October This Day in History, Historic Events
What Historic October Events Occurred on Your Birthday?
Our “This Day in History for October” section contains historical October events categorized by month and day. See what happened on your birthday, or any day of the year. Find out what happened on this day in October.
Major Historical October Events
October 1, 1880 – John Philip Sousa becomes the Director of the US Marine Corps Band.
October 1, 1888 – The first issue of National Geographic is published.
October 1, 1890 – Yosemite National Park was established.
October 1, 1959 – The Television series “The Twilight Zone” premiered.
October 1, 1971 – Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida.
October 2, 1950 – Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schultz first appeared in newspapers.
October 3, 1955 – Captain Kangaroo premieres on television.
October 3, 1955 – The “Mickey Mouse Club” premieres on television.
October 3, 1974 – Frank Robinson becomes major league baseball’s first black manager for the Cleveland Indians.
October 4, 1883 – The Orient Express train takes off on its first trip from Paris to Istanbul.
October 4, 2006 – Founder Julian Assange launches WikiLeaks.
October 5, 1921 – The World Series was broadcast on radio for the first time.
October 6, 1889 – Thomas Edison showed the 1st motion picture.
October 6, 1967 – The first Physician’s Assistants graduate from Duke University.
October 6, 2000 – “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” premieres on television.
October 7, 1982 – “Cats” premieres on Broadway, the second longest-running play ever.
October 8, 1871 – The Great Chicago Fire levels 3 1/2 square miles of the city. According to legend, it was started by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow.
October 9, 1888 – The general public was first admitted into the Washington Monument.
October 9, 2018 – Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus performs its last show, a victim of falling attendance, animal rights protests, and high operating cost.
October 10, 1886 – Griswald Lorillard of Tuxedo Park, NY cuts the tails off a tailcoat, creating the first tuxedo.
October 10, 1973 – Spiro Agnew becomes just the second person to resign as Vice President of the United States. Pleaded no contest to income tax evasion.
October Historical Events: In 1789, the Revolutionary War Ends
October 11, 1984 – Saturday Night Live premieres on television.
October 11, 1984 – Space Shuttle Challenger astronaut Kathryn Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space.
October 12, 1810 – The very first Oktoberfest is held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
October 13, 1792 – The cornerstone was laid for the Whitehouse.
October 13, 1775 – The U.S. Continental Navy was created. See Navy Day
October 14, 1971 – Martin Luther King Jr was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
October 15, 1951 – “I Love Lucy Show” premiered on television.
October 15, 1966 – U.S. Department of Transportation was created.
October 16, 1793 – Marie Antoinette was guillotined for treason.
October 16, 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis begins.
October 17, 1931 – Mobster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion.
October 17, 1977 – Joe Pedott of San Fransisco, CA. applies for a U.S. patent for the Chia Pet. See Chia Pet Day.
October 18, 1867 – The United States purchased the territory of Alaska from Russia for $7.2M. What a deal that was!!
October 19, 1983 – The Senate passed a bill making Martin Luther King’s Birthday a national holiday.
October 19, 1781 – The Revolutionary War ended.
October Historical Events - France Gives the U.S. the Statue of Liberty.
October 21, 1797 – “Old Ironsides”, the USS Constitution was launched in Boston, MA.
October 21, 1879 – Thomas Edison invented the incandescent electric lamp.
October 23, 1915 – 25,000 women marched in New York City demanding the right to vote.
October 24, 1929 – Black Thursday stock market panic. Investors panicked and dumped over 13 million shares of stock. The market then rallied for a few days before the crash on October 29.
October 24, 1945 – The United Nations came into existence.
October 24, 1901 – Anna Edison Taylor is the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
October 25, 1983 – U.S. forces invade Grenada.
October 26, 1825 – The Erie Canal opens, connecting Lake Erie to the Hudson River for commercial shipping. It is the first manmade waterway.
October 26, 1881 – The “Gunfight at the OK Corral” occurs. Wyatt Earp, his two brothers, and “Doc” Holliday, have a shootout with the Ike Clanton gang.
October 27, 1969 – President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday. The “Teddy bear” was named after him.
October 28, 1636 – Harvard University is founded in Cambridge, MA.
October 28, 1886 – France presents the U.S. with the Statute of Liberty.
October 28, 1965 – The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is completed. It was built as a tribute to Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase.
October 29, 1929 – The New York Stock Exchange crashed on what became known as “Black Tuesday”, starting the Great Depression. Prices plummeted and billions of dollars were lost.
October 29, 1969 – The Internet is created when the first bits and bytes of data are sent between computers at UCLA and Stanford Research Institute.
October 30, 1938 – Orson Wells’ “War of the Worlds” is broadcast on the radio, sparking panic as listeners believed the news bulletins about a Martian invasion.
October 31, 1926 – Magician Harry Houdini dies from complications of a ruptured appendix.
October 31, 1984 – Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated.
Additional Resources
Famous Birthdays Who else was born on your Birthday? Find out!
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