Scrubs
Oct 2 American sitcom "Scrubs", starring Zach Braff as Dr. John "J.D." Dorian, premieres on NBC
Baseball Record
Oct 2 Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa becomes first player in MLB history to total 60 home runs in three seasons; Chicago slugger connects off Reds starter Lance Davis to reach milestone in 5-4 loss
9/11 Attack on NY's World Trade Towers
Oct 2 NATO backs US military strikes, following 9/11
Paul Coffey Retires
Oct 3 After a 21-season career, Paul Coffey officially retires from the NHL, having won 4 Stanley Cups with Edmonton Oilers, finishing 2nd on all-time list for points by defensemen (1,531 in 1,409 games), and playing in 14 All-Star Games
Henderson Equals Cobb
Oct 3 San Diego outfielder Rickey Henderson scores a run in the 3rd inning of the Padres' 12-5 loss to LA Dodgers to tie the MLB record of 2,245 runs scored held by the legendary Ty Cobb
Barry Bonds Walks to a Record
Oct 3 San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds Is walked for the 171st time in 11-8 win at Houston; breaks Babe Ruth's 1923 MLB single-season record for walks
Sports History
Oct 4 Boston Bruins retire future Hockey Hall of Fame defenceman Ray Bourque's #77 jersey in the NHL season opener at Boston Garden; beat visiting Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4-2
- Oct 4 Brendan Shanahan scores a hat trick in Red Wings 4-3 OT win at San Jose; becomes second player in NHL history to score an opening-night hat trick twice in his career
- Oct 4 SF Giants slugger Barry Bonds hits his 70th home run in 10-2 win v Houston; ties Mark McGwire for the most MLB home runs in a single season
- Oct 4 Siberia Airlines Flight 1812: a Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes into the Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200 missile. 78 people are killed.
- Oct 5 Barry Bonds hits his 71st and 72nd home runs in 11-10 loss v LA Dodgers at Pacific Bell Park; breaks Mark McGwire's MLB single season HR record
- Oct 5 MLB's Atlanta Braves become first pro sports team to win 10 straight division titles after mauling the Marlins, 20-3 to clinch the NL East title; NBA's Boston Celtics (1957-65) & LA Lakers (1982-90) both won 9 in a row
- Oct 5 Robert Stevens becomes the first victim in the 2001 anthrax attacks.
1st Homeland Security Advisor
Oct 5 Tom Ridge resigns as Governor of Pennsylvania to become President George W. Bush's Homeland Security Advisor
Event of Interest
Oct 6 UK talent show "Pop Idol" debuts, created by Simon Fuller with judges Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman. Start of a worldwide Idol franchise.
- Oct 7 Crude oil resumes flowing through the trans-Alaska pipeline after workers welded shut a bullet hole that caused 260,000 US gallons of oil to spill out
- Oct 7 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan starts with an air assault and covert operations on the ground
- Oct 8 A twin engine Cessna and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) jetliner collide in heavy fog during takeoff from Milan, Italy killing 118.
- Oct 8 US President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security
- Oct 9 Second mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attack
Nobel Prize for Economics
Oct 11 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences jointly awarded to George Akerlof, Joseph E. Stiglitz and A. Michael Spence for "their analyses of markets with asymmetric information"
- Oct 11 The Polaroid Corporation files for federal bankruptcy protection.
F1 World Champion
Oct 14 German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher wins his 4th F1 World Drivers Championship by 58 points from David Coulthard; takes out Japanese GP at Suzuka for 9th win of the season
- Oct 15 NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io.
- Oct 15 The first tanker loading of the new $2.5-billion Kazakh-Russia Pipeline takes place
- Oct 16 The US Coast Guard lifts a ban on liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers entering Boston Harbor to make deliveries to Distrigas' Everett LNG terminal that had been imposed on September 26 in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11
Mamma Mia!
Oct 18 Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus' musical "Mamma Mia!", featuring the songs of ABBA, opens at The WInter Garden Theatre, NYC, later transferring to The Broadhurst; runs for 5,733 performances
- Oct 18 Crude Oil for November delivery falls to its lowest level since August 1999 on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)
- Oct 19 SIEV-X, an Indonesian fishing boat en-route to Christmas Island, carrying over 400 asylum seekers, sinks killing 353
- Oct 20 Despite 20-14 final round loss to Ireland in Dublin, England retains Six Nations Rugby Championship; set new records for points scored (229), tries scored (29) and overall points-difference (+149)
Music Concert
Oct 21 "United We Stand" benefit concert for September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks victims, held at RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. organized and headlined by Michael Jackson and featuring Aerosmith, Mariah Carey and The Backstreet Boys
- Oct 21 MLB National League Championship: Arizona Diamondbacks beat Atlanta Braves, 4 games to 1
- Oct 22 MLB American League Championship: New York Yankees beat Seattle Mariners, 4 games to 1
- Oct 23 Apple releases the iPod
- Oct 23 The Provisional Irish Republican Army of Northern Ireland commences disarmament after peace talks
- Oct 25 Microsoft releases Windows XP for retail sale
- Oct 26 The United States passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law.
- Oct 27 13th College Football Holy War: Boston College beats Notre Dame 21-17 in Chestnut Hill
- Oct 27 Breeders' Cup Horse Racing, Belmont Park; winners: Tiznow, Johannesburg, Unbridled Elaine, Fantastic Light, Val Royal, Banks Hill, Tempera, Squirtle Squirt
Donnie Darko
Oct 28 The indie cult hit "Donnie Darko", starring Jake Gyllenhaal, is released
- Oct 29 ExxonMobil announces that a consortium it leads will spend $4 billion over 5 years to develop large offshore oil and natural gas fields in Russia's far eastern Sakhalin region
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists