- 490 Petrus Mongus, patriarch of Alexandria, dies
- 1038 Aethelnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1268 Conradin, Duke of Swabia (executed) (b. 1252)
- 1268 Frederick I, Margrave of Baden (beheaded) (b. 1249)
- 1321 Stefanus VI Uros II Milutin, king of Serbia (1282-1321), dies
- 1590 Dirck Volkertsz Coornhert, theologist/philosopher, dies at about 68
Walter Raleigh
1618 Walter Raleigh, English scholar, poet, historian and explorer, beheaded for treason at about 64
Walter Raleigh
Jean-Baptiste Le Rond d'Alembert
1783 Jean-Baptiste Le Rond d'Alembert, French philosopher and mathematician (Encyclopédie), dies at 66
Jean-Baptiste Le Rond d'Alembert
- 1790 Pieter van/of Bleiswijk, pension advisor 1771-87, dies at about 66
- 1804 George Morland, English artist of rural landscapes, dies at 41
- 1822 Dirk van Hogendorp, Dutch minister of War, dies at 61
- 1846 Jean Louis van Aelbroeck, Flemish agronomist, dies at 90
- 1856 Carel SW van Hogendorp, colonial director, dies at 68
- 1873 Ernest Feydeau, French author, dies at 52
- 1873 Johan N M J, king of Saxon (1854-73), dies
- 1873 Leonardus Lightenvelt, minister of RC Worship, dies at 78
Nathan Bedford Forrest
1877 Nathan Bedford Forrest, American Confederate general, dies at 56
Nathan Bedford Forrest
George McClellan
1885 George McClellan, Union army major general, dies of a heart attack at 58
George McClellan
- 1885 James Hannington, English missionary, murdered in Uganda
- 1892 William M Harnett, American painter (Old Cupboard Door), dies
- 1901 Leon Czolcosz, assassin of President McKinley, is electrocuted
- 1911 Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian publisher (St Louis Post-Dispatch, NY World), dies at 64
- 1919 Soen Shaku, Zen abbot of Engakuji monastery in Kamakura, dies at 60
- 1919 A. B. Simpson, Canadian preacher (b. 1843)
- 1924 Frances Hodgson Burnett, British born American playwright and children's author ("Little Lord Fauntleroy"), dies at 74
- 1927 Leonard Nelson, German philosopher (Nelson-Friessche Schule), dies at 45
- 1932 Joseph Babinski, Polish-French neurologist (Babinski reflex), dies at 74
- 1933 Paul Painlevé, French Prime Minister (1917, 1925), dies at 69
- 1933 Albert Calmette, French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin), dies at 70
- 1936 Ramiro de Maeztu, Spanish writer (Don Quixote & Celestine), dies at 61
- 1939 Dwight B. Waldo, American educator (first President of Western Michigan University), dies at 75
- 1945 Hans Erich Blaich [Dr. Owlglass], German writer (Simplicissimus), dies at 72
- 1946 John S Curry, American painter (Baptism in Kansas), dies
- 1947 Frances Cleveland Preston, former 1st lady (1885-89 93-97), dies at 83
- 1949 G. I. Gurdjieff, Armenian mystic (b. 1872)
- 1950 Gustav V, king of Sweden, dies at 92
- 1951 De Raymond, French High Director of Cambodia, murdered
- 1951 Robert G Aitken, US astronomer (New General Catalogue), dies at 86
- 1957 Rosemarie Nitribitt, German call girl (b. 1933)
- 1958 Zoe Akins, American playwright (b. 1886)
- 1965 Mehdi Am Barka, Moroccan socialist leader, murdered in Paris
- 1974 Victor E. van Vriesland, Dutch poet (Mirror of Dutch Poetry), dies at 82
- 1981 William O Walker, publisher of Cleveland Call Post, dies at 85
- 1986 Sem Presser, Dutch press photographer, dies at 68
- 1987 Kamal El Mallakh, dies at 57
- 1990 William French Smith, attorney general (1980), dies at 73 of cancer
- 1991 Donald Churchill, playwright, dies of heart attack at 60
- 1991 Harry Thomas, founder (Flower Festival, Dutch Homofielen Party), dies
- 1991 Mario Scelba, Prime Minister of Italia (1954-55), dies
- 1992 Adrienne Canivez, wife of Victor of Vriesland, dies
- 1992 Kenneth MacMillan, British choreographer (Manon, Judas Tree), dies
- 1993 Raymond Lockhart, TV director (Huntley Brinkley Report), dies at 65
- 1994 Andrew Miller-Jones, British TV pioneer (Picture Page, Dressing Up), dies at 84
- 1996 Patrick Johnson, English physicist, dies at 92
- 1996 J. Edward Day, 55th U.S. Postmaster General (1961), dies at 82
- 1997 Anton LaVey, American founder of the Church of Satan, dies at 67
- 1999 Greg [Michel Régnier], Belgian comic-book writer and artist (Achille Talon), dies at 68
- 2003 Hal Clement [Harry Clement Stubbs], American sci-fi writer (Mission of Gravity), dies at 81
- 2004 Edward Oliver LeBlanc, Dominican politician, dies at 81
- 2004 Peter Twinn, English mathematician (b. 1916)
- 2006 Mohammadu Maccido, 18th Sultan of Sokoto (b. 1928)
- 2011 Jimmy Savile, British entertainer and suspected sexual predator, dies at 84
- 2015 Murphy Anderson, American comic artist (DC Comics), dies at 89
- 2016 Pen Sovann, 1st post-Khmer Rouge Cambodian Prime Minister (1981), dies at 80
- 2016 John D. Roberts, American chemist, received American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (2013), dies at 98
- 2017 Dennis Banks, American activist (leader of the American Indian Movement), dies at 80
October in History
![The Gunfight at OK Corral]()
The Gunfight at OK Corral
Said to have lasted just 30 seconds, the gunfight at OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, is remembered as one of the great shootouts in the annals of the Wild West
October 26, 1881![The Man Who Saved The World]()
The Man Who Saved The World
Many people think John F Kennedy saved the world with his handling of the Cuban missile crisis. But an unknown Russian sailor also played a dramatic role.
October 27, 1962!['Splendid Achievement' becomes the 'Road To Hell']()
'Splendid Achievement' becomes the 'Road To Hell'
London's orbital road, the M25 was hailed as a splendid achievement by PM Margaret Thatcher when she opened it on this day. But it soon developed another nickname...
October 29, 1986![Panic Over War of the Worlds]()
Panic Over War of the Worlds
When Orson Welles decided to present the War of the Worlds story in a radio newscast format, his broadcast on this day apparently caused panic across the US.
October 30, 1938
