October 1

Events
Up to 1900
331 BC Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela.
959 Edgar the Peaceable becomes King of all England.
1553 Coronation of Queen Mary I of England.
1787 Russians under Alexander Suvorov defeat the Turks at Kinburn.
1791 First session of the French Legislative Assembly.
1795 Belgium is conquered by France.
1800 Spain cedes Louisiana to France.
1811 The first steamboat to sail the Mississippi River arrives in New Orleans.
1814 Opening of the Congress of Vienna, intended to re-draw Europe's political map after the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte the previous Spring.
1827 Russo-Persian War: The Russian Army under Ivan Paskevich storms Yerevan, ending a millennium of Muslim domination in Armenia.
1829 The South African College is founded in Cape Town. It will later split into the University of Cape Town and the South African Colleges.
1843 British tabloid newspaper, the News of the World, begins publication. It ends publication in 2011 due to a major scandal.
1847 German inventor and industrialist Werner von Siemens founds the Siemens AG and Halske.
1869 The world's first postcards are issued in Austria.
1880 John Philip Sousa becomes leader of the US Marine Band.
1880 The first electric lamp factory is opened by Thomas Edison.
1884 Denmark's Politiken newspaper is founded.
1887 Balochistan, in present-day Pakistan, is conquered by the British Empire.
1889 The Japanese city of Nagoya is founded.
1890 The Yosemite National Park is established by the United States Congress.
1891 Stanford University opens in California.
1901 1950
1903 Baseball: The Boston Americans play the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of the modern World Series.
1908 Ford puts a Model-T car on the market for the first time.
1910 A bomb destroys The Los Angeles Times building in downtown Los Angeles, California, killing 21 people.
1928 The Soviet Union introduces its first Five-Year Plan.
1931 The George Washington Bridge linking New Jersey to New York opens.
1931 Spain gives women the right to vote.
1936 Francisco Franco becomes head of the Nationalist Government of Spain.
1937 The Japanese city of Handa is founded in Aichi prefecture.
1938 Germany takes control of the Sudetenland in the present-day Czech Republic.
1939 World War II: Nazi forces enter Warsaw, Poland, after a one-month siege.
1943 World War II: Naples, Italy falls to the Allies.
1946 The Nuremberg Trials of leading Nazis conclude.
1946 Mensa International is founded in the UK.
1949 Mao Zedong and 300,000 others come to Tiananmen Square to celebrate the Sept.21 creation of the People's Republic of China; within a few months, this celebration becomes the basis for a new National Day.
1951 2000
1957 First appearance of In God We Trust on US paper currency.
1958 NASA is created to replace NACA.
1960 Nigeria becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1961 British and French Cameroon (independent since 1960) merge.
1962 First transmission of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
1964 Tokaido Shinkansen is opened (Tokyo - Shin-Osaka).
1965 General Suharto rises to power in a coup in Indonesia. Seven military officers are executed in the early hours of the morning.
1966 West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashes with 18 fatalities and no survivors near Wemme, Oregon.
1968 Guyana moves towards independent broadcasting, when its government takes over the British Guiana Broadcasting Service.
1969 After Tupolev Tu-144, Concorde becomes the second aircraft type to break the sound barrier.
1971 Walt Disney World opens near Orlando, Florida.
1975 In the Thrilla in Manila, Muhammad Ali defends his world heavyweight boxing title against Joe Frazier.
1975 The Seychelles gain self government; The islands become independent on June 29, 1976.
1975 The Ellice Islands split from the Gilbert Islands (present-day Kiribati) and change their name to Tuvalu.
1977 Brazilian footballer Pele ends his playing career.
1978 Tuvalu becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1979 Pope John Paul II visits the United States.
1979 The United States hands over control of the Panama Canal to Panama, though the full transfer of control occurs at the end of 1999.
1982 Helmut Kohl replaces Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor of Germany.
1985 Israel's Air Force bombs Palestinian Liberation Organization headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia.
1988 Singles' Tennis: Steffi Graf wins the gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics, having already won all Grand Slam tournaments of the year, becoming the first, and so far only, winner of a 'Golden Slam' in tennis.
