Historical Events
- Oct 1 10,000 Uganda RPF rebels move into Rwanda
- Oct 1 Meteorite explodes above Pacific Ocean
Event of Interest
Oct 1 Saddam Hussein says he may be willing to negotiate the occupation of Kuwait and would consider foreign participation in negotiations
Event of Interest
Oct 1 Serbs in Croatia proclaim autonomy
Event of Interest
Oct 1 US President George H. W. Bush at UN, condemns Iraq's takeover of Kuwait
- Oct 2 "Michael Feinstein in Concert" opens at Golden NYC for 30 performances
- Oct 2 Chinese plane explodes, about 100 die
- Oct 2 Radio Berlin International's final transmission (links to Deutsche Welles of West Germany); final song is "The End" by Doors
- Oct 2 US Senate votes 90-9 to confirm David Souter's appointment to Supreme Court
- Oct 2 WW2 Allied nations cede any remaining rights as occupiers of Germany
- Oct 3 Detroit 1st baseman Cecil Fielder becomes 11th player in MLB history to hit 50 HRs in a season; 50th & 51st in 10-3 win v NY Yankees at Yankee Stadium
- Oct 3 Florida record store owner Charles Freeman is found guilty of obscenity, for selling 2 Live Crew rap records
George Brett's 3rd Batting Title
Oct 3 Kansas City 3rd baseman George Brett becomes first in MLB history to win a batting title in 3 different decades; goes 1 for 1 in Royals, 5-2 loss v Cleveland to win AL batting title with .329 average; AL batting champion 1976, 80
German Reunification
Oct 3 Reunification of East and West Germany. West German flag is raised above the Brandenburg Gate on the stroke of midnight.
- Oct 4 "Stand Up Tragedy" opens at Criterion Theater NYC for 13 performances
- Oct 4 Regional elections held in East Germany
Beverly Hills, 90210
Oct 4 US premiere of Fox TV's "Beverly Hills, 90210" created by Darren Star and starring Luke Perry, Jason Priestley and Shannen Doherty
- Oct 5 "Henry and June" film, based on the book by Anaïs Nin, first film to be given an NC-17 rating in the US, released
- Oct 5 Cincinnati jury acquits art gallery of obsentity (Mappelthorpe photos)
Interiors
Oct 5 Columbia Records releases "Interiors", the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash. produced by Cash herself
- Oct 5 Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Kevin Stevens has 2 goals & 4 assists in 7-4 opening-night win against the Washington Capitals at Capital Centre to set NHL record for most points in a season opener (6)
- Oct 6 Solar Polar Orbiter 'Ulysses' launched
- Oct 6 US 67th manned space mission STS 41 (Discovery 11) launches into orbit
- Oct 7 Israel begins handing out gas masks to its citizens
Country Music Association Awards
Oct 8 24th Country Music Association Awards: George Strait wins
- Oct 8 Israeli police kill 17 Palestinian rioters
- Oct 8 US doctors Joseph E. Murray & E. Donnall Thomas win Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for bone marrow transport to treat cancer and blood diseases
- Oct 9 David Souter, sworn in as US Supreme Court Justice
Radio History
Oct 9 Radio stations around world play "Imagine" honoring John Lennon on what would have been his 50th birthday
- Oct 9 Saddam Hussein threatens to hit Israel with a new missile
- Oct 10 American Petroleum Institute (API) reports crude inventories dropped by more than 4 MMB in the last week
- Oct 10 MLB American League Championship: Oakland Athletics beat Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 0
- Oct 10 US 67th manned space mission STS 41 (Discovery 11) returns from space
- Oct 11 "Miser" opens at Circle in Sq Theater NYC for 93 performances
- Oct 11 Center for Urban archaeology opens in NYC South Street Seaport Museum
- Oct 11 Libya's Qadhafi says Israel must be eliminated
- Oct 11 Mexican writer Octavio Paz is awarded the Nobel Prize for literature
- Oct 11 Oil hits a record $40.42 per barrel
- Oct 11 UK Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd says force would be used if Iraq does not withdraw from Kuwait
- Oct 12 MLB National League Championship: Cincinnati Reds beat Pittsburgh Pirates, 4 games to 2
- Oct 12 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Oct 13 First Russian Orthodox service in over 70 years held in St Basil's Cathedral, in Red Square, Moscow
- Oct 13 Target Center, a multi-purpose arena in Minneapolis officially opens
Sports History
Oct 14 SF 49er Joe Montana passes for 6 touchdowns vs Atlanta (45-35)
Nobel Peace Prize
Oct 15 Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev wins the Nobel Peace Prize
