- Oct 1 British colony of Nigeria becomes a federation
- Oct 2 8th NHL All-Star Game, Detroit Olympia, Detroit, MI: All-Stars tie Detroit Red Wings, 2-2
- Oct 2 Baseball World Series: New York Giants beat Cleveland, 7-4 at Cleveland Stadium to sweep Indians, 4-0; MVP: Giants outfielder Dusty Rhodes
- Oct 2 Don Liddle beats Bob Lemon 7-4 as the New York Giants complete an unlikely World Series sweep of the powerful Cleveland Indians; Cleveland season record of 111-43 sets American League mark for regular season wins
- Oct 2 Former French possession of Chandernagore made part of West Bengal, India
- Oct 3 "Father Knows Best" premieres
- Oct 3 KFVS TV channel 12 in Cape Girardeau, MO (CBS) begins broadcasting
General Conference on Weights and Measures
Oct 5 10th General Conference on Weights and Measures opens, will define the Kelvin as the primary unit of temperature (after William Thomson, Lord Kelvin) [1]
- Oct 5 Hurricane Hazel forms in the Caribbean, killing 400-1000 people in the Bahamas and Haiti
- Oct 7 Hassan el Hodeiby, leader of the Muslim Brothership, arrested in Egypt
Ho Chi Minh Takes Hanoi
Oct 10 Ho Chi Minh enters Hanoi after withdrawal of French troops
On Your Toes
Oct 11 Revival of George Abbott, Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart's musical "On Your Toes" opens at 46th St Theater, NYC; runs for 64 performances
- Oct 13 Robert Paul Smith and Max Shulman's "Tender Trap" premieres in NYC
- Oct 14 Israeli act of revenge in Qibiya Jordan, kills 53
- Oct 15 Hurricane Hazel makes landfall in the US in North Carolina as a category 4 hurricane, 195 die in US and Canada
- Oct 15 KLTV TV channel 7 in Tyler-Longview, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting
- Oct 17 Philadelphia Eagle Adrian Burk passes for 7 touchdowns vs Wash (49-21)
- Oct 18 Hurricane Hazel becomes most severe to ever hit the US, killing 195 in US and Canada
- Oct 18 Texas Instruments Inc. announces the first transistor radio.
- Oct 18 WBTW TV channel 13 in Florence, SC (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting
- Oct 18 WNBC radio changes call letters to WRCA (NYC)
- Oct 19 Egypt and Great Britain sign treaty; British troops depart
- Oct 19 First ascent of Cho Oyu, sixth highest mountain in the world at 8,201 metres
- Oct 19 KAKE TV channel 10 in Wichita, KS (ABC) begins broadcasting
Peter Pan
Oct 20 Leigh, Charlap, Styne, Comden and Green's musical "Peter Pan", starring Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard, opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC; runs for 152 performances
Ladies of the Corridor
Oct 21 Dorothy Parker and Arnaud d'Usseau's black comedy play "Ladies of the Corridor" premieres
- Oct 21 Indonesian troops land in New Guinea
- Oct 22 West Germany joins North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- Oct 23 Britain, France & US agree to end occupation of Germany
- Oct 23 Pakistan Governor-General Ghoelan Mohammed disbands parliament
- Oct 23 WSAU TV channel 7 in Wausau, WI (CBS) begins broadcasting
Fangio F1 Champion
Oct 24 Britain's Mike Hawthorne wins season ending Spanish Grand Prix at Pedralbes; Argentine Maserati driver Juan Manuel Fangio takes second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by 17 points from countryman José Froilán González
Event of Interest
Oct 24 Dwight D. Eisenhower pledges United States' support to South Vietnam
Aid to South Vietnam
Oct 25 US President Dwight D. Eisenhower offers aid to the Prime Minister of South Vietnam Ngô Đình Diệm [1]
Disneyland
Oct 27 Walt Disney's 1st TV show, "Disneyland", premieres on ABC
- Oct 27 WISN TV channel 12 in Milwaukee, WI (ABC) begins broadcasting
- Oct 28 Major league owners vote down sale of A's to a Philadelphia syndicate
- Oct 28 N. Richard Nash's play "The Rainmaker" premieres in NYC
Ernest Hemingway
Oct 28 Nobel Prize for Literature is awarded to Ernest Hemingway
Egyptian History
Oct 29 Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser disbands the Muslim Brotherhood
- Oct 29 Sweden begins experimental TV
- Oct 30 1st use of 24-sec shot clock in pro basketball (Rochester vs Boston)
- Oct 30 US Defense Department announces elimination of all racially segregated regiments
- Oct 31 Algerian Revolution against French begins
- Oct 31 KREM TV channel 2 in Spokane, WA (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists