- Oct 3 Gerald Asamoah, German soccer forward (43 caps; Schalke 04 279 games, 44 goals), born in Mampong, Ghana
- Oct 3 Claudio Pizarro, Peruvian soccer striker (85 caps; Bayern Munich 224 games, 87 goals), born in Callao, Peru
- Oct 4 Kyle Lohse, American baseball pitcher (14th pitcher to beat all 30 MLB teams; Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals), born in Chico, California
- Oct 5 Shane Ryan, Irish Gaelic footballer, born in Dublin, Ireland
- Oct 5 Jesse Palmer, Canadian-born American football player, born in Toronto, Ontario
- Oct 6 Ricky Hatton, English boxer, born in Stockport, England
- Oct 7 Zaheer Khan, Indian cricketer, born in Shrirampur, India
- Oct 8 Mick O'Driscoll, Irish rugby player, born in Cork, Ireland
- Oct 8 Antonino D'Agostino, Italian football player, born in Turin, Italy
- Oct 9 Juan Dixon, American basketball player, born in Baltimore, Maryland
- Oct 11 Kali, Angolan soccer defender (73 caps), born in Luanda, Angola
- Oct 12 Baden Cooke, Australian cyclist, born in Benalla, Victoria, Australia
- Oct 13 Jermaine O'Neal, NBA forward (Portland Trailblazers), born in Columbia, South Carolina
- Oct 14 Ryan Church, American baseball player
- Oct 14 Paul Hunter, English snooker player (Masters 2001, 02, 04), born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England (d. 2006)
- Oct 14 Steven Thompson, Scottish footballer
- Oct 14 Javon Walker, American football player
- Oct 18 Mike Tindall, English rugby union player
- Oct 19 Enrique Bernoldi, Brazilian race car driver
- Oct 19 Zakhar Dubenskiy, Russian footballer
- Oct 19 James Roberts, British Ice Hockey Player
- Oct 20 Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer
- Oct 21 Joey Harrington, American football player
- Oct 22 Chaswe Nsofwa, Zambian footballer (d. 2007)
- Oct 22 Owais Shah, English cricketer
- Oct 22 Dion Glover, American basketball player, born in Marietta, Georgia
- Oct 23 Steve Harmison, English cricketer
- Oct 23 Jimmy Bullard, English footballer
- Oct 23 Archie Thompson, Australian footballer
- Oct 24 Carlos Edwards, Trinidadian footballer (Trinidad and Tobago national football team), born in Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago
- Oct 25 Riley Mants, 200m breaststroker (Olympics 1996), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba
- Oct 25 Russell Anderson, Scottish footballer (Sunderland), born in Aberdeen, Scotland
- Oct 26 Jimmy Aggrey, English footballer (Torquay United), born in Hammersmith, London
- Oct 27 Vanessa-Mae [Vanakorn Nicholson], Singaporean-British violinist and Olympic alpine skier, born in Singapore
- Oct 27 Sergei Samsonov, Russian ice hockey player, born in Moscow, Soviet Union
- Oct 29 Travis Henry, American football player
- Oct 30 Martin Dossett, American football player, born in Portland, Texas
- Oct 31 Emmanuel Izonritei, Nigerian boxer
- Oct 31 Martin Verkerk, Dutch tennis player, born in Leiderdorp, Netherlands
About October 1978
How Old? 42 years old
Generation: Generation X
Leap Year: No