Historical Events
- Oct 1 KBFI (now KDAF) TV channel 33 in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (IND) begins
Music History
Oct 1 Pink Floyd arrive in New York for their first US tour
Sports History
Oct 1 Richard Petty continues phenomenal NASCAR winning streak by taking the Wilkes 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway; unprecedented 10th consecutive victory
Music Premiere
Oct 1 Roger Sessions' 7th Symphony premieres in Ann Arbor, Michigan with Jean Martinon conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- Oct 2 All Grateful Dead members arrested by narcotic agents for possession of marijuana in San Francisco, California
- Oct 2 Groundbreaking begins on Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia
1st Black Supreme Court Justice
Oct 2 Thurgood Marshall sworn in as 1st black Supreme Court Justice
- Oct 3 Belgian King Boudouin inaugurates world's biggest floodgate in Antwerp
- Oct 3 KGSC (now KICU) TV channel 36 in San Jose, CA (IND) begins
- Oct 3 William J. "Pete" Knight sets highest speed ever recorded by a crewed, powered aircraft flying USAF/NASA's X-15 at 7,297 KPH/4,534 MPH/Mach 6.72
- Oct 4 Omar Ali Saifuddin III of Brunei abdicates in favour of his son, His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah
- Oct 4 St Louis Cardinals beat Boston Red Sox, 2-1 in Game 1 of Baseball World Series at Fenway Park; first Fall Classic since 1948 not to feature Yankees, Giants or Dodgers; Cards win series, 4-3
- Oct 6 Haight-Ashbury (San Francisco) hippies throw a funeral for "Hippie" to mark end of "the summer of love".
- Oct 6 USSR performs nuclear test
- Oct 7 Beatles turn down $1 million offer by Sid Berstein for a return performance at Shea Stadium in NYC
- Oct 7 Rolf Hochhuth's play "Soldaten" premieres in West Berlin
Event of Interest
Oct 8 Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia
Event of Interest
Oct 10 Brendan Behan's "Borstal Boy" premieres in Dublin
Yoko Plus Me
Oct 11 "Yoko Plus Me" art exhibition by Yoko Ono opens in London (the "Me" is John Lennon)
Baseball Record
Oct 11 World Series record 3 consecutive HRs hit by Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Smith and Rico Petrocelli as Boston Red Sox beat St Louis Cardinals, 8-4 in Game 6 at Fenway Park
World Series
Oct 12 Baseball World Series: Lou Brock steals WS record 7 bases as St Louis Cardinals beat Boston Red Sox, 7-2 at Fenway Park for a 4-3 series win; MVP: Cards pitcher Bob Gibson
- Oct 13 CBS radio cancels "House Party"
- Oct 13 First American Basketball Association (ABA) game is played with Oakland Oaks beating Anaheim Amigos, 132-129; red, white & blue ball and 3-point field goal introduced
- Oct 13 Seattle SuperSonics (now OKC Thunder) lose NBA debut game, 144-116 to the San Francisco Warriors at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
The Motherland Calls
Oct 15 The Motherland Calls, a monumental statue commemorating the battle of Stalingrad completed in Volgograd, Russia, then the World's tallest statue designed by Yevgeny Vuchetich
- Oct 16 13th General Conference on Weights and Measures in Paris ends after redefining the second using a cesium-beam atomic clock [1]
- Oct 16 Joean Baez and 123 other anti-draft protesters are arrested in Oakland, California
- Oct 16 WETK TV channel 33 in Burlington, VT (PBS) begins broadcasting
- Oct 16 WGNO TV channel 26 in New Orleans, LA (ABC) begins broadcasting
- Oct 17 "Hair" premieres on Broadway
Music History
Oct 17 Barbra Streisand stars on "Belle of 14th Street" special on CBS
Event of Interest
Oct 17 Memorial service for Brian Epstein at New London Synagogue
- Oct 17 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Oct 17 William "Pete" Knight in X-15 reaches 85 km