- Oct 16 "Stand Up Tragedy" closes at Criterion Theater NYC after 13 performances
- Oct 16 Reds beat A's 7-0, ending Oakland's 10-game post-season winning streak
- Oct 16 Reds Eric Davis is 22nd player to homer in his 1st World Series at bat
- Oct 16 US forces reach 200,000 in Persian Gulf
The Rhythm of the Saints
Oct 16 Warner Bros, Records releases "The Rhythm of the Saints", the eighth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon
Music History
Oct 17 "Jackie Mason - Brand New" opens at Neil Simon Theater, NYC; runs for 216 performances
Music History
Oct 17 Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong drops out of school to pursue a career in music
Once on This Island
Oct 18 Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens' musical "Once on This Island", based on Rosa Guy's novel "My Love, My Love" (a Caribbean-set retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid"), opens at Booth Theater, NYC; runs for 469 performances
Dances with Wolves
Oct 19 "Dances with Wolves" directed by Kevin Costner and starring Kevin Costner and Mary McDonnell premieres in Washington, D.C. (Academy Awards Best Picture 1991)
- Oct 19 HCA, Helsinki Citizens Assembly, forms in Prague
- Oct 20 3 members of 2 Live Crew acquitted on obsenity charges in Florida
- Oct 20 Antiwar protest marches begin in 20 US cities (US-Iraq)
- Oct 20 Baseball World Series: Cincinnati beats A's, 2-1 at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum to sweep Oakland and win Reds' 5th title; MVP: Reds' pitcher José Rijo
F1 World Champion
Oct 21 Ayrton Senna of Brazil crashes his McLaren during the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka but clinches his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship
Boxing Title Fight
Oct 25 Evander Holyfield KOs Buster Douglas in 3 for heavyweight boxing title
- Oct 25 NY Daily News goes on strike (lasts through March, 1991)
- Oct 27 "Michael Feinstein in Concert" closes at Golden NYC after 30 performances
- Oct 27 Breeders' Cup Horse Racing, Belmont Park; winners: Bayakoa, Fly So Free, In The Wings, Meadow Star, Royal Academy, Safely Kept, Unbridled
- Oct 27 Supreme Soviet of Kirghiz SSR chooses Askar Akayev as republic's first president.
- Oct 29 30 die in a (5.7) earthquake in Algeria
- Oct 30 Britain and France complete the "Chunnel" under the English Channel
- Oct 31 Pakistan make 3-0 drubbing of NZ, Waqar Younis 29 series wkts
Famous Birthdays
- Oct 1 Charlie McDonnell, British YouTube Personality, vlogger, and singer-songwriter, born in Bath, Somerset, England
- Oct 3 Rhian Denise Ramos, Filipino actress
- Oct 5 Myles Jeffrey, American actor, born in Riverside County, California
- Oct 12 Henri Lansbury, English footballer (Aston Villa), born in Enfield, London
- Oct 18 Brittany Griner, American basketball center (Olympic gold 2016, 20; WNBA C'ship 2014 Phoenix Mercury; 8 × WNBA All-Star; WNBA scoring champion 2017, 19; detained in Russia for drug smuggling Feb-Dec 2022), born in Houston, Texas
- Oct 21 Ricky Rubio, Spanish basketball player
- Oct 22 Jonathan William Lipnicki, actor (Jeff Foxworthy Show, Jerry McGuirre)
- Oct 23 Stevie Brock, American pop singer, born in Dayton, Ohio
- Oct 25 Mirim Lee, South Korean golfer (ANA Inspiration 2020), born in Seoul, South Korea
- Oct 29 Carlson Young, American actress and director, born in Fort Worth, Texas
- Oct 29 Kritidi Kharbanda, Indian actress (Googly), born in New Delhi, India
- Oct 31 Johanna Söderberg, Swedish pop-country-folk singer-songwriter (First Aid Kit - "Emmylou"), born in Enskede, Sweden
- Oct 31 Lil JJ [James Charles Lewis], American actor (Just Jordan) and singer ("Party Boi"), born in Little Rock, Arkansas
Famous Weddings
Famous Divorces
Jeff Goldblum
Oct 14 American actors Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis file for divorce after nearly 2 years of marriage
Famous Deaths
- Oct 1 Andrzej Krzanowski, Polish classical composer and accordionist (The Wind Carries the Echo Across a Wood Clearing), dies at 49
- Oct 1 Curtis LeMay, American air force general (WWII) and VP candidate, dies at 83
- Oct 1 Phil Napoleon [Filippo Napoli] American early jazz trumpeter and bandleader (Original Memphis Five; Napoleon and HIs Emperors), dies at 89
- Oct 3 Eleanor Steber, American soprano (Metropolitan Opera, 1940-66), dies following unsuccessful heart surgery at 76
- Oct 3 Stefano Casiraghi, Italian speedboat racer, businessman and husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco, dies in a motor boat race at 30
