- Oct 1 Britain transfers Christmas Island (south of Java) to Australia
- Oct 1 US space agency NASA begins operations incorporating earlier National Advisory Council on Aeronautics and other bodies
- Oct 2 Guinea (French Guinea) gains independence from France (National Day)
- Oct 2 Musical show "Valmouth" 1st produced in London
- Oct 2 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
NHL All-Star Game
Oct 4 12th NHL All-Star Game, Montreal Forum, Montreal, QC: Montreal Canadiens beat All-Stars, 6-3
- Oct 4 French Fifth Republic is established
- Oct 4 Transatlantic commercial jet passenger service began (BOAC)
- Oct 5 KRTV TV channel 3 in Great Falls, MontanaT (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Oct 5 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Oct 5 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- Oct 6 US nuclear sub USS Seawolf remains a record 60 days under the north pole
- Oct 7 Potter Stewart appointed to US Supreme Court
- Oct 7 US manned space-flight project renamed Project Mercury
- Oct 8 Braves Eddie Mathews strikes out for World Series record 11th time
- Oct 8 Dr Ake Senning installs first pacemaker (Stockholm)
- Oct 8 KCMT TV channel 7 in Alexandria, MN (CBS/NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
- Oct 8 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Oct 9 Israeli navy inaugrates its first submarine
- Oct 9 MLB World Series: NY Yankees beat Braves, 6-2 at County Stadium in Milwaukee, clinch 4 games to 3 series triumph; MVP: Yankees pitcher Bob Turley
- Oct 10 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Oct 10 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- Oct 11 "Goldilocks" opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC for 161 performances
- Oct 11 2nd US Moon probe, Pioneer 1, reaches 113,810 km, falls back
- Oct 12 CVP wins municipal elections in Belgium
- Oct 12 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- Oct 12 WJRT TV channel 12 in Flint, MI (ABC) begins broadcasting
Event of Interest
Oct 14 Brendan Behan's "Hostage" premieres in London
- Oct 14 Malagasy Republic becomes autonomous republic in French Community
- Oct 14 Paul Osborn's "World of Suzie Wong" premieres in NYC
- Oct 14 The District of Columbia Bar Association votes to accept black Americans as members.
- Oct 14 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Oct 15 Tunisia drops diplomatic relations with Egypt
- Oct 15 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya, USSR
Music History
Oct 16 Benjamin Britten's "Nocturne," premieres
- Oct 16 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
F1 World Champion
Oct 19 Stirling Moss wins season ending Moroccan Grand Prix at Ain-Diab but fellow Brit Mike Hawthorn takes World Drivers Championship from Moss by just 1 point by finishing second; first British world champion
Nobel Prize in Literature
Oct 23 Soviet novelist Boris Pasternak, wins Nobel Prize for Literature
The Smurfs TV Debut
Oct 23 The Smurfs first appear in the story "Johan and Pirlouit" by Belgium cartoonist Peyo
- Oct 23 The Springhill Mine Bump - underground earthquake traps 174 miners in No. 2 colliery at Springhill, Nova Scotia, deepest coal mine in North America. By 1st November rescuers had dug out 100 victims, with death toll at 74.
- Oct 24 USSR lends Egypt 400 million rubles to build the Aswan High Dam across the Nile river
- Oct 26 PanAm flies first transatlantic jet from New York to Paris
- Oct 26 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Oct 27 General Ayub Khan succeeds Iskander Mirza as President of Pakistan
- Oct 27 WEDU TV channel 3 in Tampa-St Petersburg, FL (PBS) begins broadcasting
Papal Inauguration
Oct 28 Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli elected Pope, taking name John XXIII
- Oct 28 Pete Runnels wins Comeback Player of Year (avg went from .230 to .322)
- Oct 29 Boris Pasternak refuses the Nobel Prize for Literature
- Oct 29 Dr F Mason Sones is first doctor to perform a coronary angiogram
- Oct 29 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists