Historical Events
- Oct 2 The economic crisis in Ireland is considered to be the driving force behind the largest migration of Irish people to London in 20 years, it is reported today
- Oct 2 The International Olympic Committee votes to award Rio de Janeiro, Brazil rights to host the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics
Farm Aid 22
Oct 4 Farm Aid 22 held in Maryland Heights, Missouri; performers include Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Jason Mraz, and Wilco [1]
- Oct 4 George Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement defeats Greece's governing New Democracy party in an electoral landslide.
Senior Players Championship
Oct 4 Senior Players Championship Men's Golf, Baltimore CC: Jay Haas wins his third and final Champions Tour major title by 1 stroke from Tom Watson
- Oct 5 Australia wins cricket's Champions Trophy at Centurion Park in Gauteng, South Africa by 6 wickets (28 balls remaining) v New Zealand; chasing 200, Shane Watson is 105 not out in Australia's 206/4
The List
Oct 6 Manhattan Records releases "The List", the twelfth studio album by singer Rosanne Cash, with song selections culled from a list of 100 titles that her father compiled and gave her when she decided to pursue a career in music.; the album features guest appearances by Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Tweedy, Elvis Costello, and Rufus Wainwright
Carl Gustav Jung's Red Book
Oct 7 A digital version of psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung's 'Red Book' is published 48 years after his death and contains personal notes on his subconscious during the period in which he developed his principal theories
- Oct 9 First lunar impact of the Centaur and LCROSS spacecrafts as part of NASA's Lunar Precursor Robotic Program
- Oct 10 After closed borders for nearly two hundred years, Armenia and Turkey sign protocols in Zurich to open their borders
- Oct 11 Presidents Cup Golf, Harding Park GC: US down International team, 19½–14½; their 2nd consecutive win by that score and 3rd straight overall
Birgit Nilsson Prize
Oct 14 Spanish opera singer Plácido Domingo is awarded the first $1 million Birgit Nilsson Prize
- Oct 18 British Mercedes driver Jenson Button finishes 5th in Brazilian Grand Prix at Autódromo José Carlos Pace to clinch his first F1 World Drivers Championship
- Oct 21 55th National Film Awards (India): "Kanchivaram" wins the Golden Lotus
- Oct 21 MLB National League Championship: Philadelphia Phillies beat Los Angeles Dodgers, 4 games to 1
Gregorio Álvarez Sentenced
Oct 22 Former Uruguayan dictator Gregorio Álvarez sentenced to 25 years in prison for aggravated murder of 37 Uruguayan dissidents who had fled to Argentina [1]
- Oct 22 Microsoft releases Windows 7
- Oct 23 The UK markets had contracted by 0.4% in the third quarter against what was expected to be a period of growth, as a result of unexpectedly poor performance by the service sector
- Oct 23 The United Nations "Rotterdam Rules" convention regulating international maritime carriage of goods is ratified with its twentieth signature.
- Oct 24 19th College Football Holy War: Notre Dame beats Boston College 20-16 in South Bend (Notre Dame's first win in the series in nine years)
- Oct 24 First International Day of Climate Action, organized with 350.org, a global campaign to address a claimed global warming crisis.
- Oct 25 MLB American League Championship: New York Yankees beat Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 4 games to 2
- Oct 25 The 25 October 2009 Baghdad bombings kills 155 and wounds at least 721.
- Oct 28 NASA successfully launches the Ares I-X mission, the only rocket launch for its later-cancelled Constellation program.
- Oct 28 The 28 October 2009 Peshawar bombing kills 117 and wounds 213.
Famous Weddings
Pavel Bure
Oct 10 Ice hockey right winger Pavel Bure (38) weds model Alina Khasanova (23) in Moscow, Russia
- Oct 11 "Mad Men" actress Christina Hendricks (37) weds actor Geoffrey Arend (34) at the couple's favorite Il Buco restaurant in New York City
Trent Reznor
Oct 17 American musician Trent Reznor (44) weds Filipino American singer-songwriter Mariqueen Maandig (28) in Los Angeles, California
Ivanka Trump & Jared Kushner
Oct 25 American businesswoman Ivanka Trump (27) weds New York Observer owner Jared Kushner (28) at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey
Famous Deaths
- Oct 1 V. M. Muddiah, Indian cricket spin bowler (2 Tests, 3 wickets), dies from stroke complications at 80
- Oct 3 Fatimah el-Sharif, Queen consort of Libya (1951-69), dies at 98
- Oct 3 Robert Kirby, British music arranger (Nick Drake), dies at 61
- Oct 4 Günther Rall, German fighter ace, dies at 91
- Oct 4 Mercedes Sosa, Argentinian singer (exponent of nueva canción), dies at 74
- Oct 6 Douglas Campbell, Scottish born Canadian actor (b. 1922)
- Oct 7 Irving Penn, American fashion and fine art photographer. dies at 92
- Oct 7 Shelby Singleton, American record label owner and producer (Smash Records, Mercury Records), dies of brain cancer at 77
- Oct 10 Stephen Gately, Irish pop singer (Boyzone - "A Different Beat"; "No Matter What"), dies of a congenital heart defect at 33
- Oct 11 Veronika Neugebauer, German actress and voice actress (b. 1969)
- Oct 12 Dickie Peterson American heavy metal bassist (Blue Cheer), dies of liver cancer at 63
- Oct 12 Frank Vandenbroucke, Belgian road racing cyclist, dies at 34
- Oct 12 Ian Wallace, British buffo bass-baritone opera and concert singer ("Gendarmes' Duet"), and broadcaster (BBC's My Music, 1964-97), dies at 90
- Oct 13 Al Martino [Jasper Cini], American pop singer ("Here in My Heart"), and actor (The Godfather), dies of a heart attack at 82
- Oct 13 Daniel Melnick, American television and film producer (Get Smart; Ages of Man; Roxanne), and studio executive, dies at 77
- Oct 13 Richard Whitcomb, American NASA aerodynamicist, invented the supercritical wing and devised the area rule, dies at 88 [1]
- Oct 13 Roger Nixon, American composer, dies at 88
- Oct 13 Stephen Barnett, American legal scholar who opposed the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 (b. 1935)
- Oct 14 "Captain" Lou Albano, American professional wrestler, 1953-69, wrestler manager (1969-95), and actor (Cyndi Lauper music videos; Super Mario Brothers), dies of a heart attack at 76
- Oct 16 Robert W. Davis, American politician (Rep-R-MI, 1979-93), dies at 77
- Oct 17 Louis Stevens, American engineer (invented magnetic disk storage for IBM 305 RAMAC), dies at 84 [1]
- Oct 17 Vic Mizzy, American composer (Green Acres and The Addams Family themes), and bandleader, dies at 93
- Oct 18 Nancy Spero, American feminist artist, dies at 83
- Oct 19 Howard Unruh, American mass murderer - shot 13 people in country's 1st mass shooting, dies in prison at 88 [1]
- Oct 19 Joseph Wiseman, Canadian actor (Dr No, Viva Zapata, Les Miserables), dies at 91
- Oct 21 Louise Cooper, British sci-fi author (Nemesis, Inferno, Infanta, Nocturne), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 57
- Oct 22 Don Lane, American-born Australian television personality (b. 1933)
- Oct 22 Soupy Sales [Milton Supman], American comedian, television, and radio personality, dies from cancer at 83
- Oct 23 Lou Jacobi, Canadian actor and comedian (Irma la Douce, The Dean Martin Show), dies at 95 [1]
- Oct 26 George Na'ope, Hawaiian-American musician, dancer and heritage preservationist, dies of cancer at 81
- Oct 26 Teel Bivins, American politician (b. 1947)
- Oct 27 David Shepherd, English cricket umpire (92 Tests 1985–2005; 172 ODIs 1983–2005), dies from lung cancer at 68
- Oct 29 Anna Yegorova, Russian pilot (flew 277 sorties WWII in Soviet air force), dies at 93
- Oct 30 Claude Lévi-Strauss, French social anthropologist and ethnologist (structuralism), dies at 100
- Oct 30 Norton Buffalo [Phillip Jackson], American singer-songwriter and country and blues harmonica player, dies of cancer at 58
- Oct 31 Qian Xuesen, Chinese scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project and who pioneered engineering cybernetics, dies at 97
- Oct 31 Ron Gowans, Australian jazz saxophonist, dies of cancer at 83
- Oct 31 Tom Wheatcroft, English businessman and car collector (Donington Grand Prix Collection), dies at 87