- Oct 18 MLB American League votes to allow Kansas City Athletics to move to Oakland, California & expand league to 12 teams in 1971 with Kansas City & Seattle teams - later accelerated to 1969 due to pressure from Kansas City politicians
- Oct 18 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to German-American nuclear physicist Hans Bethe
- Oct 18 Soviet Venera 4 becomes 1st probe to send data back from Venus
The Jungle Book
Oct 18 Walt Disney's animated musical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" film is released; cast features voices of Phil Harris, Louis Prima, Sterling Holloway, and Sebastian Cabot
- Oct 19 Igor Ter-Ovanesyan of USSR, sets then long jump record at 27' 4 3/4"
- Oct 19 Mariner 5 makes fly-by of Venus
- Oct 20 A purported bigfoot is filmed at Bluff Creek by Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin in Northern California
- Oct 20 All white federal jury convicts 7 in murder of 3 civil rights workers in Meridan Mississippi
- Oct 20 KMXN (now KJTV) TV channel 34 in Lubbock, TX (IND) begins broadcasting
- Oct 20 Owner Charlie Finley names Bob Kennedy 1st manager of the newly relocated Oakland A's
- Oct 21 Egypt sinks Israeli torpedo boat
- Oct 21 Tens of thousands of anti-Vietnam War protesters march on the Pentagon, besieging the military headquarters for two days
- Oct 22 Denny Hulme becomes first New Zealander to win the F1 World Drivers Championship with 3rd place in the Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez; wins title by 5 points from team leader Jack Brabham
- Oct 22 Ian Brayshaw (W Aus v Vic, Perth) takes all 10 cricket wkts
Sports History
Oct 22 Joe DiMaggio is hired as executive VP of A's by Charlie Finley
- Oct 23 "Henry, Sweet Henry" opens at Palace Theater NYC for 80 performances
- Oct 23 NJ Americans (later NY/NJ Nets) play 1st ABA game
Shah of Iran Crowned
Oct 26 Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowns himself after 26 years on the Peacock Throne
- Oct 27 4 people from Baltimore pour blood on selective service records
- Oct 29 Danny Abramowicz begins NFL streak of 105 consecutive game receptions
- Oct 29 Expo 67 closes in Montreal, Canada
- Oct 29 Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni and James Rado's hippie musical "Hair" opens off-Broadway at the Public Theatre, NYC, for a limited 6-week run
- Oct 29 London criminal Jack McVitie is murdered by the Kray twins, leading to their eventual imprisonment and downfall
- Oct 30 Arthur Allyn says Chicago White Sox will play 9 games in Milwaukee in 1968
The Last Thing On My Mind
Oct 30 Dolly Parton releases her debut single with Porter Wagoner "The Last Thing On My Mind"
- Oct 30 Ferdinand Bracke bicycles world record time (48,093 km)
- Oct 30 USSR Kosmos 186 & 188 make 1st automatic docking & Venmera 13 launch
- Oct 31 KIMO TV channel 13 in Anchorage, AK (ABC) begins broadcasting
Event of Interest
Oct 31 Nguyễn Văn Thiệu takes oath of office to become the 1st President of the Second Republic of South Vietnam
- Oct 31 SF Giants Mike McCormick wins NL Cy Young Award
Famous Birthdays
- Oct 1 Geraldine Heaney, Canadian ice hockey defense (Olympics gold 1998), born in Lurgan, Northern Ireland
- Oct 1 Mike Pringle, American Canadian Football Hall of Fame running back (CFL MOP 1995, 98; Montreal Alouettes), born in Los Angeles, California
- Oct 1 Scott Young, US Hockey Hall of Fame right wing (1,181 NHL games; Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche), born in Clinton, Massachusetts
- Oct 2 Floyd "Bud" Gaugh, American ska-punk rock drummer (Sublime), born in Kihei, Hawaii
- Oct 2 Frankie Fredericks, Namibian athlete (Olympic silver 100m, 200m 1992, 96), born in Windhoek, South West Africa
- Oct 2 Gillian Welch, American singer-songwriter (Time (The Revelator); Revival), born in New York City
Thomas Muster (56 years old)
Oct 2 Austrian tennis player (French Open 1995), born in Leibnitz, Austria
- Oct 3 Dan Miller, American guitarist and songwriter (They Might Be Giants, since 1998), born in Rochester, New York
- Oct 3 Denis Villeneuve, French Canadian director (Arrival, Dune), born in Bécancour, Canada
- Oct 3 Rob Liefeld, American comic book writer and artist
- Oct 3 Walter Polovchak, Ukrainian-American asylum seeker, born in Ukraine
- Oct 4 Ekin Cheng Yee-Kin, Hong Kong actor and Cantopop singer, born in Hong Kong
- Oct 4 Liev Schreiber, American actor (Spotlight), born in San Francisco, California
- Oct 4 Nick Green, Australian rower and administrator (Olympic gold 1992, 96; CEO Cycling Australia), born in Melbourne, Victoria
- Oct 4 Roger Pavlik, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1996; Texas Rangers), born in Houston, Texas
- Oct 4 Vicky Bullett, American basketball forward and coach (Olympic gold 1988; World C’ship gold 1990), born in Martinsburg, West Virginia
- Oct 5 Guy Pearce, British-Australian Emmy Award-winning actor (Jack Irish), born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England
- Oct 5 Rex Chapman, NBA guard (Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns)
- Oct 6 Kennet Andersson, former Swedish footballer
- Oct 6 Svend Karlsen, Norwegian strongman
- Oct 7 Luke Haines, British musician (The Auteurs; Black Box Recorder), born in Walton-on-Thames, England
Toni Braxton (56 years old)
Oct 7 American R&B singer-songwriter ("Un-Break My Heart"), born in Severn, Maryland
- Oct 8 Ivonne Reyes, Venezuelan actress, born in Valencia, Venezuela
- Oct 9 Carling Bassett-Seguso, Canadian tennis player and actress (Spring Fever, 2 x WTA titles), born in Toronto, Ontario
- Oct 9 Eddie Guerrero, Mexican pro wrestler (WWE Championship 2004; WWE Tag Team C'ship x 4), born in El Paso, Texas (d. 2005)
- Oct 9 Gheorghe Popescu, Romanian soccer player (Barcelona), born in Calafat, Dolj County, Romania
Gavin Newsom (56 years old)
Oct 10 American politician (Governor of California 2019-), born in San Francisco, California
- Oct 10 Jonathan Littell, French-American writer (The Kindly Ones), born in New York City
- Oct 10 Michael Giacchino, American Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar Award-winning composer for television, film, and video games (Lost; Up; Jojo Rabbit), born in Riverside Township, New Jersey
- Oct 11 Artie Lange, American comedian (The Howard Stern Show), actor (Beer League), and writer, born in Livingston, New Jersey
- Oct 11 Bruce Dickson, CFL linebacker (Edmonton Eskimos), born in Hamilton, Ontario
- Oct 11 Charles Ogletree, American tornado sailor (Olympic 8th 1996), born in Greenville, North Carolina
- Oct 11 David Starr, American race car driver, born in Houston, Texas
- Oct 11 Dennis Vaske, American NHL defenseman (NY Islanders), born in Rockford, Illinois
- Oct 11 Peter Thiel, German-American entrepreneur, co-founder of PayPal, born in Frankfurt, Germany
- Oct 11 Rob Selby, American NFL guard (Arizona Cardinals), born in Birmingham, Alabama
- Oct 11 Sean Moynihan, American actor (Powell-One Life to Live), born in Burlington, Vermont
- Oct 11 Tazz [Peter Senercia], American professional wrestler and commentator, born in Brooklyn, New York
- Oct 11 Tony Chimel, American professional wrestling announcer, born in Cherry Hill, New Jersey
- Oct 12 Saara Kuugongelwa, Namibian politician (1st female Prime Minister of Namibia 2015-), born in Otamanzi, South West Africa
- Oct 13 Javier Sotomayor, Cuban jumper (world record 1989, Olympic gold 1992), born in Limonar, Matanzas, Cuba
- Oct 13 Kate Walsh, American actress (Grey's Anatomy), born in San Jose, California
- Oct 13 Steve Vickers, English footballer (Middlesbrough), born in Bishop Auckland, England
- Oct 13 Trevor Hoffman, American Baseball Hall of Fame closer (first pitcher to 500 & 600 saves milestone; 7 x MLB All Star; SD Padres), born in Bellflower, California
- Oct 14 Arleen Sorkin, American actress (Days of Our Lives - "Calliope Jones"; America's Funniest Videos, 1990-92), and screenwriter, born in Washington, D.C. (d. 2023)
- Oct 14 Dave Hajek, infielder (Houston Astros), born in Roseville, California
- Oct 14 Pat Kelly, American baseball player
- Oct 14 Stephen A. Smith, American sports journalist
- Oct 14 Sylvain Lefebvre, Canadian NHL defenseman (Colorado Avalanche), born in Richmond, Canada
- Oct 15 Carlos García, Venezuelan baseball infielder (Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Táchira State, Venezuela
- Oct 16 Davina McCall, British television presenter
- Oct 16 Joe Murphy, NHL right wing (Chicago Blackhawks), born in London, England
- Oct 16 Michael York, Australian field hockey fullback (Olympic silver 1992, 96)
- Oct 17 Allen West, American heavy metal guitarist (Obituary; Southwicked), born in Brandon, Florida
- Oct 17 Marianne Werdel-Witmeyer, American professional tennis player, 1986-97 (ranked 21st in 1995), born in Los Angeles, California
- Oct 17 Mark Johnson, infielder (Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Worcester, Massachusetts
- Oct 17 Nathalie Tauziat, Bangui Cent Afr Rep, tennis star (1993 Quebec City)
- Oct 17 René Dif, Algerian-Danish pop-dance singer-songwriter (Aqua - "Barbie Girl"), born in Copenhagen, Denmark
- Oct 18 Gary John Anderson, New Zealand track and road cyclist (Olympics 1996-bronze), born in Wanganui, New Zealand
- Oct 19 Amy Carter, US President Jimmy Carter's daughter and peace activist, born in Plains, Georgia
- Oct 19 Yoko Shimomura, Japanese pianist and video game composer, born in Hyogo, Japan
- Oct 20 Harvey Pulliam, American MLB outfielder (Colorado Rockies), born in San Francisco, California
- Oct 20 Luck Mervil, Haitian-Québécois actor and singer-songwriter, born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
- Oct 20 Luigi Lo Cascio, Italian actor and director (La città ideale.), born in Palermo, Italy
- Oct 20 Marco Ngai, Hong Kong actor, born in Hsinchu, Taiwan
- Oct 20 Susan Tulley, English actress (Michelle-EastEnders), born in London, England
- Oct 21 Bill Berg, Canadian NHL left wing (NY Rangers), born in St. Catharines, Ontario
- Oct 21 John Flaherty, American baseball catcher (Tampa Bay Devil Rays, New York Yankees) and broadcaster (YES Network, NY Yankees), born in New York City
- Oct 21 Paul Ince, English footballer
- Oct 21 Stanley Richard, NFL safety (Washington Redskins)
- Oct 22 Carlos Mencia, Honduras-born American comedian
- Oct 22 Rita Guerra, Portuguese singer-songwriter (Eurovision, 2003), born in Lisbon, Portugal
- Oct 22 Ron Tugnutt, Canadian ice hockey goaltender (most saves in regular season non-loss game (70 of 73 shots in 3-3 tie for Quebec Nordiques v Boston Bruins 1991), born in Scarborough, Ontario
- Oct 22 Ulrike Maier, Austrian alpine skier (World C'ship gold Super-G 1989, 91), born in Rauris, Salzburg, Austria (d. 1994)
- Oct 23 Dale Crover, American rock drummer and guitarist (Melvins; The Men of Porn; Altamont), born in Aberdeen, Washington
- Oct 23 Jaime Yzaga, Peruvian tennis star, born in Lima, Peru
- Oct 24 Ian Bishop, Trinidadian cricketer (West Indian fast bowler), born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
- Oct 24 Jacqueline McKenzie, Australian stage and screen actress (Romper Stomper, Deep Blue Sea, The 4400), born in Sydney, Australia
- Oct 25 Anthony Johnson, American NFL fullback (Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers), born in Indianapolis, Indiana
- Oct 25 Kelly Chase, Canadian NHL right wing (Hartford Whalers), born in Porcupine Plain, Saskatchewan
- Oct 26 Bobby Houston, American NFL linebacker (NY Jets), born in Washington, D.C.
