General events not linked to a date:
National Apple Month
National Applejack Month
National Caramel Month
National Cookbook Month
National Cookie Month
National Dessert Month
National Pasta Month
National Pickled Peppers Month
National Pizza Month
National Popcorn Poppin’ Month
National Pork Month
National Pretzel Month
National Seafood Month
Second Weekend in October: National Kegger Weekend
1 October
Homemade Cookies Day
National Pumpkin Spice Day
World Vegetarian Day
1908 The Ford Model T introduced to the public
– Henry Ford builds a city in the Amazon. I didn’t know that!
1910 Los Angeles Times building is bombed
1918 Lawrence of Arabia Forces capture Damascus from Turkish forces
1924 Jimmy’s Carter Birthday
1946 Mensa Created
1962 First Broadcast Of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
1964 Shinkansen network of high-speed railway lines open in Japan
1971 Walt Disney World Resort Opens Orlando
1975 “Thrilla in Manilla” match Muhammad Ali beats Joe Fraser
1982 Epcot Opens Orlando, Florida
1985 Brixton Toxteth and Peckham Riots In UK
2005 Suicide Bombers Strike Bali
2009 Earthquake Sumatra
2 October
World Farm Animals Day
1869 Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday (1869 – 1948)
‘Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.’ Mahatma Gandi
– History channel has another great biography written up about this remarkable man.
1944 Warsaw Uprising Ends
1950 ‘Peanuts’ First Published
– Peanuts have his own website
– find daily Peanuts comics here
2005 Ethan Allen capsized on Lake George
– 21 people died in this disaster. Popular Mechanics investigated
3 October
National Soft Taco Day
1189 Richard I (The Lionheart) crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey
– Lords and Ladies. Great website with everything middle ages
1906 SOS Established
– What is the meaning of SOS? on boatsafe.com
1916 James Herriot’s Birthday (1916 – 1995)
– James Herriot museum, World of James Herriot
– James Herriot, my favourite book from his pen
1955 “The Mickey Mouse Club” begins on ABC
1969 Fernsehturm Berlin (Television Tower) in Berlin completed
– Facts and statistics on Great Towers

2002 Sniper Attacks “Beltway Sniper.” Washington DC
4 October (DAD’S BDAY!!)
Child Health Day
National Taco Day
1925 Teaching the theory of evolution became illegal in Tennessee.
1927 Work Begins On Mount Rushmore
1957 The Space Race begins with Sputnik Launch
1970 Janis Joplin, is found dead
1984 A section of Central Park is renamed ‘Strawberry Fields’ to honour John Lennon
1994 Due to bad harvests, there is a shortage of Japanese grown rice. Japan’s Imperial Palace begins serving royal meals to the Emperor & Empress with rice grown in the U.S., China and Thailand.
1999 Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones landed in the Egyptian desert, having completed the 1st ‘Around the World’ hot air balloon flight. According to the BBC, they carried fresh food, including bread, cheese and pre-cooked steaks to last for 6 or 7 days, after which they made due with dried foods such as cereals and powdered milk. The flight began in the Swiss Alps, took 19 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes, and covered 29,056 non-stop miles.
2002 John Walker Lindh is sentenced to 20 years
5 October
National Apple Betty Day
1962 Beatles Release First Single “Love Me Do”
1999 Train Crash Paddington, London
6 October
1926 Babe Ruth sets new record
1927 “The Jazz Singer” Premiers
1973 Yom Kippur War / Arab Israeli War Begins
1981 Anwar Sadat Assassinated
6 October
National Noodle Day
1919 KLM Royal Dutch Airlines of the Netherlands is founded
1959 Southend Pier Fire
1982 Musical “Cats” Opens On Broadway
1985 Achille Lauro Hihack
1985 Tottenham Riots London, England
7 October
National Poetry Day (USA)
– Importance of Poetry in our Lives (I am terrible at poetry writing but I love reading it)
National Frappe Day
– What is a frappe? (Sounds YUM!!!)
1885 Niels Bohr’s Birthday (1885 – 1962)
8 October
National Fluffernutter Day
1871 Great Fire of Chicago
– What (or who) caused the Great Chicago Fire?
1969 Days of Rage riots in Chicago
2004 Martha Stewart Found Guilty and Sentenced
9 October (HUBBY’S BDAY!!)
Moldy Cheese Day
– NewsMax had something to say in 2014 about this day
World Post Day
– The Art of Letter Writing by The Art of Manliness. What a way to keep the postal system alive!
– some activities from around the world in 2016
Leif Erikson Day
– More on Leif Erikson (or Ericson)
National Pizza and Beer Day
National Hoagy Day
1876 First Two-Way Telephone Conversation (there is, however, other dates I found…hmmm. Anybody with some clarity?)
– The first 2-way telephone conversation
1936 Hoover Dam Starts Producing Electricity
1967 Che Guevara Executed
2006 Google announces the purchase of YouTube
10 October
National Tic Tac Day
National Angel Food Cake Day
1913 The Panama Canal joined the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific ocean
1957 World’s First Nuclear Accident Windscale
11 October
National Sausage Pizza Day
1880 Boer War Began
– Also known by a few other names
1884 Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962)
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
You must do the things you think you cannot do.Do one thing every day that scares you.Women are like teabags. You dont know how strong they are until you put them in hot water.The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.
1921 Sleeping Sickness Deaths Increase
– CDC has a write-up about an epidemic in Uganda from 1900 to 1920
1968 Apollo 7, is launched from Cape Canaveral
1975 Saturday Night Live premiered
1982 The Mary Rose Raised In The Solent
12 October
National Gumbo Day
Pumpkin Pie Day
National Fossil Day
– Fossil Park, close to Cape Town
Here is the complete 1492 poem:
IN 1492
In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.He sailed by night; he sailed by day;
He used the stars to find his way.A compass also helped him know
How to find the way to go.Ninety sailors were on board;
Some men worked while others snored.Then the workers went to sleep;
And others watched the ocean deep.Day after day they looked for land;
They dreamed of trees and rocks and sand.October 12 their dream came true,
You never saw a happier crew!“Indians! Indians!” Columbus cried;
His heart was filled with joyful pride.But “India” the land was not;
It was the Bahamas, and it was hot.The Arakawa natives were very nice;
They gave the sailors food and spice.Columbus sailed on to find some gold
To bring back home, as he’d been told.He made the trip again and again,
Trading gold to bring to Spain.The first American? No, not quite.
But Columbus was brave, and he was bright.
Columbus Day Song
(sung to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell”)In 1492,
In 1492,
Columbus sailed across the sea,
In 1492.For 70 days he sailed,
For 70 days he sailed,
Columbus sailed across the sea,
For 70 days he sailed.He came to a new land,
He came to a new land,
Columbus sailed across the sea,
And came to a new land.Exploring he did go,
Exploring he did go,
Columbus sailed across the sea,
Exploring he did go.He sailed back home to Spain,
He sailed back home to Spain,
Columbus sailed across the sea,
Then sailed back home to Spain.Christopher Columbus
In August 1492,
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.October 12th they sighted land,
And set their feet upon new sand.
1931 Johnny Weissmuller is chosen to play Tarzan
1962 The Columbus Day Storm strikes Northern California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia
1978 Sid Vicious Arrested For Murder
1984 Conservative Party Conference Bombing Grand Hotel in Brighton
2000 The USS Cole attacked by two suicide terrorists
13 October
National Peanut Festival
National Pumpkin Festival
Yorkshire Pudding Day
National M&M Day
1958 Paddington Bear Books Released
1960 Nixon – Kennedy Debate TV
1966 Strict New Apartheid Laws Take Effect In South Africa
2005 Apple introduces new iPod
14 October
National Dessert Day
1066 Battle of Hastings
– What happened at the Battle of Hastings?
