Historical Events
- Oct 1 3 NATO soldiers and 16 Afghan police are killed by a suicide bombing in Khost, Afghanistan
- Oct 1 36 people are killed in a ferry collision in Hong Kong
- Oct 1 California becomes the first US state to ban conversion therapy for minors
- Oct 2 10 people are killed after a minibus and truck collide in Ilocos Norte, Philippines
- Oct 2 20 students are gunned down in Mubi, Nigeria
- Oct 3 34 people are killed by a series of bombings in Aleppo, Syria
- Oct 3 Miguel Cabrera goes 0 for 2 in a 1-0 Tigers win v Royals to end the season as MLB's first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967; leads AL with .330 average, 44 homers and 139 RBI
Hat-Trick for Ronaldo
Oct 3 Star Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo scores his first Champions League hat-trick in Real Madrid's 4-1 win against Ajax in Amsterdam
- Oct 4 19 people are killed after being buried by a landslide in Yunnan, China
Sports History
Oct 4 7-time Formula 1 world drivers champion Michael Schumacher of Germany announces his retirement from racing at the end of the season
- Oct 4 Adam Ondra completes the first ascent of the Change in Norway, the world's first-ever 9b+ (5.15c) route
- Oct 4 Jordan’s King Abdullah dissolves parliament in preparation for new elections
- Oct 4 Turkey’s parliament approves cross-border military operations in Syria
- Oct 5 Anglo Platinum Limited fires 12,000 striking workers in South Africa
Sports History
Oct 6 New Zealand wins inaugural Rugby Championship with a 32-16 win over South Africa in Johannesburg; undefeated All Blacks score 4 tries to 1 with Dan Carter booting 3 conversions, a penalty & dropped goal
Event of Interest
Oct 6 Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict XVI's butler, is found guilty of leaking confidential documents and is sentenced to 18 months imprisonment
- Oct 6 The Leeds Rhinos defeat the Warrington Wolves 26-18 to win the 2012 Super League grand final
- Oct 7 13 people are killed after a Sudanese military aeroplane crashes near Khartoum
- Oct 7 ICC Men's Cricket T20 World Cup, Colombo: West Indies beat Sri Lanka by 36 runs for first title; Player of the Series: Australian all-rounder Shane Watson (249 runs • 11 wickets)
- Oct 7 ICC Women's Cricket T20 World Cup, Colombo: Jess Cameron's 45 from 34 balls leads Australia to 142/4; beat England 138/9 to win by 4 runs to retain WC
NFL Record
Oct 7 New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees breaks Johnny Unitas' NFL record for consecutive games with a TD pass (48) when he connects with Devery Henderson in Saints 31-24 win over San Diego at the SuperDome
- Oct 7 Sébastien Loeb wins the World Rally Championship for the ninth consecutive year
- Oct 8 35 people are killed by a Nigerian military bomb struck a convoy in Maiduguri
Lincoln
Oct 8 Film "Lincoln" directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, base on the biography by Doris Kearns Goodwin premieres
Hugo Chávez Re-elected
Oct 8 Hugo Chávez is re-elected as president of Venezuela for a fourth term
Nobel Prize in Medicine
Oct 8 John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka win the 2012 Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work on reprogramming end stage cells to become pluripotent
- Oct 8 Mustafa A.G. Abushagur, the first elected Libyan Prime Minister, is voted out of office by the Libyan parliament
Event of Interest
Oct 9 25,000 people in Athens protest against German Chancellor Angela Merkel
- Oct 9 Serge Haroche and David Wineland win the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics for work on quantum optics
Event of Interest
Oct 9 Women's rights and education activist Malala Yousafzai is shot three times by a Taliban gunman as she tried to board her school bus in Swat district of northwest Pakistan
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Oct 10 Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka win the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on G protein-coupled receptors
- Oct 11 A further 83 people are killed throughout Syria by the Syrian army
- Oct 11 A US appeal court overturns a district court ruling banning the sale of Samsung
- Oct 12 The European Union wins the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize, sparking a series of critical commentary
- Oct 12 The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves of an African-led force to oust Islamist militants in northern Mali
Music History
Oct 13 "I Won't Give Up," a single by Jason Mraz, is certified 4x multi-platinum
- Oct 13 15 people are killed by a market suicide bombing in Darra Adam Khel, Pakistan
- Oct 13 Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild sells for $34 million, the highest sold artwork by a living artist
- Oct 14 20 people are gunned down in a mosque in Dogo Dawa, Nigeria