1989 Denmark introduces the world's first same-sex civil union, or Registered Partnership.
1991 Balkan War: The Siege of Dubrovnik begins.
1992 The children's television channel Cartoon Network begins transmission.
1994 Palau becomes independent from a UN trusteeship administered by the US.
1995 An earthquake strikes Dinar, Turkey, killing 100 people.
2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, end.
From 2001
2001 Militants attack the state legislature building in Srinagar, Kashmir, killing 38 people.
2005 Bali is devastated by a terrorist attack, in which 26 people are killed after bombs explode.
2009 The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom takes over the judicial functions of the House of Lords.
2012 A ferry collision in Hong Kong kills 38 people and injures over 100.
2013 The United States Government temporarily shuts down after failing to agree on a budget.
2014 Jens Stoltenberg becomes Secretary-General of NATO.
2017 Same-sex marriages take place in Germany for the first time.
2017 A ban on face covering in public places enters into force in Austria.
2017 Catalonia holds a disputed referendum on whether or not to become independent from Spain.
2017 Las Vegas Strip shooting: Stephen Paddock carries out the deadliest shooting by a single gunman in recent US history in Las Vegas when he fires shots from two windows of his 32nd floor room on the Mandalay Bay Hotel onto a crowd in a country music festival, killing 59 people and wounding more than 500.
Births
Up to 1800
86 BC Sallust, Roman historian (d. 35 BC)
208 Alexander Severus, Roman Emperor (d. 235)
1207 King Henry III of England (d. 1272)
1348 Isabella, Countess of Vertus, French princess (d. 1373)
1471 King Frederick I of Denmark (d. 1533)
1507 Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, Italian architect (d. 1573)
1540 Johann Jakob Grynaeus, Swiss Protestant clergyman (d. 1617)
1541 El Greco, Greek-Spanish painter, sculptor and architect (d. 1614)
1577 Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Swiss friar and saint (d. 1622)
1620 Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, Dutch painter (d. 1683)
1644 Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (d. 1682)
1671 Guido Grandi, Italian mathematician (d. 1742)
1685 Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1740)
1691 Arthur Onslow, English politician (d. 1768)
1724 Giovanni Battista Cirri, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1808)
1729 Anton Cajetan Adlgasser, German organist and composer (d. 1777)
1730 Richard Stockton, American attorney, signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1781)
1754 Tsar Paul I of Russia (d. 1801)
1760 William Thomas Beckford, English writer and politician (d. 1844)
1771 Pierre Baillot, French violinist and composer (d. 1842)
1791 Sergei Aksakov, Russian writer (d. 1859)
1794 Leopold IV, Duke of Anhalt (d. 1871)
1800 Lars Levi Laestadius, Swedish botanist and Christian missionary to Lapland (d. 1861)
1801 1900
1808 Mary Anna Custis Lee, First Lady of the Confederate States of America (d. 1873)
1821 Benjamin T. Biggs, American politician and Governor of Delaware (d. 1893)
1832 Caroline Harrison, First Lady of the United States (d. 1892)
1835 Adam Politzer, Austro-Hungarian physician (d. 1920)
1842 Charles Clos, French poet and inventor (d. 1888)
1846 Nectarios de Aegina, Greek saint (d. 1920)
1847 Annie Besant, English-Indian activist and author (d. 1933)
1850 David R. Francis, American politician and diplomat, Governor of Missouri and Ambassador to Russia (d. 1927)
1865 Paul Dukas, French composer (d. 1935)
1872 Henry H. Blood, Governor of Utah (d. 1942)
1878 Othmar Spann, Austrian philosopher and economist (d. 1950)
1881 William Boeing, American engineer (d. 1956)
1885 Louis Untermeyer, American writer (d. 1977)
1890 Stanley Holloway, British actor (d. 1982)
1890 Alice Joyce, American actress (d. 1955)
1893 Yip Man, Chinese martial artist (d. 1972)
1894 Edgar Krahn, Estonian mathematician (d. 1961)
1896 Liaquat Ali Khan, first Prime Minister of Pakistan (d. 1951)
1896 Ted Healy, American actor and comedian (d. 1937)
1900 Tom Goddard, English cricketer (d. 1966)
1901 1950
1903 Vladimir Horowitz, Ukrainian-born pianist (d. 1989)
1904 Otto Robert Frisch, Austrian-born physicist (d. 1979)
1904 A. K. Goppalan, Indian politician (d. 1977)
1905 Jose Leandro Andrade, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1957)
1905 Alfons Goppel, German politician, Prime Minister of Bavaria (d. 1991)
1906 Sachin Dev Burman, Indian composer and singer (d. 1975)
1907 Maurice Bardeche, French journalist, author and critic (d. 1998)
1909 Sam Yorty, Mayor of Los Angeles, California (d. 1998)
1910 Bonnie Parker, American outlaw (Bonnie and Clyde) (d. 1934)
1911 Heinrich Mark, Estonian politician (d. 2004)
1912 Kathleen Ollerenshaw, British mathematician and politician (d. 2014)
1914 Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian, writer, and Librarian of Congress (d. 2004)
1914 Marvin Gay, Sr., father of Marvin Gaye (d. 1998)
1915 Jerome Bruner, American psychologist (d. 2016)
1917 Cahal Daly, Irish archbishop (d. 2009)
1920 Walter Matthau, American actor (d. 2000)
1921 James Whitmore, American actor (d. 2009)
1922 Chen Ning Yang, Chinese-American physicist
1922 Kim Ki-young, South Korean movie director (d. 1998)
1924 Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
1924 William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States (d. 2005)
1924 Bob Geigel, American wrestling promoter (d. 2014)
1924 Leonie Kramer, Australian academic (d. 2016)
1925 Bob Boyd, American baseball player (d. 2004)
1925 Benno Pludra, German writer (d. 2014)
1927 Tom Bosley, American actor (d. 2010)
1927 Sandy Gall, Scottish journalist and writer
1927 Marta Kurtag, Hungarian pianist (d. 2019)
1928 Laurence Harvey, Lithuanian-born actor (d. 1973)
1928 George Peppard, American actor (d. 1994)
1928 Zhu Rongji, Chinese politician
1930 Sir Richard Harris, Irish actor (d. 2002)
1930 Philippe Noiret, French actor (d. 2006)
1930 Frank Gardner, Australian Formula One driver (d. 2009)
1930 Naimatullah Khan, Pakistani politician
1931 Sylvano Bussotti, Italian composer
1932 Albert Collins, American blues guitarist (d. 1993)
1932 Manuel Busto, French cyclist (d. 2017)
1934 Emilio Botin, Spanish businessman (d. 2014)
1935 Julie Andrews, British actress and singer
1935 Walter De Maria, American sculptor (d. 2013)
1935 Julio Jaramillo, Ecuadorean singer (d. 1978)
1936 Duncan Edwards, English footballer (d. 1958)
1938 Stella Stevens, American actress
1938 Mary McFadden, American fashion designer and writer
1939 George Archer, American golfer (d. 2005)
1942 Gunter Wallraff, German writer and journalist
1942 David Stancliffe, 77th Bishop of Salisbury, England
1943 Jean-Jacques Annaud, French director
1945 Rod Carew, Panamanian baseball player
1945 Ram Nath Kovind, Indian politician, President of India
1946 Dave Holland, British jazz musician and composer
1947 Dave Arneson, American game creator (d. 2009)
1947 Stephen Collins, American actor
1947 Aaron Ciechanover, Israeli biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
1948 Cub Koda, American singer (d. 2000)
1949 Isaac Bonewits, American writer (d. 2010)
1949 Andre Rieu, Dutch violinist, conductor and composer
1949 Sheila Gilmore, Scottish politician
1950 Boris Morukov, Russian cosmonaut (d. 2015)
1950 Randy Quaid, American actor
1950 Susan Greenfield, Baroness Greenfield, English neuroscientist, academic and politician