1947 Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound breaking the elusive “Sound Barrier”, His X-1 rocket plane
2006 United States population reaches 300 million
15 October
National Mushroom Day
National Red Wine Day
National Grouch Day
– Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street
1924 Chinese Tong Wars in New York
1928 “Graf Zeppelin” completes it’s transatlantic flight from Europe to America
1940 Charlie Chaplin’s satirical comedy The Great Dictator opens
1973 Iceland / Britain Cod Wars
1987 The Great Storm of 1987 Strikes UK
2003 Staten Island Ferry Accident
16 October
National Liqueur Day
World Food Day
– Se7en reviewed the book ‘The Hungry Season, Feeding South African Cities’
World Dictionary Day
– celebrating Noah Webster’s birthday
1978 Pope John Paul II Elected As New Pope
1991 Killeen, Texas Massacres
1995 Million Man March
17 October
National Pasta Day
1931 Scarface Al Capone found guilty of income tax evasion
1943 415-km Thailand Burma railroad ( Death Railway ) between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma is completed
1968 Black Power Salute Olympics
2003 Taipei 101 become the World’s tallest highrise building
18 October
National Chocolate Cupcake Day
1898 The US takes formal possession of Island of Puerto Rico
1922 The British Broadcasting Company Is Formed
1954 Texas Instruments announces the Regency TR-1 Transistor radio
1968 Bob Beamon breaks the world long jump record In Mexico
19 October
National Seafood Bisque Day
1879 Thomas Edison Demonstrated the Electric Light Bulb
1947 US minimum wage of 40 cents per hour
20 October
National Brandied Fruit Day
1955 Final Book Of The Lord Of The Rings Published
1973 Sydney Opera House Opens
1991 Oakland Firestorm
21 October
Apple Day
National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day
1879 Thomas Edison invented a commercially practical incandescent light
1944 First Japanese Kamikaze Attack
1959 Guggenheim Museum Opened
1966 Aberfan Disaster buried a junior school in Aberfan, Wales
1986 Antarctica scientists have been studying a huge hole that has appeared in the earths ozone layer over Antarctica
22 October
National Nut Day
1910 Dr. Crippen Convicted Of Murder
1914 First Income Tax Laws
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
1983 London CND March
2002 Washington Sniper claims his last victim and Arrested
23 October
Mother in Law’s Day
National Boston Cream Pie Day
1915 Suffrage Movement March In New York
1940: Pele’s Birthday (1940 – )
– Learn more about Pele, the Brazillian soccer player
1941 Dumbo is released
1963 “Doctor Who” Appears On British TV
1989 Phillips 66 Chemical Complex Explosion Houston, Texas
2002 Fifty Chechen rebels storm a Moscow Theatre taking 7,000 hostages
24 October
United Nations Day
National Bologna Day
Feast of Good & Plenty
1929 Wall Street Crash ( Black Thursday )
1931 George Washington Bridge opened
1945 United Nations is formally established
2003 Concorde makes its final commercial passenger flight
25 October
National Greasy Foods Day
1881 Pablo Picasso’s Birthday (1881 – 1973)
1944 Japanese deploy kamikaze suicide bombers against American warships
1952 The Mousetrap Opens In London’s West End
1970 Pacific Glory Disaster
26 October
National Mincemeat Day
National Pumpkin Day
1836 International Red Cross Organised in Switzerland
1956 Hungary October Revolution
27 October
International School Library Day
National Potato Day
American Beer Day
1848 Theodore Roosevelt’s Birthday (1858 – 1919)
1904 The New York subway opens
1970 Controlled Substance Act Becomes Law Outlawing Cannabis, marijuana, heroin and LSD amongst many others
28 October
National Chocolate Day
1886 Statue of Liberty Dedicated
1929 Wall Street crash ( Black Monday ) Through The Next Week
1942 Alaska Highway (Alcan Highway) Completed
1965 The Gateway Arch St. Louis, Missouri is completed
29 October
National Oatmeal Day
1927 Italian Liner Mafalda Sinks
1948 Donora Pennsylvania Deadly Smog Cloud
1956 Israel Invades Egypt
1969 The first host-to-host connection over the ARPANET ( predecessor of the Internet ) is made when the first message is sent between two computers at University of California, Los Angeles
1986 M25 Completed In UK
30 October
National Candy Corn Day
1735 John Adam’s Birthday (1735 – 1826)
1938 War of the Worlds Radio Play Causes Mass hysteria
1974 “Rumble In The Jungle” Muhammad Ali Vs George Foreman
31 October
National Caramel Apple Day
1941 The Mt. Rushmore sculpture is completed
1956 Suez Canal Crisis
1984 Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was gunned down outside of her home by Sikh extremists
SOURCES
- Enchanted Learning
- Scholastic
- Crayola
- Days of the Year
- The Crafty Crow
- Cute Calendar
- Foodimentary
- The People History
- Rob Marsh’s Africa Crime Mysteries
- SAHO South African History Online
- Kate from America Comes Alive
- Brittanica
- Se7en’s Almanac
- World Wide Weird Holidays
- A Year of Holidays
- CalendarLabs
And growin…