- Oct 1 Carolina Hurricanes lose franchise's debut NHL game, 4-2 to Tampa Bay Lightning at the Ice Palace, Tampa, Florida
- Oct 1 Minnesota Timberwolves NBA forward Kevin Garnett, just 2 years out of high school, signs a record 6-year, $123 million contract extension
- Oct 1 Spice Hot premieres on cable
- Oct 1 Zimbabwe and New Zealand tie their One Day International cricket match in Bulawayo; Black Cap tail-ender Gavin Larson is run out on last ball at 9/233 amidst crowd surging onto field; 13th ODI tie
- Oct 2 The Bruins beat the LA Kings, 6-5 in Boston to extend their NHL opening game unbeaten streak to 11-straight years (9-0-2)
- Oct 3 1st NHL game outside of North America: Vancouver Canucks beat Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-2 in Tokyo, Japan
Historic Publication
Oct 3 American writer Don DeLillo publishes "Underworld", his classic novel of twentieth-century America
- Oct 3 Gordie Howie (69) takes a shift with IHL'S Detroit Vipers, marking his 6th decade playing professional hockey
- Oct 3 Japan's maglev train breaks world speed record for a manned train at 280.3 mph/451.1 kph
- Oct 3 NHL Carolina Hurricanes lose in their 1st home game, 4-3 vs Pittsburgh Penguins at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina
- Oct 4 Farm Aid 10 concert in Texas cancelled due to weak ticket sales and moved to Illinois
Farm Aid Concert
Oct 4 Farm Aid 10 held in Tinley Park, Illinois; performers include Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Fogerty, Beck, Dave Matthews Band, Steve Earle, and The Allman Brothers [1]
- Oct 4 Second largest cash robbery in U.S. history occurs at the Charlotte, North Carolina office of Loomis, Fargo and Company with $17.3 million in cash taken
- Oct 5 Federation Cup Women's Tennis, Den Bosch, Netherlands: Sandrine Testud wins both her singles to lead France to 4-1 win over the Netherlands; France's first title
- Oct 5 STS 86 (Atlantis 20) lands
- Oct 9 ABL players allowed to own stock in the league
- Oct 9 Hurricane kills 123 in Acapulco Mexico
- Oct 9 Nobel prize for literature awarded to Italian playwright Dario Fo
- Oct 9 North Carolina's record winning college basketball coach Dean Smith retires
- Oct 9 NY Rangers are 1st NHL team to open with 4 straight ties
- Oct 10 Austral Airlines DC-9-32 crashes and explodes near Nuevo Berlin, Uruguay, killing 74
Sports History
Oct 11 Dennis Rodman returns from second longest NBA suspension (11 games)
- Oct 12 Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria; 43 killed at a fake roadblock
- Oct 13 Andy Green's Jet-powered car reaches record 749.69 MPH
- Oct 14 MLB National League Championship: Florida Marlins beat Atlanta Braves, 4 games to 2
- Oct 15 Britain's Andy Green sets jet-powered car record (763.035 mph)
- Oct 15 Former US Representative Dan Rostenkowski released from custody for mail fraud
- Oct 15 MLB American League Championship: Cleveland Indians beat Baltimore Orioles, 4 games to 2
- Oct 15 Nobel Prize for Chemistry awarded to Jens Christain Skou, Paul D. Boyer and John E. Walker for their work on enzymes in the body
Sports History
Oct 15 NY jury awards boxer Mitch Green $45,000 in civil lawsuit against Mike Tyson, for street brawl in 1988
- Oct 15 US launches nuclear powered Cassini to Saturn
- Oct 16 "Side Show," opens at Richard Rodgers Theater NYC for 91 performances
Event of Interest
Oct 18 The groundbreaking Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Gehry, is inaugurated by King Juan Carlos I in Bilbao, Spain
- Oct 19 "Annie" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC
- Oct 19 700th World Series home run (Sandy Alomar, Cleveland Indians)
- Oct 20 Richard Gnida, Limo driver in Detroit Red Wings crash, pleads guilty
- Oct 20 US accuses Microsoft of violating pact forcing IE browser on computers
- Oct 21 Cleveland outfielder Marquis Grissom records a hit in his 15th straight World Series game; second longest 9 inning WS game (4:12) as Florida Marlins beat Indians, 14-11
Album Release
Oct 21 Marc Anthony releases his third studio album "Contra la Corriente" (1st salsa album to top Latin album chart, Grammy Best Tropical Latin Performance))
- Oct 22 Cleveland outfielder Marquis Grissom's World Series hitting streak ends after 15 games as Indians rout Florida 10-3 in coldest ever WS game (38°F)
- Oct 22 Compaq testifies Microsoft threaten to break Windows 95 agreement if they showcased a Netscape icon
Event of Interest
Oct 22 Larry Flynt sells Hustler to an under-age buyer in a non-zoned area of Cincinnati, Ohio
Sports History
Oct 22 NHL superstar Wayne Gretzky's wife Janet is knocked unconscious and gets 2 stitches after plexiglass falls on her watching a game
- Oct 22 Yahoo completes purchase of Four11
- Oct 23 "Triumph of Love" opens at Royale Theater NYC
- Oct 23 At 6:11 AM San Francisco experiences a power blackout due to sabotage
- Oct 23 Dow Jones drops 186.88 pts
- Oct 23 Les Alexander, owner of Houston Rockets buys NHL's Edmonton Oilers
- Oct 24 Marv Albert sentenced in assault case
- Oct 25 9th College Football Holy War: Notre Dame beats Boston College 52-20 in South Bend
- Oct 25 After a brief civil war which has driven President Pascal Lissouba out of Brazzaville, Denis Sassou-Nguesso proclaims himself the President of the Republic of the Congo.
- Oct 26 Baseball World Series: Florida beats Cleveland Indians, 3-2 in Game 7 at Pro Player Stadium, Miami for Marlins first-ever title; MVP: Florida pitcher Liván Hernández
F1 World Champion
Oct 26 Jacques Villeneuve finishes 3rd in European Grand Prix at Jerez, Spain; first Canadian to win F1 World Drivers Championship; wins by 39 points from Michael Schumacher
- Oct 27 Dow Jones crashes 554.26 points (7.18%) to close at 7,161.15; tenth largest percentage decline in the index since 1915
- Oct 27 Microsoft argues it should be "free from government interference"
- Oct 27 US releases a redesigned $50 bill; anti-counterfeit measures include color shifting ink, embedded security thread, and microprint
- Oct 28 NBA announces hiring of Dee Kantner & Violet Palmer as 1st women to officiate a major-league all-male sports league
- Oct 29 Iraq's Revolution Command Council announces that it will no longer allow US citizens and US aircraft to serve with UN arms inspection teams
Sports History
Oct 30 Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona announces his retirement from football on his 37th birthday
- Oct 30 Revival of Anton Chekov's stage drama "The Cherry Orchard" opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC, for limited run of 12 performances
- Oct 30 Shirley Allen, 51, held Illinois police off for 39 days captured
Event of Interest
Oct 31 British au pair Louise Woodward, 19, sentenced to life for the death of Matthew Eappen 8½ months (judge changes to time served)
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists