic Republic
- Oct 4 Hans of Manens ballet "Adagio Hammerklavier" premieres in Amsterdam
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Oct 5 "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" 7th studio album by Elton John is released
F1 World Champion
Oct 7 Scotsman Jackie Stewart wins his 3rd Formula 1 World Drivers Championship despite withdrawing from the season ending US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen; wins title by 16 points from Emerson Fittipaldi
- Oct 8 OPEC meets with oil companies to discuss revision of 1971 Tehran agreement and oil prices; negotiations fail.
- Oct 8 Spyris Markezinis forms government in Greece
- Oct 9 1st general striking in Luxembourg since 1942
- Oct 9 Israel announces loss of Bar-Lev defense line in Suez Canal
- Oct 9 Warriors-Cavalier game in Cleveland postponed because of wet floors
- Oct 10 MLB National League Championship: New York Mets beat Cincinnati Reds, 3 games to 2
Event of Interest
Oct 10 US Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns after pleading no contest to allegations of tax fraud
Event of Interest
Oct 12 US President Richard Nixon nominates Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew as Vice President
Badlands
Oct 13 "Badlands" directed by Terrence Malick and starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek premieres at the New York Film Festival
- Oct 13 Jordan enters Yom Kippur war
TV Show Appearance
Oct 13 Teri Garr appears on "The Bob Newhart Show" in the episode "Emily in for Carol"
Sports History
Oct 14 42-year-old future Baseball Hall of Fame center fielder Willie Mays' last MLB career hit, as NY Mets beat A's, 10-7 in World Series Game 2 in Oakland
- Oct 14 Egyptian tanks move further into Israel
- Oct 15 7th Country Music Association Awards: Roy Clark wins
Jolene
Oct 15 Country music artist Dolly Parton releases her single "Jolene"
- Oct 15 Tanks attack Thailand demonstrating students, 300 killed
- Oct 16 Israeli tanks under Gen Sharon move through Suez Canal
- Oct 16 Maynard Jackson elected 1st black mayor of Atlanta
- Oct 16 Monks Heng Yo & Heng Ju, start 1000 mile SF to Seattle pilgrimage
- Oct 16 The Gulf Six (Iran, Iraq, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar) unilaterally raise the posted price of Saudi Light marker crude-oil by 17 percent
Nobel Peace Prize
Oct 16 US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho controversially awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating a ceasefire in Vietnam that later failed
- Oct 17 OPEC oil ministers use oil as an economic weapon in the Arab-Israeli War, mandating a cut in exports and recommending an embargo against unfriendly states [1]
- Oct 18 Congress authorizes bi-centennial quarter, half-dollar & dollar coin
- Oct 18 Judd Woldon & Robert Britten's musical"Raisin" opens at 46th St Theater, NYC for 847 performances
- Oct 18 Nobel prize for Economic Sciences awarded to American Wassily Leontief
- Oct 19 OPEC oil embargo on the United States begins as participating nations cease oil exports to the US and begin a series of production cuts [1]
Photograph
Oct 19 Ringo Starr releases music single "Photograph" in the UK
- Oct 19 Saudi Arabia, Libya, and other Arab states proclaim an embargo on oil exports to the United States
- Oct 20 Mariette Hartley appears on "The Bob Newhart Show" in the episode "Have You Met Miss Dietz?"
Sydney Opera House
Oct 20 Queen Elizabeth II opens the Sydney Opera House
- Oct 20 The Family Station Inc buys shortwave Radio Station WNYW, changes call letters to WYFR & moves station from NYC to Scituate, Massachusetts
- Oct 20 US President Nixon accepts the resignations of Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus as they refuse orders to discharge Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, in what has become known as "The Saturday Night Massacre"; after the resignations, Acting Attorney General Robert Bork fires Cox
Sports History
Oct 20 US President Nixon proclaims Jim Thorpe to have been the greatest athlete of the 1st half of the 20th century
- Oct 21 23rd NASCAR Sprint Cup: Benny Parsons wins
World Series
Oct 21 Baseball World Series: defending champion Oakland A's beat NY Mets, 5-2 in Game 7 at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum to retain title; A's manager Dick Williams immediately quits; MVP: A's outfielder Reggie Jackson
- Oct 21 Fred Dryer of the then Los Angeles Rams becomes the first player in NFL history to score two safeties in the same game.
- Oct 22 Israeli troops reconquer mountain Hermon
- Oct 22 Security Council Resolution 338-cease fire to Yom Kippur War
Sports History
Oct 23 19-year-old American tennis star Chris Evert retains her WTA Tour Championship at Boca Raton, Florida; beats Nancy Richey Gunter 6-3, 6-3 in the final
- Oct 23 Arab oil embargo extended to the Netherlands
Agreement of Interest
Oct 23 Richard Nixon agrees to turn over White House tape recordings to Judge John Sirica
- Oct 23 UN's revised International Telecommunication Convention adopted
- Oct 23 Yankee GM & President Lee MacPhail named AL president
- Oct 24 Heavy fog causes 65 car collision killing 9 on New Jersey Turnpike
Music History
Oct 24 John Lennon sues US government to admit FBI is tapping his phone, they deny doing so
- Oct 24 Yom Kippur War ends, Israel 65 miles from Cairo, 26 from Damascus
- Oct 25 Chris Wills wins 1st National hang-gliding championship
Baseball Trade
Oct 25 Cubs trade Ferguson Jenkins to Rangers for Bill Madlock & Vic Harris
Baseball Trade
Oct 25 SF Giants trade Willie McCovey to San Diego Padres for pitcher Mike Caldwell
- Oct 26 Israeli forces reach Suez, trapping Egyptian army
- Oct 26 President Nixon releases first White House tapes on Watergate scandal
- Oct 26 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Oct 26 Wings release single "Helen Wheels"
- Oct 27 1st time Islanders beat Rangers-3-2
- Oct 27 Alabama sets offensive record (828 yds), beats Virginia Tech 77-6
- Oct 28 Elmore Smith of Lakers blocks 17 shots in a game (NBA record)
Event of Interest
Oct 28 Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, designed by architect B. V. Doshi, inaugurated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
- Oct 29 Apple Records releases John Lennon's fourth studio album, "Mind Games" in US
Opening of the Bosphorus Bridge
Oct 30 The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus for the first time
Sports History
Oct 30 Tom Seaver becomes 1st non-20-game winner to win Cy Young award
- Oct 31 Three Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers escape from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin using a hijacked helicopter
- Oct 31 Tom Seaver wins NL Cy Young Award
Famous Birthdays
- Oct 1 Rodney Kite-Powell, historian
- Oct 2 Efren Ramirez, American actor
- Oct 2 Lene Nystrøm, Norwegian Eurodance-pop singer (Aqua - "Barbie Girl"), born in Tønsberg, Norway
- Oct 2 Maria Wetterstrand, Swedish politician
- Oct 2 Proof [DeShaun Holton], American rapper (D12), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1973)
- Oct 2 Verka Serduchka, Ukrainian entertainer
- Oct 3 Black Thought [Tariq Trotter], American rapper, hip-hop MC (The Roots), and actor, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [some source give year as 1971, others as 1972]
- Oct 3 Grace Dent, English food critic (Guardian), born in Carlisle, England
- Oct 3 Keiko Agena, Japanese-American actress
- Oct 3 Lena Headey, British actress (Game of Thrones), born in Hamilton, Bermuda
Neve Campbell (50 years old)
Oct 3 Canadian actress (Party of 5; Scream), born in Guelph, Ontario
Ioan Gruffudd (50 years old)
Oct 6 Welsh actor (The Fantastic Four), born in Aberdare, Wales
- Oct 6 Jeff Davis, American comedian
- Oct 6 Rebecca Lobo, American WNBA basketball center (Olympic gold, 1996; NY Liberty), born in Hartford, Connecticut
- Oct 6 Sylvain Legwinski, French footballer
- Oct 7 Dida, Brazilian footballer, born in Bahia, Brazil
- Oct 7 Gerald McBurrows, American safety (St Louis Rams), born in Detroit, Michigan
- Oct 7 Priest Holmes, American running back (Baltimore Ravens), born in Fort Smith, Arkansas
- Oct 8 Donnie Abraham, American cornerback (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), born in Orangeburg, South Carolina
- Oct 9 A. J. Ofodile, American NFL tight end (Pittsburgh Steelers), born in Detroit, Michigan
- Oct 9 Brandon Pollard, American soccer defender (Olympic gold 1996), born in Richmond, Virginia
- Oct 9 Carlos Pavón, Honduran footballer (Real España), born in El Progreso, Honduras
- Oct 9 Dexter McCleon, American football cornerback (St Louis Rams), born in Meridian, Mississippi
- Oct 9 Erin Daniels, American actress (The L Word), born in St. Louis, Missouri
- Oct 9 Fabio Lione, Italian musician (Rhapsody), born in Pisa, Italy
- Oct 9 Steve Burns, American actor, television host (Blue's Clues, 1996-2002), and musician, born in Boyertown, Pennsylvania
- Oct 9 Terry Balsamo, American guitarist (Evanescence), born in Tampa, Florida
- Oct 10 Jeff Shantz, Canadian NHL center (Chicago Blackhawks), born in Duchess, Alberta, Canada
- Oct 10 John Mobley, American NFL linebacker (Denver Broncos-Super Bowl 32), born in Chester, Pennsylvania
Mario Lopez (50 years old)
Oct 10 American actor (A C Slater-Saved by the Bell), born in San Diego, California
- Oct 10 S.S. Rajamouli, Indian film director (Baahubali films, highest grossing Indian director), born in Hire Kotnekal, Mysore, India
- Oct 10 Zach Thornton, American soccer goalkeeper (8 caps; MLS GK of the Year: 1998, 2009), born in Baltimore, Maryland
- Oct 11 Brendan B. Brown (BBB), American musician (Wheatus), born in Northport, New York
- Oct 11 Mike Smith, American guitarist (Snot; Limp Bizkit), born in Middle River, Maryland
- Oct 11 Steven Pressley, Scottish football player and manager, born in Elgin, Scotland
- Oct 11 Takeshi Kaneshiro, Taiwanese-Japanese actor and model, born in Taipei, Taiwan
- Oct 12 Rodney Mack, professional wrestler, born in Lafayette, Louisiana
- Oct 13 Brian Dawkins, American NFL safety (9 × Pro Bowl; 4 × First-team All-Pro; Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos), born in Jacksonville, Florida
- Oct 13 Matt Hughes, American mixed martial artist, born in Hillsboro, Illinois
- Oct 13 Nanako Matsushima, Japanese actress (Ring), born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
- Oct 13 Peter Dumbreck, Scottish race car driver, born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
- Oct 13 Roger Lima [Manganelli], Brazilian ska singer and bassist (Less Than Jake), born in Porto Alegre
- Oct 14 DeJuan Wheat, NBA guard (Minn Timberwolves)
- Oct 14 Fabián O'Neill, Uruguayan soccer midfielder (19 caps; Nacional, Cagliari, Juventus), born in Paso de los Toros, Uruguay (d. 2022)
George Floyd (1973-2020)
Oct 14 African American bouncer murdered while restrained in police custody by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, born in Fayetteville, North Carolina
- Oct 14 Lasha Zhvania, Georgian politician
- Oct 15 Dax Riggs, American musician (Acid Bath), born in Evansville, Indiana
- Oct 16 David Unsworth, English professional footballer
- Oct 16 Peter Polaco, American professional wrestler
- Oct 18 Demetrious Maxie, CFL defensive end (Toronto Argonauts)
- Oct 18 John Baldwin Jr, figure skater (1996 SW Pacific Sr champ), born in Dallas, Texas
- Oct 18 Michalis Kapsis, Greek footballer
- Oct 19 Laurent Brancowitz [Mazzalai], French guitarist (Phoenix), born in Versailles, France
- Oct 19 Robert Tate, wide receiver (Minnesota Vikings)
- Oct 19 Shi Ting Wang, Tainan Taiwan, tennis star (1994 Taipei)
- Oct 21 Charlie Lowell, American folk-rock keyboardist (Jars of Clay), born in Rochester, New York
- Oct 21 Dan Neil, NFL guard (Denver Broncos-Super Bowl 32)
- Oct 21 Lera Auerbach, Russian-American pianist, composer, and poet, born in Chelyabinsk, Russia
Ichiro Suzuki (50 years old)
Oct 22 Japanese baseball right fielder (most career base hits 4,367; AL MVP 2001; MLB All-Star 2001–10; NPB All-Star 1994–2000), born in Kasugai, Japan
- Oct 23 Blaine McElmurry, American NFL defensive back (Green Bay Packers-Super Bowl 31), born in Helena, Montana
- Oct 23 Malaika Arora, Indian TV host, dancer and actress, born in Thane, India
- Oct 24 Jackie McNamara, Scottish soccer defender (33 caps; Celtic) and manager (Partick Thistle, Dundee United, York City), born in Glasgow, Scotland
- Oct 24 Levi Leipheimer, American road racing cyclist, born in Butte, Montana
- Oct 24 Mike Matthews, American baseball player, born in Woodbridge, Virginia
- Oct 25 Steve White, American football defensive end (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), born in Memphis, Tennessee
- Oct 26 Brian Smith, American speed skater (Olympics 1994), born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Oct 26 Róbert Petrovický, Slovak NHL forward (Team Slovakia, Dallas), born in Košice, Czechoslovakia
Seth MacFarlane (50 years old)
Oct 26 American animator, television producer (American Dad!, Family Guy) and filmmaker (Ted), born in Kent, Connecticut
- Oct 26 Taka Michinoku, Japanese professional wrestler, born in Morioka, Iwate, Japan
- Oct 27 Anthony Doerr, American writer (All the Light We Cannot See - Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2015), born in Cleveland, Ohio [1]
