- 290 [Christian] Sergius, Roman soldier and martyred saint, decapitated
- 336 Pope Saint Mark, bishop of Rome (336), dies of natural causes
- 929 Charles III, the Plain, King of France (893-929), dies
- 1368 Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III of England, dies at 29
- 1488 Andrea del Verrochio, sculptor/painter/goldsmith, dies at about 52
- 1555 Louis of Praet, Habsburg diplomat (b. 1488)
- 1571 Müezzinzade Ali Pasha, Turkish fleet commander, dies in the Battle of Lepanto
- 1571 Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg, Queen of Denmark and Norway, dies at 60
- 1577 George Gascoigne, English poet
- 1612 Menso Alting, Dutch reformed vicar and theologist, dies at 70
- 1612 Giovanni Battista Guarini, Italian writer (Faithfull Shepherd), dies at 73
- 1620 Stanisław Żółkiewski, Polish military leader (b. 1547)
- 1637 Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (1630-37), dies at 50
- 1639 John I Pontanus, physicist/historian (Amsterdam), dies at 68
- 1651 Jacques Sirmond, French scholar and Jesuit, dies at 92
- 1653 Fausto Poli, Italian Catholic priest (b. 1581)
- 1660 Paul Scarron, French writer (Virgile Travesti), dies at 50
- 1681 Nicolaas Heinsius, Dutch philological/diplomat, dies at 61
- 1708 Guru Gobind Singh, Tenth Guru of Sikhism, founder and General of Khalsa Army, social reformist and poet, dies following an assassination attempt at 41
- 1772 John Woolman, American Quaker preacher and abolitionist, dies of smallpox at 51
- 1777 Simon Fraser, English general, dies in battle
- 1780 Patrick Ferguson, Scottish army officer and rifle inventor (Ferguson flintlock rifle), dies in battle at 36
- 1787 Henry Muhlenberg, German-born founder of the U.S. Lutheran Church, dies at 76
George Mason
1792 George Mason, American statesman (advocated for the Bill of Rights), dies of natural causes at 66
George Mason
Edgar Allan Poe
1849 Edgar Allan Poe, American writer, poet and critic (The Pit and the Pendulum) considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre (Murders in the Rue Morgue), dies in Baltimore at 40
Edgar Allan Poe
- 1864 Alexander Gardiner, US Union brigadier general, dies in battle
- 1864 John Gregg, American judge/Confederate brigadier general, dies in battle at 36
- 1876 Georg Heinrich Pertz, German historian, dies at 81
- 1894 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American physician and author (Old Ironsides), dies at 85
- 1903 Rudolf Lipschitz, German mathematician (b. 1832)
- 1906 Honoré Beaugrand, Canadian journalist and politician, mayor of Montreal (b. 1848)
- 1911 John Hughlings Jackson, English neurologist (b. 1835)
- 1919 Alfred Deakin, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia, dies at 63
- 1924 Clemens Baeumker, German historian (Christian Philosophy), dies at 71
- 1926 Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist who developed a classification system for mental illness, dies at 70
- 1931 Daniel Chester French, American sculptor (Minute Man), dies at 81
- 1931 Charles Ricketts, British artist and illustrator, dies at 65
- 1939 Harvey Cushing, American neurosurgeon (blood pressure studies), dies at 70
- 1943 Radclyffe Hall, British author (b. 1880)
- 1944 Helmut Lent, German night-fighter ace in World War II, dies at 26
Willis Carrier
1950 Willis Carrier, American engineer (developed modern air conditioning), dies at 73
Willis Carrier
- 1951 Anton Philips, Co-Founder of Royal Philips Electronics N.V., dies at 77
Clarence Birdseye
1956 Clarence Birdseye, American inventor and founder of the modern frozen food industry (Birdseye), dies of a heart attack at 69
Clarence Birdseye
- 1962 Maurits Dekker, Dutch writer (Boots in Jail), dies at 66
- 1964 Eugen Varga, Hungarian-Russian economist and politician, dies at 84
- 1967 Norman Angell (Lane), English journalist/pacifist (Nobel 1933), dies
- 1973 Habib Rajab, South African trader and collector of oriental art who fought against a takeover of the Grey Street complex by White traders, dies at 58
- 1981 Albert Cohen, Greek-born Swiss novelist (Belle du Seigneur), dies at 86
- 1990 J Teengs Gerritsen, resistance fighter, dies
- 1990 Juan Jose Arevalo, President of Guatemala (1945-51), dies
- 1992 Allan Bloom, American philosopher and author (Closing of the American Mind), dies at 62
- 1992 Tevfik Esenç, last known speaker of Ubykh (b. 1904)
- 1994 James Hill, director, dies at 75
- 1994 Niels Kaj Jerne, Danish immunologist (Nobel prize 1984), dies at 82
- 1995 Ariston Muguranayanga Chambati, politician/businessman, dies at 59
- 1995 Gérard de Vaucouleurs, French astronomer, dies at 77
- 1996 Charles Wegg Solicitor-Prosser, dies at 86
- 1999 David A. Huffman, American computer scientist, creator of Huffman coding, dies at 74
- 1999 Rev. Bruce Ritter, American Catholic priest and controversial founder of charity New York City based Covenant House, dies of cancer at 72
- 2001 Herblock [Herbert Lawrence Block], American cartoonist, dies at 91
- 2001 Roger Gaudry, French Canadian chemist, businessman and corporate director (b. 1913)
- 2003 Izzy Asper, Canadian tax lawyer (b. 1932)
- 2003 Wally George, American conservative TV commentator, dies at 71
- 2004 Ken Bigley, British civil engineer, kidnapped and murdered in Iraq (b. 1942)
- 2005 Doug Young, American national and world powerlifting champion, dies of a heart attack at 61
- 2006 Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist and human rights activist, dies at 48
- 2007 George E. Sangmeister, American politician (b. 1931)
- 2008 Leslie Hardman, Jewish Orthodox rabbi (b. 1913)
- 2009 Irving Penn, American photographer (b. 1917)
- 2009 Shelby Singleton, American record label owner and producer (Smash Records, Mercury Records), dies of brain cancer at 77
- 2010 Milka Planinc, Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (1982-86), dies at 85
- 2011 Ramiz Alia, the former communist leader and first president of the Albanian pluralist (b. 1925)
- 2012 Mervyn Dymally, Trinidadian-born American politician (Rep-D-CA, 1981-93), dies at 86
October in History
![Elvis Comes Fifth in Talent Show]()
Elvis Comes Fifth in Talent Show
Elvis Presley made his first public appearance as a singer on this day. It did not go well: he came fifth in a local talent show. But he was only ten years old.
October 3, 1945![Barking Mad! Puppies Slain to Cure Leg Injury]()
Barking Mad! Puppies Slain to Cure Leg Injury
Charles Darwin shocked the world in 1859 with his evolution theory. Today, it's his writings about practices in the 19th Century that will shock many modern readers.
October 3, 1833![Jazz Singer Sounds Death Knell for Silent Movies]()
Jazz Singer Sounds Death Knell for Silent Movies
The Jazz Singer was premiered on this day and audiences were thrilled to hear Al Jolson talking. The pioneer film spelled the end for the silent-movie industry.
October 6, 1927![The Great Stand on the Ugra River]()
The Great Stand on the Ugra River
On one side of the Ugra River stood the Mongol Golden Horde, on the other, Ivan III, Grand Prince of the rising Muscovy Principality. At stake, everything.
October 8, 1480
