- Oct 1 René de Rooy, Surinamese and Antillean poet (Juancho Picaflor), born in Paramaribo, Suriname (d. 1974)
- Oct 2 Christian de Duve, British cytologist and biochemist (Nobel 1974), born in Thames Ditton, Surrey (d. 2013)
- Oct 2 Francis Jackson, British organist, composer (East Acklam; A Time of Fire), and music director (York Minster, 1946-82), born in Malton, Yorkshire, England (d. 2022)
- Oct 2 William Marshall, American singer, bandleader and actor (State Fair, Pennsylvanians), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1994)
- Oct 4 Albert de Klerk, Dutch organist, composer, and conductor, born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1998)
- Oct 4 Marv Harshman, American College/Basketball HOF coach (Pacific Lutheran, Washington State Uni, Uni of Washington; Pac-10 Coach of the Year 1982, 84), born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin (d. 2013)
- Oct 5 Lew Worsham, American golfer (US Open 1947; Ryder Cup 1947), born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia (d. 1990)
- Oct 5 Robert Adams, English sculptor and designer, born in Far Cotton, Northampton (d. 1984)
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977)
Oct 6 American civil rights activist (Freedom Summer, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), born in Montgomery County, Mississippi [1]
- Oct 7 June Allyson [Eleanor Geisman], American stage and screen actress (Best Foot Forward; Too Young to Kiss; The Glenn Miller Story; The DuPont Show with June Allyson), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2006)
Billy Conn (1917-1993)
Oct 8 American boxer (World Light Heavyweight Champion 1939-40), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Oct 8 Danny Murtaugh, American baseball infielder (NL stolen base leader 1941 Philadelphia Phillies) and manager (World Series 1960, 71; Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Chester, Pennsylvania (d. 1976)
- Oct 8 Hans Poser, German composer, born in Tannenbergsthal (d. 1970)
- Oct 8 Walter Lord, American author (A Night to Remember), born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 2002)
- Oct 9 Kusuo Kitamura, Japanese 1500m freestyle swimmer (Olympic gold 1932), born in Kōchi, Japan (d. 1996)
- Oct 10 Ilona Ference, American actress (Quatermass II, Star of My Night), born in Bar Harbor, Maine (d. 1996)
- Oct 10 Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist and composer ("Straight, No Chaser"; "'Round Midnight"; "Brilliant Corners"), born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina (d. 1982)
- Oct 11 Franz Alphons Wolpert, German composer, born in Wiesentheid, Germany (d. 1978)
- Oct 12 Hans Bentz van den Berg, Dutch actor (Last Train), born in Blaricum, Netherlands (d. 1976)
- Oct 13 Burr Tillstrom, American puppeteer (Kukla, Fran & Ollie), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1985)
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (1917-2007)
Oct 15 American Pulitzer Prize winning historian (The Age of Jackson; A Thousand Days), born in Columbus, Ohio
- Oct 15 Jan Miner, American actress (Crime Photographer), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2004)
- Oct 15 Paul Tanner, American trombonist (Glenn Miller Orchestra), developer and player of the Electro-Theremin (The Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations"; "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"), and educator (UCLA), born in Skunk Hollow, Kentucky (d. 2013)
- Oct 16 Alice Pearce, American comedienne and actress (On the Town, Bewitched), born in New York City (d. 1966)
- Oct 17 Marsha Hunt, American actress (Born to the West; Cry 'Havoc'; Johnny Got His Gun), and human rights and peace activist, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2022)
- Oct 17 Martin Donnelly, New Zealand cricket batsman (7 Tests, 1 x 100, 4 x 50, HS 206; Wellington, Canterbury) and rugby union centre (1 Test England 1947), born in Ngāruawāhia, New Zealand (d. 1999)
- Oct 17 Sumner Locke Elliott, Australian-born American novelist (d. 1991)
- Oct 20 Efrain Jonckheer, Premier of the Dutch Antilles, born in Curaçao (d. 1987)
- Oct 20 Jean-Pierre Melville, French filmmaker (A Cop), born in Paris, France (d. 1973)
- Oct 20 Ken Cranston, English cricket all-rounder (8 Tests, 18 wickets, BB 4/12; Lancashire CCC), Liverpool, England (d. 2007)
- Oct 21 John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie, American jazz trumpeter, a creator of bebop & modern jazz (A Night In Tunisia), born in Cheraw, South Carolina (d. 1993)
Joan Fontaine (1917-2013)
Oct 22 British-American Academy Award-winning actress (Gunga Din; Ivanhoe; Rebecca), born in Tokyo, Japan
- Oct 23 Robert Bray, American actor (Corey-Lassie, Stagecoach West), born in Kalispell, Montana (d. 1983)
- Oct 24 Marshall Goldberg, American College Football HOF back (Uni of Pittsburgh; All Pro, Pro Bowl 1941; Chicago Cardinals), born in Elkins, West Virginia (d. 2006)
- Oct 25 Lee MacPhail, American Baseball Hall of Fame executive (AL President 1974-83; Baltimore Orioles, NY Yankees), born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 2012)
- Oct 26 Mario Biaggi, American politician (Rep-D&R-NY, 1969-88), born in New York (d. 2015)
- Oct 27 Augustine Harris, British Bishop of Middlesbrough, born in West Derby, Liverpool (d. 2007)
- Oct 27 Carl "Bama" Warwick, American jazz trumpeter (Dizzy Gillespie; John Kirby; Woody Herman; Buddy Rich), born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 2003)
- Oct 27 Jack Plimsoll, South African cricket fast bowler (1 Test, BB 3-143; manager RSA team to England 1965), born in Kalk Bay, South Africa (d. 1999)
Oliver Tambo (1917-1993)
Oct 27 South African lawyer, anti-apartheid politician and co-founder (African National Congress), born in Nkantolo, Bizana, South Africa
- Oct 28 Jack Soo [Goro Suzuki], Japanese-American actor (Flower Drum Song, Barney Miller), born in Oakland, California (d. 1979)
- Oct 29 Henry Carlsson, Swedish soccer (Olympic gold 1948), born in Falköping, Västra Götalands län, Sweden (d. 1999)
- Oct 30 Bobby Bragan, American baseball player, born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 2010)
- Oct 30 Maurice Trintignant, French race car driver (Le Mans, 1954). and vintner, born in Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes, France (d. 2005)
- Oct 30 Nikolai Ogarkov, Soviet field marshal, born in Molokovo, Tver, Russian Republic (d. 1994)
- Oct 31 Erik Routley, British Congregational minister, composer and musicologist, born in England (d. 1982)
- Oct 31 William H. McNeill, Canadian-born historian (Rise of the West), born in Vancouver, British Columbia (d. 2016)
About October 1917
How Old? 106 years old
Generation: Greatest Generation
Leap Year: No