- Oct 15 Hilary Mantel wins the 2012 Man Booker Prize for her novel "Bring Up the Bodies"
- Oct 16 Conflict in Maiduguri, Nigeria, leads to 24 militant deaths and several structures set ablaze
- Oct 17 Exoplanet Alpha Centauri Bb discovered orbiting Alpha Centauri announced (later thought to be a false finding)
Sports History
Oct 17 Lance Armstrong loses a host of endorsements in the wake of his doping scandal
- Oct 17 Tens of thousands protest against austerity measures in Greece
- Oct 18 Google stock trading suspended after premature release of a quarterly report indicating a 20% drop in profits and a 9% fall in share price
Film & TV History
Oct 18 Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen are honoured for their work with fashion label The Row at the WSJ Magazine's Innovator Of The Year Awards in New York City
- Oct 18 MLB American League Championship: Detroit Tigers beat New York Yankees, 4 games to 0
- Oct 18 Syrian military airstrikes kill 40 people in Maaret al-Numan
- Oct 19 8 people are killed and 78 injured by a car bomb in Beirut, Lebanon
- Oct 21 Kateri Tekakwitha canonized as the 1st Native American saint by Pope Benedict XVI
Red
Oct 22 "Red" 4th studio album by Taylor Swift is released (Billboard Album of the Year 2012/2013)
- Oct 22 6 Italian scientists are convicted of manslaughter for their failure to predict the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake
- Oct 22 Hurricane Sandy forms in the Western Caribbean Sea
- Oct 22 MLB National League Championship: San Francisco Giants beat St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 3
Skyfall
Oct 23 "Skyfall", 23rd James Bond film, directed by Sam Mendes and starring Daniel Craig and Javier Bardem premieres in London
- Oct 23 12 people are killed and 40 are injured in a hospital fire in Tainan, Taiwan
- Oct 24 3 people are shot dead and two critically wounded after being shot by an unknown gunman in Downey, California
- Oct 24 Hurricane Sandy makes landfall in Jamaica killing 1 person and causing over $50 million in damage
- Oct 24 Libyan militias capture Bani Walid resulting in 130 civilian deaths
- Oct 25 Hurricane Sandy makes landfall in Cuba and Haiti killing 65 people and causing over $80 million in damage
- Oct 25 The double dip recession in the UK economy ends with growth of 1.0% in GDP in the third quarter of 2012, with help from the London Olympic Games
- Oct 26 41 people are killed and 50 injured by a suicide bombing of a mosque in Maymana, Afghanistan
- Oct 26 64 people are killed in West Burma after continued sectarian clashes
- Oct 26 China blocks the New York Times from searches and social media in response to an investigation into Premier Wen Jiabao
- Oct 26 Hurricane Sandy makes landfall in the Bahamas killing 2 people and causing over $300 million in damage
- Oct 27 46 people are killed and 123 injured in Iraq after a series of attacks and bombs
- Oct 27 Thousands demonstrate in Madrid against proposed budget cuts
- Oct 28 15 people are killed and 33 injured by a series of Baghdad car bombings
Sports History
Oct 28 American Serena Williams wins her 3rd season ending tennis title; beats Maria Sharapova of Russia 6–4, 6–3 in the WTA Championship decider in Istanbul, Turkey
- Oct 28 Baseball World Series: San Francisco beats Detroit, 4-3 in 10 innings in Game 4 at Comerica Park; sweep Tigers, 4-0 for Giants' 2nd title in 3 years; MVP: SF 3rd baseman Pablo Sandoval
- Oct 28 Syrian ceasefire collapses and 128 people are killed in ongoing civil war violence
- Oct 29 Hurricane Sandy makes landfall in New Jersey resulting in 110 deaths and $50 billion in damage and forces the New York stock exchange to close
- Oct 29 Publishing companies Penguin and Random House merge to form the world's largest publisher
- Oct 31 The New York Stock Exchange opens after being closed for two days after Hurricane Sandy
Famous Weddings
Audra McDonald
Oct 6 Former "Private Practice" actress Audra McDonald (42) weds Broadway star Will Swenson (38) in Croton-on-Hudson, New York
- Oct 7 Media personality Jack Osbourne (26) weds Lisa Stelly on the Big Island of Hawaii
- Oct 12 Comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham (50) weds fitness model Audrey Murdick (32) at the Sunstone Vineyards in Santa Ynez, California
- Oct 13 "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" actor Alfonso Ribeiro (41) weds Angela Unkrich (31) in California
Justin Timberlake & Jessica Biel
Oct 19 Grammy Award-winning singer Justin Timberlake (31) weds "Total Recall" actress Jessica Biel (30) at the Borgo Egnazia resort in Fasano, Italy
- Oct 19 Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg Prince Guillaume (30) weds Countess of Belgium Stephanie de Lannoy (28) in a civil ceremony at the Hotel De Ville in Luxembourg
