Papal Visit
Oct 2 Pope John Paul II visits New York City, and at the U.N. denounces all concentration camps and torture
- Oct 4 Hugh Leonards "Life" premieres in Dublin
- Oct 4 USSR performs nuclear test
- Oct 4 Typhoon Tip forms near Pohnpei in Micronesia, would go on to be the most intense and largest tropical cyclone then ever recorded
- Oct 6 Harry Drake set long distance footbow shot record of 2,006 yds 1'9"
- Oct 6 Pope John Paul II is 1st Pope to visit The White House, meeting with President Jimmy Carter in Washington, D.C.
- Oct 6 MLB American League Championship: Baltimore Orioles beat California Angels, 3 games to 1
- Oct 7 "1940s Radio Hour" opens at St James Theater NYC for 105 performances
- Oct 7 Musical review "Eubie!", based on the songs of composer Eubie Blake, closes at Ambassador Theater, NYC, after 439 performances
- Oct 7 Cleveland Browns' Dino Hall sets club records with 9 kickoff returns
- Oct 7 USSR performs underground nuclear test
Sports History
Oct 7 Frank Mahovlich formally retires from the NHL after a failed comeback attempt with the Detroit Red Wings
- Oct 7 Ferrari driver Jody Scheckter retires with tyre trouble in US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen; becomes first South African to claim Formula 1 World Drivers Championship; wins by 4 points from race winner Gilles Villeneuve
- Oct 8 Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields and Al Dubin's musical "Sugar Babies" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater, NYC; runs for 1208 performances
Music Awards
Oct 8 13th Country Music Association Award: Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers & Barbara Mandrell win
- Oct 9 Howard Stern begins broadcasting on WCCC in Hartford, Connecticut
- Oct 10 Rock band Fleetwood Mac gets a star in Hollywood
- Oct 10 Nordiques' Real Cloutier sets NHL record of a hat trick in 1st game
- Oct 10 Panama assumes sovereignty over Canal Area (ie Canal Zone)
- Oct 10 Recorded trace of snow in Central Park NYC
- Oct 11 "Most Happy Fella" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 53 performances
- Oct 11 German DR frees dissidents Rudolf Bahro & Nico Hubner
- Oct 11 Allan McLeod Cormack & Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield win Nobel Prize for medicine for developing CAT scan
- Oct 12 Typhoon Tip becomes the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded with peak sustained winds of 305km/h (190mph) and a wind diameter of 2,220km (1,380mi)
- Oct 12 The lowest recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure, 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg), occurred in Guam, in the Western Pacific during Typhoon Tip
NBA Record
Oct 12 Boston Celtics guard Chris Ford scores first 3-point basket in NBA history in 1st quarter of 114-106 win v Houston at Boston Garden; game also marks debut of Boston rookie Larry Bird
Sports History
Oct 12 Future Basketball Hall of Fame forward Magic Johnson makes his debut for Los Angeles Lakers at the San Diego Clippers; Lakers win, 103-102
Sports History
Oct 14 NHL's greatest scorer Wayne Gretzky scores his 1st NHL goal
- Oct 14 1st Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. by over 100,000 people
Television Premiere
Oct 14 NBC premiere of U.S. TV adaptation of Helen Keller's life story "The Miracle Worker"
Sports History
Oct 15 NY Knicks retire 2nd number, # 10, Walt Frazier
Film & TV History
Oct 16 Comedy sketch show "Not the Nine O'Clock News" debuts starring Rowan Atkinson, Chris Langham, Pamela Stephenson and Mel Smith on BBC 2
- Oct 16 First global telenovela Mexican "Los ricos también lloran" (The Rich Also Cry) premieres, second foreign series to be screened in the Soviet Union
- Oct 16 Nobel Prize for Economics awarded to Theodore Schultz and William Arthur Lewis for economic development research, particularly for developing countries [1]
- Oct 17 "Beatlemania" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 920 performances
- Oct 17 D Bautista of Mexico completes 20,000 m walk in record 1:20:06.8
Nobel Prize
Oct 17 Mother Teresa of Calcutta awarded Nobel Peace Prize
Sports History
Oct 17 Baseball World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates beat Baltimore Orioles, 4-1 at Memorial Stadium for 4 games to 3 series win; MVP: Pirates 1B Willie Stargell
Historic Event
Oct 17 US President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating Department of Education
- Oct 18 "Beatlemania" opens in London
Historic Event
Oct 18 Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini orders mass executions to stop
Historic Event
Oct 20 John F. Kennedy Library dedicated in Boston
- Oct 20 John Tate beats Gerrie Coetze in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
New York City Marathon
Oct 21 New York City Marathon: Bill Rodgers wins 4th straight men's title in 2:11:42; defending champion Grete Waitz of Norway takes out women's event in 2:27:33
Historic Event
Oct 21 Israeli minister of Foreign affairs Moshe Dayan resigns
Historic Event
Oct 22 Deposed Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi arrives in NYC for medical treatment
- Oct 22 Walt Disney World's 100-millionth guest
Sports History
Oct 24 Billy Martin punches a marshmallow salesman, puts job in jeopardy
Music History
Oct 24 Guinness Book of Records presents Paul McCartney with a rhodium disc as all-time best selling singer-songwriter
- Oct 25 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- Oct 26 Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea is assassinated by KCIA head Kim Jae-kyu. Choi Kyu-ha becomes the acting President; Kim is executed the following May.
- Oct 27 Islanders score 2 goals within 6 seconds 3 goals within 44 seconds
- Oct 27 St Vincent & Grenadines becomes independent of UK (National Day)
- Oct 27 Voluntary Euthanasia Society publishes how-to-do-it suicide guide
- Oct 28 Dick Howser (best Yank manager win-lost pct .636) returns to New York, replacing Billy Martin
- Oct 28 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Oct 29 Billy Martin fired as Yankee manager (2nd time)
- Oct 30 NASA launches space vehicle S-203
- Oct 30 Richard Arrington, Jr. is elected the first African American mayor in Birmingham, Alabama
Film Release
Oct 30 Tamla/Motown releases Stevie Wonder's documentary film soundtrack "Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants"