- Oct 27 Monica Louwerens, Canadian-American actress (Power Rangers) and Miss America-Mississippi (Top 10, 1996), born in Vancouver, British Columbia
- Oct 28 Alvin Burke, Jr., American professional wrestler
- Oct 28 Frank Juric, Australian soccer goalie (Olyroos, Olympics 1996)
- Oct 29 Adam Bacher, South African cricket batsman (19 Tests; 13 ODIs), born in Johannesburg, South Africa
- Oct 29 Robert Pirès, French footballer (Arsenal), born in Reims, France
- Oct 30 Edge [Adam Copeland], Canadian professional wrestler, born in Orangeville, Ontario
- Oct 30 Michael Oakes, English footballer, born in Northwich, England
- Oct 30 Silvia Corzo, Colombian newscaster, born in Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia
- Oct 31 David Dellucci, American baseball player, born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Oct 31 Fiona Smith, Canadian ice hockey defenseman (Canada, Olympics 1998), born in Saskatchewan, Canada
- Oct 31 Grigorios Georgatos, Greek footballer, born in Piraeus, Greece
- Oct 31 Ross Verba, American NFL tackle (Green Bay Packers-Super Bowl 31), born in Des Moines, Iowa
Famous Weddings
William Shatner
Oct 20 Canadian "Star Trek" actor William Shatner (42) weds Marcy Lafferty; divorce in 1996
Neil Simon
Oct 25 American playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon (46) weds actress Marsha Mason (31)
Famous Divorces
Priscilla Presley & Elvis Presley
Oct 9 Elvis and Priscilla Presley divorce after 6 years
Famous Deaths
- Oct 1 Joe Devlin, American actor (Sam-Dick Tracy), dies at 77
Paavo Nurmi (1897-1973)
Oct 2 Finnish middle & long distance runner (9 Olympic gold 1920, 24, 28), dies of Atherosclerosis at 76
- Oct 2 Paul Hartman, American actor (Petticoat Junction, Inherit the Wind), dies at 69
- Oct 6 Arnold Maria Walter, Canadian composer, dies at 71
- Oct 6 Dennis Price, English actor (Kind Hearts and Coronets, Separate Tables), dies at 58 (b. 1915)
- Oct 6 Sidney Blackmer, American actor (played Ted Roosevelt in 7 movies, Rosemary's Baby), dies of cancer at 78
- Oct 7 Habib Rajab, South African trader and collector of oriental art who fought against a takeover of the Grey Street complex by White traders, dies at 58
- Oct 8 Gabriel Marcel, French philosopher and writer, dies at 83
- Oct 9 Sister Rosetta Tharpe [Nubin], American gospel and R&B singer, songwriter, and electric guitarist ("This Train"; "Down By The Riverside"), dies of a stroke at 58
- Oct 10 Albe [Renaut A. Joostens], Flemish writer (Paradise Bird), dies at 71
- Oct 10 Ludwig von Mises, Austrian-American Economist (The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality), dies at 92
- Oct 14 Edmund A. Chester, American broadcaster and journalist (b. 1897)
- Oct 16 Gene Krupa, American jazz and swing drummer ("Sing, Sing, Sing"), dies of heart failure while battling leukemia and emphysema at 64 [1]
- Oct 17 Ingeborg Bachmann, Austrian author and poet (Gott von Manhattan), dies at 47
- Oct 18 Crane Wilbur, American director and writer (Bat, Canon City, Yellow Cargo), dies at 86
- Oct 18 Frank Knight, TV announcer (Chronoscope), dies at 79
- Oct 18 Leo Strauss, German-American political philosopher, dies at 74
- Oct 18 Margaret Caroline Anderson, American magazine publisher (b. 1886)
- Oct 18 Walt Kelly, American cartoonist and animator (Pogo), dies at 60
- Oct 21 Arabi El Goni, VP/Chad parliament, murdered
- Oct 22 Pablo Casals [Pau Casals i Defilló], Spanish cellist, conductor and composer, dies at 96
- Oct 24 Jack Iverson, Australian cricket spin bowler (5 Tests, 21 wickets, BB 6/27; Victoria CA), dies from suicide at 58
Abebe Bikila (1932-1973)
Oct 25 Ethiopian distance athlete (Olympic gold marathon 1960 WR [barefoot], 64 WR; Africa's first WR breaking athlete in any sport), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 41
- Oct 25 Paul Schuitema, Dutch graphic designer and photographer, dies at 76
- Oct 27 Allan "Rocky" Lane, American western cowboy actor (voice of Mr Ed, Red Ryder), dies from cancer at 64
- Oct 28 Sergio Tofano, Italian actor (b. 1883)
- Oct 28 Taha Hussein, Egyptian writer (b. 1889)
- Oct 29 Heathcote Dicken Statham, English organist, composer, and conductor, dies at 83
- Oct 30 Ernst-Lothar von Knorr, German composer, and music educator, dies at 77
- Oct 31 Lucha Reyes 'Morena de Oro', Peruvian singer (Siempre criolla), dies of a heart attack at 37 [1]
