- Oct 1 NHL owners begin lockout of players lasting 103 days; season shortened to 48 games instead of 84; players seek collective bargaining and owners a salary cap
- Oct 1 Australian cricket batsman David Boon scores 114 during 1 wicket, 1st Test defeat v Pakistan in Karachi; his 19th Test century
Event of Interest
Oct 1 South African President Nelson Mandela visits US
Nelson Mandela
Event of Interest
Oct 3 Gary Larson, announces he is retiring from doing "Far Side" cartoon
Gary Larson
- Oct 4 7.9 earthquake strikes Koerilen, flood kills 18+
- Oct 4 Soyuz TM-20 launches
Music Awards
Oct 5 28th Country Music Association Award: Vince Gill & Pam Tillis wins
Vince Gill
- Oct 5 52 members of Zonnetempel, murdered
Event of Interest
Oct 5 NBA shortens the 3-point distance to a uniform 22 feet in attempt to help offensive players score more; Michael Jordan sets career highs in 3-point attempts & converted 3-point field goals, nearly double previous statistics
Michael Jordan
- Oct 6 -9] European Campaign against Racism confers in Austria
- Oct 6 Ben Mokoena becomes 1st black mayor of Middelburg, South Africa
- Oct 7 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
- Oct 7 Faud Guliyev appointed premier of Azerbijan
- Oct 7 Ingvar Carlsson forms Swedish government
- Oct 7 Lu Bin swims female 200m medley world record (2:11.57)
- Oct 8 BPAA US Women's Bowling Open won by Aleta Sill
- Oct 8 6th College Football Holy War: Boston College beats Notre Dame 30-11 in Chestnut Hill
- Oct 9 Austrian parliamentary election (23% extreme-right)
- Oct 10 Lt-general Raoul Cedras resigns as dictator of Haiti
- Oct 10 MPAA chief Jack Valenti holds meeting to determine new movie ratings
Event of Interest
Oct 10 NY Giants retire Lawrence Taylor's #56
Lawrence Taylor
Nobel Prize
Oct 14 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres
Yasser Arafat
Yitzhak Rabin
Shimon Peres
- Oct 14 NASA Space probe Magellan burns up in atmosphere of Venus
- Oct 15 Botswana President Ketumile Masires BDP wins parliamentary election
- Oct 15 President Jean-Baptiste Aristide returns to Haiti
- Oct 16 Raul Julia, actor (Addams Family), suffers a stroke
- Oct 16 Shreveport Pirates win first Canadian Football League game, 24-12 at home to Sacramento Gold Miners; fold 1995
Music Concert
Oct 17 Billy Joel performs opening concert at Cleveland's Gund Arena
Billy Joel
- Oct 19 160 killed in fighting in Tsjetsjenie (Chechnya)
- Oct 19 Palestinian bomb attack on bus in Tel Aviv, kills 22
- Oct 21 Hana bridge is Seoul Korea crashes, 32+ die
- Oct 21 North Korea signs pact to end their nuclear projects
- Oct 22 "Philadelphia, Here I Come" closes at Criterion NYC after 52 performances
Event of Interest
Oct 22 Statue of Sam Houston unveiled in Texas
Sam Houston
- Oct 22 Tony Rominger bicycles world record time (53,832 km)
- Oct 23 Solheim Cup Women's Golf, The Greenbrier: US regains Cup; beats Europe, 13-7; Americans Dottie Mochrie & Bradie Burton both win their 3 matches
- Oct 24 Bomb attack on opposition in Sri Lanka, 55+ killed
- Oct 25 Susan Smith claims her 2 kids were carjacked (she actually killed them)
- Oct 26 Jordan & Israel sign peace accord
- Oct 28 Japanese space probe Sakigake passes Earth for 3rd time
- Oct 29 Antonov AN-12 having an accident at Ust-Ilimsk Kaluga, 21 killed
- Oct 29 NY Lotto pays $60 million+
- Oct 29 National Museum of American Indian opens (NYC)
Music Concert
Oct 29 Pink Floyd finishes their final concert tour at Earls Court in London
David Gilmour
Syd Barrett
- Oct 30 Leftist coalition wins Macedonian parliamentary election
Andrew Grove
Event of Interest
Oct 31 American tennis star Venus Williams makes her professional debut as a 14 year old with a 6-3, 6-4 win over former NCAA champion and world No. 58 Shaun Stafford in the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, California
Venus Williams
- Oct 31 American jam band Phish performs The Beatles "White Album" as a musical costume during a show at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York.