1951 1975
1952 Jacques Martin, Canadian ice hockey coach
1953 Klaus Wowereit, German politician, former Governing Mayor of Berlin
1953 Grete Waitz, Norwegian marathon runner (d. 2011)
1954 Martin Strel, Slovenian swimmer
1955 Jeff Reardon, American baseball player
1955 Morten Gunnar Larsen, Norwegian pianist
1956 Andrus Ansip, former Prime Minister of Estonia
1956 Theresa May, British politician, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1959 Youssou N'Dour, Senegalese singer, musician, composer and politician
1961 Walter Mazzarri, Italian footballer
1961 Gary Ablett, Sr., Australian footballer
1962 Attaphol Buspakom, Thai footballer and coach (d. 2015)
1962 Nico Claesen, Belgian footballer
1962 Esai Morales, American actor
1963 Mark McGwire, American baseball player
1964 Harry Hill, British comedian
1964 Max Matsuura, Japanese singer-songwriter
1964 Jonathan Sarfati, Australian-born chess player, scientist, and writer
1964 Christopher Titus, American actor, producer and screenwriter
1965 Andreas Keller, German field hockey player
1966 George Weah, Liberian footballer and politician, President of Liberia
1967 Scott Young, American ice hockey player
1968 Jon Guenther, American writer
1968 Phil de Glanville, English rugby player
1969 Marcus Stephen, Nauruan weightlifter and politician, former President of Nauru
1969 Igor Ulanov, Russian ice hockey player
1969 Zach Galifianakis, American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter
1969 Simone Stelzer, Austrian singer
1974 Mats Lindgren, Swedish ice hockey player
1974 Keith Duffy, Irish singer (Boyzone) and actor
1975 Chulpan Khamatova, Russian actress
From 1976
1976 Umit Karan, Turkish footballer
1977 Jeffrey van Hooydonk, Belgian racing driver
1979 Rudi Johnson, American football player
1981 Julio Baptista, Brazilian footballer
1981 Rupert Friend, English actor, producer and screenwriter
1982 Haruna Babangida, Nigerian footballer
1983 Mohamed Abdelwahab, Egyptian footballer (d. 2006)
1983 Mirko Vucinic, Montenegrin footballer
1984 Daniel Guillen, Spanish footballer
1984 Monica Spear, Venezuelan model (d. 2014)
1985 Nazimuddin Ahmed, Bangladeshi cricketer
1986 Ricardo Vaz Te, Portuguese footballer
1986 Matthew Gonzalez, American figure skater
1986 Daniela Katzenberger, German model and television personality
1986 Sayaka Kanda, Japanese actress and singer
1987 Hiroki Aiba, Japanese actor and singer
1988 Cariba Heine, South African-Australian actress
1989 Brie Larson, American actress and singer
1990 Charlie McDonnell, English blogger
1998 Danika Yarosh, American actress
Deaths
Up to 1900
686 Emperor Temmu of Japan (b. 631)
959 King Edwy of England (b. 941)
1040 Alan III, Duke of Brittany (b. 997)
1310 Beatrice of Burgundy, Lady of Bourbon (b. 1257)
1404 Pope Boniface IX (b. 1356)
1499 Marsilio Ficino, Italian philosopher (b. 1433)
1567 Pietro Carnesecchi, Italian humanist (b. 1508)
1578 John of Austria (b. 1547)
1588 Edward James, English priest and martyr (b. 1557)
1609 Giammatteo Asola, Italian composer (b. 1532)
1684 Pierre Corneille, French dramatist (b. 1606)
1708 John Blow, English composer (b. 1649)
1768 Robert Simson, Scottish mathematician (b. 1687)
1837 Robert Clark, American politician (b. 1777)
1864 Juan Jose Flores, 1st President of Ecuador (b. 1800)
1868 Mongkut, King of Siam, present-day Thailand (b. 1804)
1878 Midon Min, King of Burma (b. 1808)
1895 John Light Atlee, American physician and surgeon (b. 1799)
1901 2000
1901 Abdur Rahman Khan, Afghan amir (b. 1844)
1913 Eugene O'Keefe, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1827)
1919 Princess Charlotte of Prussia (b. 1860)
1929 Antoine Bourdelle, French sculptor and painter (b. 1861)
1942 Ants Piip, Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1884)
