- Oct 1 The watch company founded in 1850 in Roxbury by Aaron Lufkin Dennison relocates to Waltham, Massachusetts, to become the Waltham Watch Company, a pioneer in the American System of Watch Manufacturing.
Lincoln Denounces Slavery
Oct 4 Abraham Lincoln resumes his political career with a speech denouncing recent federal legislation extending slavery, at Illinois State Fair in Springfield; event is a precursor to his famous Peoria Speech [1]
- Oct 6 The Great Fire of Newcastle and Gateshead started shortly after midnight, leading to 53 deaths and hundreds injured.
- Oct 9 The siege of Sevastopol begins during the Crimean War
- Oct 10 US Assay Office in NYC, New York opens
- Oct 12 Ashmun Institute (later Lincoln University) opens near Oxford, Pennsylvania
- Oct 16 Abraham Lincoln presents his Peoria Speech, denouncing recent federal legislation extending slavery, on the lawn of the Peoria County Courthouse in Peoria, Illinois [1]
- Oct 17 French and British forces bombard Sevastopol for the first time during the Crimean War
Nightingale Heads to the Crimean War
Oct 21 Florence Nightingale with a staff of 38 nurses is sent to the Crimean War
Charge of the Light Brigade
Oct 25 The infamous "Charge of the Light Brigade" during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War results in over 100 killed
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists