Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in October 2025 (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 selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2025, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.
Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats and spellings. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.
1 Oct 1975 – 50 years ago
The Thrilla in Manila. Muhammad Ali knocked out Joe Frazier to win the World Heavyweight Championship in boxing.
2 Oct 1925 – 100 years ago
Scottish engineer John Logie Baird performed the first successful test of a working television system. His system used a mechanical spinning disc. He gave the first public demonstration in January 1926.
3 Oct 1950 – 75 years ago
American researchers John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley of AT&T Bell Laboratories were granted a U.S. patent for their invention of the transistor. (U.S. Patent 2,524,035.) They were also awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work.
4 Oct 1925 – 100 years ago
The New York Giants American football team played their first game. They beat New Britain, Connecticut 26–0.
5 Oct 1945 – 80 years ago
The Indonesian Army was founded (as the People’s Security Army).
6 Oct 1985 – 40 years ago
The Broadwater Farm housing estate riot, Tottenham, London, UK. Metropolitan Police constable Keith Blakelock was killed – the first British constable to be killed in a riot since 1833. There were also riots in Toxteth, Liverpool and Peckham, London on 1st October.
7 Oct 1950 – 75 years ago
China invaded Tibet. Tibetan forces were overcome by 19th October, and Tibet despatched a delegation to China to agree terms for China’s annexation of Tibet.
8 Oct 1965 – 60 years ago
The Post Office Tower (now the BT Tower) in London was officially opened. It was the tallest building in the UK until 1980.
9 Oct 1825 – 200 years ago
The Norwegian ship Restauration arrived in New York Harbor, USA after a three-month voyage. It carried the first organised group of immigrants from Norway to the USA. The ship has been nicknamed the ‘Norse Mayflower‘.
10 Oct 1935 – 90 years ago
George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess opened on Broadway. It is regarded as the first great American opera.
11 Oct 1925 – 100 years ago
Birth of Elmore Leonard, American novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. Best known for his crime fiction and suspense thrillers. (Died 2013.)
12 Oct 1875 – 150 years ago
Birth of Aleister Crowley, British occultist, ceremonial magician and writer. Known as ‘the wickedest man in the world’ and ‘the Great Beast’.
13 Oct 1925 – 100 years ago
Birth of Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979–90). (Died 2013.)
14 Oct 1995 – 30 years ago
Death of Ellis Peters (pen name of Edith Pargeter), British historical/mystery novelist. Best known for the Brother Cadfael series.
15 Oct 1950 – 75 years ago
The world’s first radio paging service began operating at the Jewish Hospital in New York City, USA. It had a range of 30 miles. The first page was sent to a doctor who was playing golf 25 miles away.
16 Oct 1945 – 80 years ago
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations was founded.
17 Oct 1985 – 40 years ago
Intel launched the 80386 32-bit microprocessor, commonly known as the 386.
18 Oct 1985 – 40 years ago
Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in the USA.
(Europe: 1st September 1986.)
19 Oct 1955 – 70 years ago
The discovery of the antiproton was announced by Emilio Segrè and Owen Chamberlain from the University of California, Berkeley in the USA. They were awarded the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physics.
20 Oct 1955 – 70 years ago
Little Richard’s pioneering rock and roll song Tutti Frutti was released. It became his first major hit, and was a model for future rock songs.
21/22 Oct 1945 – 80 years ago
Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón married actress Eva Duarte (‘Evita’).
22 Oct 1975 – 50 years ago
The ‘Guildford Four’ were convicted of planting IRA bombs in two pubs in Guildford, Surrey, UK, which killed five people. They were sentenced to life imprisonment. Their convictions were reversed in 1989 and they were released.
23 to 24 Oct 1850 – 175 years ago
The first National Women’s Rights Convention was held in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
24 Oct 1945 – 80 years ago
The United Nations was formally established and began operating. It replaced the League of Nations.
25 Oct 1825 – 200 years ago
Birth of Johann Strauss II, (‘the Waltz King’), Austrian composer. Best known for his waltzes, including The Blue Danube.
26 Oct 1825 – 200 years ago
The Erie Canal opened in the USA. It links the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean via the Niagara River and the Hudson River.
27 Oct 1275 – 750 years ago
The city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands was traditionally founded on this date.
28 Oct 1965 – 60 years ago
Pope Paul VI absolved the Jews of their collective guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, as part of his decree Nostra Aetate (meaning: In Our Time).
29 Oct 1945 – 80 years ago
The first commercially successful ballpoint pen went on sale at Gimbels department store in New York City, USA.
(Ballpoint pens were launched in the UK in December 1945.)
30 Oct 1950 – 75 years ago
Pope Pius XII witnessed the Miracle of the Sun from the Vatican gardens.
(He witnessed it again on 31st October, 1st November and 8th November.)
31 Oct 1975 – 50 years ago
Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats played their first concert (as the Nightlife Thugs – they changed their name to the Boomtown Rats during the interval).
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2025.
The 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.
Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.
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— Mark
How to use the anniversaries:
How can you turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines, newspapers and websites? How do you get paid for writing them, and how can you make a great living from it?
Download our free guide Ditch Your Day Job. It tells you everything you need to know!