- Oct 4 Avis Bunnage, British actress (Rising Damp, Coronation Street), dies at 67
- Oct 4 Jill Bennett, British actress (Lady Jane, Concrete Jungle), overdoses at 58
- Oct 5 Meir Kahane, American founder of the Jewish Defense League, assassinated at 58
- Oct 7 Cat Thompson, American college basketball player (hall of fame 1962), dies at 84
- Oct 7 J Teengs Gerritsen, resistance fighter, dies
- Oct 7 Juan Jose Arevalo, President of Guatemala (1945-51), dies
- Oct 8 B.J. Wilson, British session and touring rock drummer (Procol Harum, 1967-77; Joe Cocker), dies of a drug overdose complications and pneumonia at 43
- Oct 9 Richard Murdoch, actor (Lilli Marlene), dies of a heart attack at 83
- Oct 10 Carlos Thompson, actor (Mistress of the World), dies at 67
- Oct 10 Dick Jorgensen, NFL referee, dies at 56
- Oct 10 Irene Mayer Selznick, American socialite and theatrical producer (Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire"), dies at 83
- Oct 10 Michael A Salcido, dies at 39
- Oct 10 Tom Murton, American penologist (b. 1928)
- Oct 11 Douglas Edwards, American newscaster (CBS Evening News, FYI), dies of cancer at 73
- Oct 11 Robert Tessier, actor (Nightwish, Future Force), dies at 56
- Oct 12 Max Tailleur, Dutch adjudant to Prince Bernhard and Jewish humorist, dies at 81
- Oct 12 Rifaat Maghub, president Egyptian MP, murdered
- Oct 12 Tom Carvel, Greek born American ice cream mogul (Carvels), dies at 84
- Oct 13 Hans Freudenthal, German-Dutch mathematician and director (OW&OC), dies at 85
- Oct 13 Hans Namuth, German-born photographer (Todos Santos, Guatemala), dies at 75
- Oct 13 Lê Ðức Thọ, Vietnamese revolutionary general, politician and negotiator in Paris (1975), dies at 78
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Oct 14 American Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning conductor (New York Philharmonic, 1958-69; Israel Philharmonic; London Symphony), and composer (West Side Story; Chichester Psalms), dies of a heart attack at 72
- Oct 15 Delphine Seyrig, French actress (Freak Orlando, Reperages), dies of lung disease at 58
- Oct 16 Art Blakey, American jazz drummer (Jazz Messengers), dies of cancer at 71
- Oct 16 Jorge Bolet, Cuban-born American pianist known for his performances of the work of Franz Liszt, dies at 75
- Oct 19 Lew Worsham, American golfer (US Open 1947; Ryder Cup 1947), dies at 73
- Oct 20 Bridget Bate Tichenor (born Bridget Pamela Arkwright Bate), Mexican surrealist painter dies at 72
- Oct 20 Joel McCrea, American actor (Foreign Correspondent, Sullivan's Travels), dies of pulmonary complications at 84
- Oct 22 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), dies at 70
- Oct 23 Louis Althusser, French Marxist philosopher ("For Marx"; "Reading Capital") who strangled his wife, dies at 72
- Oct 26 Guus Jansen, Dutch pianist, Hammond organist, and popular song composer ("Net als Toen" - Eurovison, 1957), dies at 79
- Oct 26 William Samuel Paley, American president and CEO of CBS (1928-90), dies of a heart attack at 89
- Oct 27 Elliott Roosevelt, American general, writer and son of FDR (Murder in the Oval Office), dies at 80
- Oct 27 Jacques Demy, French director (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), dies of AIDS at 59
- Oct 27 Princess Sophie von Hohenberg, daughter of assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (b. 1901)
- Oct 27 Ugo Tognazzi, Italian comedy actor, director and screenwriter (La Cage Aux Folles, The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 68
- Oct 27 Xavier Cugat, Spanish-American bandleader, dies at 90
- Oct 28 Frankie Masters [Masterman], American banjo player, guitarist, vocalist, and big band bandleader ("Scatter-Brain"), dies at 86
- Oct 28 Nobutaka Shikanai, Japanese media CEO (Fujisankei Communications Group), dies of liver failure at 78 [1]
- Oct 29 Anthony Donato, America violinist, composer (The Hidden Fortress), pedagogue, and music writer (Preparing Music Manuscript), dies at 81
- Oct 29 William French Smith, American lawyer, US Attorney General (1980-5), dies at 73 of cancer
- Oct 30 Craig Russell, Canadian female impersonator, dies of an AIDS-stroke at 42
- Oct 30 Harry Lauter, American actor (Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Waterfront), dies of heart failure at 76
- Oct 31 Graig Russel, Canadian travel expert/transvestite, dies
- Oct 31 Hugh McPhillips, dies at 70
