OCTOBER 1 | Birthdays and Events

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS FOR OCTOBER 1

  • Mary Anna Custis Lee - Wife of Robert E. Lee. Born in 1808 and died in 1873.

  • Caroline Harrison - American educator, 24th First Lady of the United States. Born in 1832 and died in 1892.

  • William Boeing - American engineer and businessman who founded the Boeing Company. Born in 1881 and died in 1956.

  • Eli Whitney Blake, Jr. - American chemist, physicist, and academic. Born in 1836 and died in 1895.

  • Ted Healy - American actor, singer, and screenwriter. Born in 1896 and died in 1937.

  • Sam Yorty - American captain, politician, and 37th Mayor of Los Angeles. Born in 1909 and died in 1998.

  • Bonnie Parker (Bonnie and Clyde) - American criminal. Born in 1910 and died in 1934.

  • Daniel J. Boorstin - American historian, lawyer, author, and 12th Librarian of Congress. Born in 1914 and died in 2004.

  • Bob Boyd - American baseball player. Born in 1919 and died in 2004.

  • Walter Matthau - American actor. Born in 1920 and died in 2000.

  • Jimmy Carter - American naval lieutenant, politician, 39th President of the United States, and Nobel Prize laureate. Born in 1924.

  • Tom Bosley - American actor. Born 1927 and died 2010.

  • Grady Chapman - American singer. Born in 1929 and died 2011.

  • Arnold Burns - American lawyer, politician, and 21st United States Deputy Attorney General. Born in 1930 and died in 2013.

  • Alan Wagner - American radio host and critic. Born in 1931 and died 2007.

  • Julie Andrews - English actress and singer. Born in 1935.

  • Mary McFadden - American fashion designer. Born in 1938 and died in 2024.

  • George Archer - American golfer. Born in 1939 and died in 2005.

  • Marc Savoy - American accordion player who also created the Cajun accordion. Born in 1940.

  • Herb Fame - American R&B singer. Born in 1942.

  • Robert Slater - American author and journalist. Born in 1943 and died in 2014.

  • Dave Arneson - American game designer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons. Born in 1947 and died 2009.

  • Cub Koda - American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Born in 1948 and died in 2000.

  • Randy Quaid - American actor. Born in 1950.

  • Bob Myrick - American baseball player. Born in 1952 and died in 2012.

  • Earl Slick - American rock guitarist and songwriter. Born in 1952.

  • Pete Falcone - American baseball player. Born in 1953.

  • Brian P. Cleary - American author and poet. Born in 1959.

  • Joshua Wurman - American scientist, Doppler on Wheels inventor, and storm chaser. Born in 1960.

  • Mark McGwire - American baseball player and coach. Born in 1963.

  • Cindy Margolis - American actress and model. Born in 1965.

  • Scott Young - American ice hockey player and coach. Born in 1967.

  • Joseph Patrick Moore - American musician, composer, and producer. Born in 1969.

  • Sherri Saum - American actress. Born in 1974.

  • Nicole Atkins - American singer-songwriter. Born in 1978.

  • Rudi Johnson - American football player. Born in 1979.

  • Jurnee Smollett - American actress. Born in 1986.

  • Lauren Hill - American basketball player. Born in 1995 and died in 2015.

  • Tom Clancy - American author. Born 1947 and died in 2013.

HISTORICAL EVENTS FOR OCTOBER 1

  • 1832 - Texian political delegates gather at San Felipe de Austin to petition for changes in the governance of Mexican Texas. Eventually, Mexican Texas would become present day Texas.

  • 1861 - Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management is published, going on to sell 60,000 copies in its first year. The book gave instructions on how to run a household and included tips in management, childcare, recipes, and social etiquette. The book is still in print today.

  • 1890 - The U.S. Congress established Yosemite National Park as the second national park to be established in the country.

  • 1891 - Stanford University opens its doors in Sanford, California.

  • 1903 – The Boston Americans played the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of baseball in what would become the modern World Series.

  • 1908 – Ford Model T automobiles are offered for sale $825 in Detroit, Michigan.

  • 1910 – Los Angeles Times building is bombed, killing 21.

  • 1928 – Newark Liberty International Airport opens as the first airport in the New York City.

  • 1931 – The George Washington Bridge joining New Jersey and New York is opened.

  • 1940 – The first superhighway, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, opens for traffic.

  • 1942 – USS Grouper torpedoes Lisbon Maru in the East China Seas unaware British prisoners of war were being transported from Hong Kong.

  • 1943 – Allied troops enter Naples after four days of fighting. The victory would become known as Four Days of Naples.

  • 1947 – The F-86 Sabre flies for the first time.

  • 1957 – The motto In God We Trust appears on U.S. paper currency for the first time.

  • 1958 – NASA replaces The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.

  • 1961 – The U.S.'s first centralized military intelligence is formed and called The United States Defense Intelligence Agency. 

  • 1962 – James Meredith, the first Black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi, enters the University, defying racial segregation rules.

  • 1964 – The Free Speech Movement begins at the University of California, Berkeley.

  • 1966 – West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashes in Oregon. There were no survivors. 

  • 1971 – Walt Disney World opens its doors for the first time in Florida. Nearly 12,000 people visiting the park the first day. 

  • 1975 – Muhammad Ali defeated Joe Frazier in a boxing match in Manila, Philippines.

  • 1979 – Pope John Paul II visits the U.S.

  • 1982 – EPCOT opens at Walt Disney World in Florida. 

  • 2015 – Nine people are killed by a gunman at a community college in Oregon.

  • 2017 – Steven Paddock kills 58 people and injures 869 during a mass shooting at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. The gunman later committed suicide.