- Oct 20 American "Clueless" actress Elisa Donovan (41) weds American investment banker Charlie Bigelow (36) on a outdoor ceremony on the Vineyard Lawn at The Carmel Valley Ranch in Carmel, California
- Oct 28 Bristol Palin's former fiance Levi Johnston (21) weds Sunny Oglesby (20) at Settlers Bay Lodge in Wasilla, Alaska
Evan Rachel Wood
Oct 30 American actress Evan Rachel Wood (25) weds English "Billy Elliott" actor Jamie Bell (26) in California; divorce in 2014
Famous Deaths
- Oct 1 Eric J. Hobsbawm, British Marxist historian, dies from pneumonia at 95
- Oct 2 Big Jim Sullivan [Tomkins], British session and touring rock guitarist, sitar, and banjo player, dies of heart disease and diabetes at 71
- Oct 3 (Kathryn) "Kathi" McDonald, American blues and rock singer (Ike & Tina Turner Revue; Big Brother & The Holding Company), and songwriter, dies at 64
- Oct 5 Edvard Mirzoyan, Armenian composer, dies at 91
- Oct 5 Keith H.S. Campbell, British biologist, dies at 58
- Oct 6 Chadli Bendjedid, Algerian president, dies from cancer at 83
- Oct 6 Raoul de Keyser, Flemish painter, dies at 82
- Oct 7 John Tchicai, Danish jazz saxophonist and composer (New York Art Quartet), dies at 76
- Oct 7 Mervyn Dymally, Trinidadian-born American politician (Rep-D-CA, 1981-93), dies at 86
- Oct 9 Harris Savides, American cinematographer., dies from brain cancer at 55
- Oct 9 Theo Olof, German-Dutch violinist and concert master, dies at 88
- Oct 10 Alex Karras, American NFL player, dies from kidney failure at 77
- Oct 10 Kyaw Zaw, Burmese politician and soldier, dies at 92
- Oct 10 Sam Gibbons, American politician (Rep-D-FL, 1963-97), dies at 92
- Oct 11 John Junior "Champ" Summers, American MLB player, dies from kidney cancer at 66
- Oct 13 Gary Collins, American actor (6th Sense, Home Show), dies from natural causes at 74
- Oct 13 Helmut Haller, German soccer forward (33 caps West Germany; FC Augsburg, Bologna FC, Juventus), dies from Parkinson's disease and dementia at 73
- Oct 13 Marc Awodey, American artist and writer, dies at 51
- Oct 14 Arlen Specter, American Senator (Republican-PA, 1981- 2011), dies at 82
- Oct 14 Kyle Bennett, American BMX racer, dies in a traffic collision at 33
- Oct 15 Axel Borup-Jørgensen, composer (Nordisk Sommerpastorale; Thalatta! Thalatta!), dies at 87
- Oct 15 Claude Cheysson, French politician (Minister of Foreign Affairs), dies at 92
Norodom Sihanouk (1922-2012)
Oct 15 King of Cambodia (1941-55 and 1993-2004), Chief of State (1960-70), independence campaigner and film producer, dies from a heart attack at 89
- Oct 16 Eddie Yost, American MLB player, dies from cardiovascular disease at 86
- Oct 17 Stanford Robert Ovshinsky, American inventor and scientist (nickel-metal hydride battery), dies from prostate cancer at 89 [1]
- Oct 17 Sylvia Maria Kristel, Dutch actress, dies from throat and liver cancer at 60
- Oct 18 David Spencer Ware, American free jazz saxophonist, dies at 62
- Oct 19 Fiorenzo Magni, Italian road cyclist (Giro d'Italia 1948, 51, 55; Tour of Flanders 1949, 50, 51), dies from an aneurysm at 91
- Oct 20 E. Donnall Thomas, American physician (1990 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for bone marrow transport), dies at 92 [1]
- Oct 21 Dann Cahn, American film editor, dies of natural causes at 89
George McGovern (1922-2012)
Oct 21 American politician and Presidential candidate (D-1972), dies at 90
- Oct 21 Yash Chopra, Indian director (Waqt), dies from dengue fever and multiple organ failure at 80
- Oct 22 Arthur Jensen, American psychologist, dies at 89
- Oct 22 Russell Means, Native American activist, dies from esophageal cancer at 72
- Oct 22 Wilson Whineray, New Zealand rugby union prop (32 Tests [30 as captain]; Auckland RFU), dies at 77
- Oct 24 Anita Björk, Swedish actress (Miss Julie, Loving Couples, Night People), dies at 89
- Oct 24 Jeff Blatnick, American wrestler (Olympic gold 1984), dies at 55
- Oct 24 Margaret Osborne DuPont, American tennis player (6-time Grand Slam singles winner), dies at 94
- Oct 25 Jacques Barzun, French author (The House of Intellect), dies at 104
- Oct 25 John Connelly, English footballer (20 English caps), dies from cancer at 74
- Oct 26 Alan Stretton, Australian general who managed the response to Cyclone Tracey in Darwin, dies at 90
- Oct 27 Hans Werner Henze, German composer, dies at 86
- Oct 27 Terry Callier, American soul, folk and jazz guitarist, and singer-songwriter ("What Color Is Love"), dies of cancer at 67
- Oct 28 Jack Dellal, British property investor and multi-millionaire (Allied Commercial Holdings), dies from natural causes at 83
- Oct 31 Brian Cobby, British actor (Evita, The Nudist Story) and the first male voice of the British speaking clock, dies from health complications at 83
- Oct 31 Konstantin Vyrupayev, Soviet wrestler (Greco-Roman Bantamweight Olympic Gold 1956), dies at 82
