105 BC – Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus.
69 BC – Battle of Tigranocerta: Forces of the Roman Republic led by Lucullus defeat the army of the Kingdom of Armenia led by King Tigranes the Great.
23 – Rebels kill and decapitate the Xin dynasty emperor Wang Mang two days after the capital Chang’an is sacked during a peasant rebellion.
404 – Byzantine Empress Eudoxia has her seventh and last pregnancy which ends in a miscarriage. She is left bleeding and dies of an infection shortly after.
618– Wang Shichong decisively defeats Li Mi at the Battle of Yanshi, during the transition from Sui to Tang civil war.
1539 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto and his army enter the Apalachee capital of Anhaica (present-day Tallahassee, Florida) by force.
1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day is skipped in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
1762 – Seven Years’ War: Conclusion of the Battle of Manila between Britain and Spain, which resulted in the British occupation of Manila for the rest of the war.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: General Sir Henry Clinton leads British forces in the capture of Continental Army Hudson River defenses in the Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery.
1789 – French Revolution: Louis XVI returns to Paris from Versailles after being confronted by the Parisian women on October 5.
1849 – The execution of The 13 Martyrs of Arad after the Hungarian war of independence.
1884 – The Naval War College of the United States Navy is founded in Newport, Rhode Island.
1889 – American inventor Thomas Edison shows his first motion picture.
1903 – The High Court of Australia sits for the first time.
1908 – Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia-Herzegovina, sparking a crisis.
1910 – Eleftherios Venizelos is elected Prime Minister of Greece for the first time (seven times in total).
1923 – The Turkish National Movement enters Constantinople.
1939 – World War II: Germany’s invasion of Poland ends with the surrender of Independent Operational Group Polesie after the Battle of Kock
1942 – World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.
1973 – Egypt launches a coordinated attack with Syria against Israel leading to the Yom Kippur War.
1976 – Cubana de Aviación Flight 455 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after taking off from Bridgetown, Barbados, after two bombs, placed on board by terrorists with connections to the CIA, exploded. All 73 people on board are killed.
1977 – The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-29, designated 9-01, makes its maiden flight.
1979 – Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit the White House.
1981 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is murdered by Islamic extremists.
1987 – Fiji becomes a republic.
1995 – 51 Pegasi is discovered to be the second major star apart from the Sun to have a planet orbiting around it.
2007 – Jason Lewis completes the first human-powered circumnavigation of the globe.