1950 Faik Ali Ozansoy, Turkish politician, poet and critic (b. 1876)
1952 John Langenus, Belgian football referee (b. 1891)
1955 Charles Christie, American movie producer (b. 1880)
1957 Abdulhalik Renda, Turkish civil servant and politician (b. 1881)
1959 Enrico de Nicola, first President of Italy (b. 1877)
1960 Giuseppe Fietta, Italian cardinal (b. 1883)
1968 Romano Guardini, Italian priest, theologian and philosopher (b. 1885)
1972 Louis Leakey, British-Kenyan palaeontologist (b. 1903)
1985 E. B. White, American writer (b. 1899)
1992 Petra Kelly, German politician (b. 1947)
1992 Gert Bastian, German politician (b. 1923)
1994 Paul Lorenzen, German philosopher and mathematician (b. 1915)
1996 Pat McGeown, Provisional IRA member (b. 1956)
1999 Lena Zavaroni, Scottish singer (b. 1963)
2000 Reginald Cray, English gangster (b. 1933)
From 2001
2002 Walter Annenberg, American publisher and philanthropist (b. 1908)
2004 Richard Avedon, American photographer (b. 1923)
2007 Ronnie Hazlehurst, English conductor and theme song composer (b. 1928)
2007 Al Oerter, American athlete (b. 1936)
2009 Kazumi Takada, Japanese footballer (b. 1951)
2011 Sven Tumba, Swedish ice hockey player, golfer and footballer (b. 1931)
2011 David Bedford, British composer (b. 1937)
2012 Eric Hobsbawm, British historian and writer (b. 1917)
2012 Dirk Bach, German actor, television presenter and comedian (b. 1961)
2012 Moshe Sanbar, Israeli economist (b. 1926)
2013 Peter Broadbent, English footballer (b. 1933)
2013 Giuliano Gemma, Italian actor (b. 1938)
2013 Tom Clancy, American writer (b. 1947)
2013 Israel Gutman, Israeli historian (b. 1923)
2014 Shlomo Lahat, Israeli general and politician (b. 1927)
2014 Lynsey de Paul, English singer-songwriter (b. 1950)
2015 Hadi Norouzi, Iranian footballer (b. 1985)
2015 Don Edwards, American politician (b. 1915)
2015 Jacob Pressman, American rabbi (b. 1919)
2015 Joe Wark, Scottish footballer (b. 1947)
2015 Max Keeping, Canadian broadcaster (b. 1942)
2017 Hansje Bunschoten, Dutch swimmer and television presenter (b. 1958)
2017 Robert D. Hales, American religious leader (b. 1932)
2017 Arthur Janov, American psychologist and author (b. 1924)
2017 Edmond Maire, French labour union leader and activist (b. 1931)
2017 Larissa Volpert, Russian-Estonian philologist and chess player (b. 1926)
2017 Edward B. Giller, American Major General (b. 1918)
2017 Andy Hopkins, American football player (b. 1941)
2017 Philippe Rahmy, Swiss poet and writer (b. 1965)
2017 Stephen Paddock, American accountant and mass murderer (b. 1953)
2018 Charles Aznavour, French-Armenian singer, actor and diplomat (b. 1924)
2018 Stelvio Cipriani, Italian composer (b. 1937)
2018 Carlos Ezquerra, Spanish comic artist (b. 1947)
2018 Jerry Gonzalez, American bandleader and trumpeter (b. 1949)
2018 Do Muoi, Vietnamese politician (b. 1917)
2018 Graciano Rocchigiani, German boxer (b. 1963)
2018 Franco Sar, Italian decathlete (b. 1933)
2018 Antoine Sfeir, Lebanese journalist and professor (b. 1948)
2019 Joseph Bismuth, Tunisian businessman (b. 1926)
2019 Cain Hope Felder, American theologian and writer (b. 1943)
2019 Karel Gott, Czech singer (b. 1939)
2019 Miguel Leon-Portilla, Mexican anthropologist and historian (b. 1926)
2019 C. K. Menon, Indian businessman and politician (b. 1949)
2019 Eric Pleskow, Austrian-born American film producer (b. 1924)
2019 Peter Sissons, English journalist and broadcaster (b. 1942)
2019 Arto Tchakmaktchian, Egyptian-born Armenian-Canadian sculptor and painter (b. 1933)
Observances
National Day (China, Cyprus, Tuvalu, and Palau)
Independence Day (Nigeria)
Unification Day (Cameroon)
Teacher's Day (Uzbekistan)
Armed Forces Day (South Korea)
International Day of Older Persons
October 01