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 – Tōkaidō 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 – José 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 Bardèche, 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 (d. 2024)
 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 – Márta Kurtág, 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 Botín, 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 – Günter 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 – André 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 – Júlio 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 Guillén, Spanish footballer
 1984 – Mónica 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 José 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 – Abdülhalik 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 González, 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 León-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)
 2025 – Jane Goodall, English zoologist, primatologist and anthropologist (b. 1934)

 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
 International Coffee Day

October 01