Events in History
- Oct 9 1st British troops reaches Durban, South Africa
- Oct 9 South Africa President Kruger routes British authorities ultimatum
- Oct 11 South African Boers declare war on Great Britain
- Oct 12 South Africa Boer Republic declares war on Britain
- Oct 13 7,000 laid-off black mine workers of South Africa reach Natal
Event of Interest
Oct 14 Morning Post reporter Winston Churchill departs to South Africa
- Oct 15 Cincinnati closes season with 16-1 & 19-3 victories over Cleve Spiders
- Oct 17 Sutro railroad sold to Robert F Morrow for $215,000
- Oct 20 Battle at Talana Hill, Natal: British army vs Boers
- Oct 21 Battle at Elandslaagte Natal: (Boers vs British army)
- Oct 22 British troops flee Dundee, Natal South Africa
- Oct 24 Battle at Rietfontein, South Africa: Boers vs British army
- Oct 30 Battle of Ladysmith, Natal: Boers defeat the British, leading to the Siege of Ladysmith
- Oct 30 British Morning Post reporter Winston Churchill reaches Capetown
Birthdays in History
- Oct 1 Ernest Haycox, American writer (d. 1950)
- Oct 5 George, Duke of Mecklenburg, head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, born in Oranienbaum, Russia (d. 1962)
- Oct 8 Milner Gray, British graphic designer, born in London (d. 1997)
- Oct 8 Pandit Rambharos Gangaram Panday, Suriname religious leader, co-founder of the VHP (d. 1991)
- Oct 9 Bruce Catton, American historian and writer (Civil War), born in Petoskey, Michigan (d. 1978)
Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899-1974)
Oct 19 Guatemalan novelist (Hombres de Maiz, Nobel 67), journalist and poet, born in Guatemala City
- Oct 20 Evelyn Brent, American actress (Panama Lady, Last Command), born in Tampa, Florida (d. 1975)
- Oct 20 Marnix Gijsen [Jan-Albert Goris], Belgian writer (Grote God Pan), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1984)
- Oct 24 Ferhat Abbas, Algerian politician and President of the National Constituent Assembly of Algeria (1962-63), born in Taher, Algeria (d. 1985)
- Oct 30 Ernst Herman van Rappard, Dutch SS officer and founder (NSNAP), born in Banyumas Regency, Central Java, Dutch East Indies (d. 1953)
Deaths in History
- Oct 23 Penn Symons, British Major General during Second Boer War, dies in battle during the Battle Of Talana Hill at 56
- Oct 28 Grant Allen, Canadian writer (Woman Who Did), dies at 51
- Oct 28 Ottmar Mergenthaler, German-American inventor who invented the linotype machine that revolutionized printing, dies of tuberculosis at 45
- Oct 30 William Henry Webb, American industrialist and philanthropist, dies at 83
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists