- Oct 2 Francis Jackson, British organist, composer (East Acklam; A Time of Fire), and music director (York Minster, 1946-82), born in Malton, Yorkshire, England (d. 2022)
- Oct 2 William Marshall, American singer, bandleader and actor (State Fair, Pennsylvanians), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1994)
- Oct 4 Albert de Klerk, Dutch organist, composer, and conductor, born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1998)
- Oct 8 Hans Poser, German composer, born in Tannenbergsthal (d. 1970)
- Oct 10 Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist and composer ("Straight, No Chaser"; "'Round Midnight"; "Brilliant Corners"), born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina (d. 1982)
- Oct 11 Franz Alphons Wolpert, German composer, born in Wiesentheid, Germany (d. 1978)
- Oct 15 Paul Tanner, American trombonist (Glenn Miller Orchestra), developer and player of the Electro-Theremin (The Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations"; "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"), and educator (UCLA), born in Skunk Hollow, Kentucky (d. 2013)
- Oct 21 John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie, American jazz trumpeter, a creator of bebop & modern jazz (A Night In Tunisia), born in Cheraw, South Carolina (d. 1993)
- Oct 27 Carl "Bama" Warwick, American jazz trumpeter (Dizzy Gillespie; John Kirby; Woody Herman; Buddy Rich), born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 2003)
- Oct 31 Erik Routley, British Congregational minister, composer and musicologist, born in England (d. 1982)
About October 1917
How Old? 106 years old
Generation: Greatest Generation
Leap Year: No
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