Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in October 2024 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)
Historical anniversaries are great for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more. (Find out more at the end of this article.)
We’ve randomly picked one anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2024, which lists more than 3,000 anniversaries (an average of eight newsworthy anniversaries for every day of the year).
1 Oct 1949 – 75 years ago
The People’s Republic of China was founded by Mao Zedong.
2 Oct 2004 – 20 years ago
The first Parkrun was held in Bushy Park, London (as the Bushy Park Time Trial).
Parkruns are now held every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 22 countries.
3 Oct 1899 – 125 years ago
American inventor John S. Thurman was granted a U.S. patent for the pneumatic carpet renovator.
It was the first motor-powered carpet-cleaning system. It dislodged dust from carpets by blasting them with jets of air, then blew the dust into a receptacle, so it was not the vacuum cleaner that we know today. (U.S. patent 634,042.)
4 Oct 1964 – 60 years ago
The first episode of Gerry Anderson’s ‘Supermarionation’ children’s science fiction television series Stingray was broadcast in the UK.
It ran until June 1965.
5 Oct 1824 – 200 years ago
Birth of Henry Chadwick, (the ‘father of Baseball’), British-born American sportswriter and baseball statistician.
He made important contributions to the development of baseball, sat on rules committees, devised statistics including the batting average, edited the first baseball guide sold to the public, and helped popularise the game.
6 Oct 1949 – 75 years ago
‘Tokyo Rose’ (Iva Toguri d’Aquino) was found guilty of treason, sentenced to ten years in prison and fined $10,000.
She broadcast Japanese propaganda to American troops in the Pacific during WWII.
7 Oct 1949 – 75 years ago
The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was established.
8 Oct 1959 – 65 years ago
British general election – won by the Conservative Party.
Margaret Thatcher (later Prime Minister) was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the first time, as was the future Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe.
9 Oct 1874 – 150 years ago
The Universal Postal Union was established by the Treaty of Berne.
It is a specialised agency of the United Nations and coordinates postal policies in member countries.
10 to 24 Oct 1964 – 60 years ago
The 1964 Olympic Games were held in Tokyo, Japan.
This was the first Olympics to be broadcast live around the world by satellite.
11 Oct 1899 to 31 May 1902 – 125 years ago
The Second Boer War, South Africa.
British victory over the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, which both subsequently collapsed. They became the British colonies of Transvaal and Orange River, and became part of South Africa in 1910. Over 22,000 British forces were killed and nearly 100,000 wounded. More than 6,000 Boers were killed, and more than 46,000 African civilians died in concentration camps.
12 Oct 1984 – 40 years ago
The Conservative Party conference bombing, Brighton, UK.
An IRA bomb exploded during the Conservative Party conference at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, killing five people. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was apparently the primary target but she escaped injury.
13 Oct 1944 – 80 years ago
World War II: the city of Riga, Latvia was liberated by the Soviet Union.
14 Oct 1964 – 60 years ago
Leonid Brezhnev became Leader of the Soviet Union, replacing Nikita Khrushchev.
15 Oct 1964 – 60 years ago
American racing driver Craig Breedlove broke the land speed record, driving Spirit of America at 526 mph at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. He was the first driver to break the 500-mph barrier. He also broke the 600-mph barrier in November 1965.
16 Oct 1964 – 60 years ago
Harold Wilson became British Prime Minister for the first time.
He became Prime Minister again in 1974.
17 Oct 1949 – 75 years ago
Coast-to-coast toll dialling began in the USA.
Telephone users could call their local operator, and she would dial an operator in another state who would connect the call.
The system was later replaced by Direct Distance Dialling.
18 Oct 1954 – 70 years ago
Texas Instruments announced the first transistor radio to be produced in significant numbers: the Regency TR-1.
It went on sale in November. About 150,000 were sold.
19 Oct 1954 – 70 years ago
Britain and Egypt signed an agreement on the Suez Canal.
Britain would withdraw its troops within 20 months, but would have the right to return for 7 years. The Suez Canal Company would revert to Egypt in November 1968. (Egypt seized the canal in July 1956, triggering the Suez Crisis.)
20 Oct 1949 – 75 years ago
Eugenie Anderson was appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark.
She was the first female U.S. Ambassador.
21 Oct 1944 – 80 years ago
World War II: the Japanese carried out the first-ever kamikaze attack.
A Japanese pilot deliberately crashed his plane into HMAS Australia during the invasion of Leyte Gulf, killing 30 people.
Historians now believe the pilot acted on his own initiative. The first official (pre-planned) kamikaze attack was on 25th October.
22 Oct 1924 – 100 years ago
Toastmasters International was founded.
23 to 26 Oct 1944 – 80 years ago
World War II – the Pacific Campaign – the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Philippines.
Considered to be the largest naval battle in history. Allied victory. The Japanese Navy was effectively eliminated from the war.
24 Oct 1964 – 60 years ago
Northern Rhodesia gained its independence from the UK and became the Republic of Zambia.
Kenneth Kaunda became its first president.
25 Oct 1924 – 100 years ago
The Zinoviev letter was published in the Daily Mail newspaper in the UK.
The letter, now known to be a forgery, purported to come from the head of the Communist International in Moscow. It claimed that if the Labour Party won the forthcoming general election (on 29th October), if would lead to the radicalisation of the British working class. British voters turned against the Labour Party, which lost the election.
26 Oct 1984 – 40 years ago
‘Baby Fae’, an American baby with a severe heart defect, was given the heart of a baboon in an experimental transplant operation in California. She died on 15th November.
27 Oct 1994 – 30 years ago
The U.S. prison population exceeded one million for the first time.
28 Oct 1974 – 50 years ago
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act came into effect in the USA.
It became unlawful to discriminate against any applicant on the grounds of their race, colour, nationality, religion, gender, marital status, income source, or age, as long as the applicant would be legally entitled to credit and had the ability to repay it.
29 Oct 1924 – 100 years ago
British general election – the third in less than two years.
It was called after Ramsay MacDonald’s Labour Party lost a vote of no confidence. The Conservative Party won, and Stanley Baldwin became Prime Minister (for the second time) on 4th November. The Conservatives may have been helped by Communist interference in the election – see 25th October 1924.
30 Oct 1924 – 100 years ago
World Savings Day was established.
It is held in many countries, usually on 30th October. It is also known as World Thrift Day.
31 Oct 1984 – 40 years ago
Death of Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (1966–77, 1980–84 – assassinated).
(Assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.) Succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi.
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2024. The 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028 editions are also available if you work further ahead. The anniversaries are available as PDF ebooks, Excel spreadsheets, and printed paperback books.
How to use the anniversaries:
If you’d like to know more about how to turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines and newspapers, take a look at our free 68-page guide, Ditch Your Day Job: the easiest way to make a living (or earn some extra cash) as a writer.