Keith Urban (56 years old)
Oct 26 New Zealand-Australian Grammy, CMA, and ARIA Award-winning country music singer-songwriter ("Somebody Like You"; "The Fighter"), and television personality (American Idol; The Voice Australia), born in Whangarei, New Zealand
- Oct 26 Shelly Stokes, American softball catcher (Olympic gold 1996), born in Sacramento, California
- Oct 27 Jaren Jackson, American NBA guard & forward (Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
Scott Weiland (1967-2015)
Oct 27 American rock singer-songwrite (Stone Temple Pilots; Velvet Revolver), born in San Jose, California
- Oct 28 James Joseph, NFL running back (Cin Bengals)
- Oct 28 John Romero, American video game designer (id Software), born in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Julia Roberts (56 years old)
Oct 28 American actress (Mystic Pizza, Pretty Woman), born in Smyrna, Georgia
- Oct 28 Kevin Macdonald, Scottish film director
- Oct 28 Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein
- Oct 29 Beth Chapman, American bounty hunter and reality star (Dog the Bounty Hunter), born in Denver, Colorado (d. 2019)
- Oct 29 Greg Gohr, American pitcher (Detroit Tigers), born in Santa Clara, California
- Oct 29 Joely Fisher, American actress (Paige-Ellen), born in Los Angeles, California
- Oct 29 Rufus Sewell, English actor (A Knight's Tale, Middlemarch), born in London, England
- Oct 30 Brenda Lawson, New Zealand rower (World C'ship gold double sculls 1993, 94; NZ Sports HOF), born in Wanganui, New Zealand
- Oct 30 Leonidas Kavakos, Greek concert violinist and conductor, born in Athens, Greece
- Oct 30 Pat Elynuik, Canadian NHL right wing (Ottawa Senators), born in Foam Lake, Saskatchewan
- Oct 30 Ty Detmer, American College Football Hall of Fame quarterback (Heisman Trophy 1990, Brigham Young; Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions), born in San Marcos, Texas
- Oct 31 Adam Schlesinger, American rock musician (Fountains Of Wayne) and songwriter ("That Thing You Do"), born in New York City (d. 2020)
Vanilla Ice (56 years old)
Oct 31 American rapper (Ice Ice Baby) and actor (Cool as Ice), born in Miami, Florida
Famous Weddings
Morgan Freeman
Oct 22 Actor Morgan Freeman (30) weds Jeanette Adair Bradshaw
Famous Deaths
- Oct 2 Albertina Rasch, Austrian-born American ballerina and choreographer, dies at 76
- Oct 3 Malcolm Sargent, British organist, composer, and conductor (Last Night of Proms, 1947-66), dies at 72
- Oct 3 Pinto Colvig, American animation voice actor (Goofy, Pluto), dies at 75
- Oct 3 Walter Muller von Kulm, Swiss composer, dies at 68
Woody Guthrie (1912-1967)
Oct 3 American folk singer-songwriter ("This Land Is Your Land"), peace activist, and father of Arlo, dies of Huntington's disease at 55
Clement Attlee (1883-1967)
Oct 8 British politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (1945-51), dies at 84
Che Guevara (1928-1967)
Oct 9 Argentine Marxist revolutionary (Cuban Revolution), author and physician, executed in Bolivia at 39
- Oct 9 Gordon Allport, American psychologist (personalities), dies at 69
- Oct 10 Ervin Major, Hungarian composer, dies at 66
- Oct 11 Ivan Isakov [Hovhannes Ter-Isahakyan], Russian-Armenian military commander (Commander in Chief of the Soviet Navy during WW II), dies at 73
- Oct 12 Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, Indian Socialist politician, dies at 57
- Oct 12 Nathaniel "Nat" Pendleton, American wrestler (Olympics 1920, Silver) and actor (The Thin Man, Reckless), dies from a heart attack at 72
- Oct 14 Marcel Aymé, French novelist and playwright, dies at 65
- Oct 17 Henry Puyi, Chinese Emperor (last emperor of China and the Qing dynasty 1908-12), dies at 61
- Oct 20 Shigeru Yoshida, Japanese politician and diplomat, Prime Minister of Japan (1946-54), dies at 89
- Oct 21 Ejnar Hertzsprung, Danish astronomer (Hertzsprung-Russell diagram), dies at 94
- Oct 22 Cornelis "Kees" Maks, Dutch figurative painter, dies at 91
- Oct 24 Lyle Latell, American actor (Not of This Earth; Dick Tracy's Dilemma; Sky Dragon), dies of a heart attack at 63
- Oct 25 Margaret Ayer Barnes, American playwright and writer (Years of Grace), dies at 81
- Oct 29 Julien Duvivier, French film director (La Bandera), dies at 71
- Oct 30 Charles Trowbridge, Mexican-American actor (Fatal Hour), dies at 85
- Oct 31 Jan Mens, Dutch writer (Honor to God Alone), dies at 70
