October -1969

• October 1
  • In Sweden, Olof Palme is elected Leader of the Social Democratic Worker's Party, replacing Tage Erlander as Prime Minister on October 14.
  • The Beijing Subway begins operation.
• October 2 – A 1.2 megaton thermonuclear device is tested at Amchitka Island, Alaska. This test is code-named Project Milrow, the 11th test of the Operation Mandrel 1969–1970 underground nuclear test series. This test is known as a "calibration shot" to test if the island is fit for larger underground nuclear detonations.
• October 5
  • Monty Python's Flying Circus first airs on BBC One.
  • Sazae-san first airs on Fuji Television.
• October 9–October 12 – Days of Rage: In Chicago, the United States National Guard is called in to control demonstrations involving the radical Weathermen, in connection with the "Chicago Eight" Trial.
• October 11–October 16 – The New York Mets defeat the Baltimore Orioles four games to one in one of the greatest World Series upsets in baseball history.
• October 13
  • An unofficial strike amongst British mineworkers begins over the working hours of surface workers.
• October 15
  • DZKB-TV Channel 9, the Philippines TV station, owner by Roberto S. Benedicto, is launched.
  • Vietnam War: Hundreds of thousands of people take part in Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam demonstrations across the United States.
• October 17
  • Willard S. Boyle and George Smith invent the CCD at Bell Laboratories (30 years later, this technology is widely used in digital cameras).
  • Fourteen black athletes are kicked off the University of Wyoming football team for wearing black armbands into their coach's office.
• October 21
  • Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor of West Germany.
  • General Siad Barre comes to power in Somalia in a coup, 6 days after the assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke.
• October 22 – Led Zeppelin release Led Zeppelin II to critical acclaim and commercial success.
• October 25 – Pink Floyd release their Ummagumma album.
• October 29 – The first message is sent over ARPANET, the forerunner of the internet.
• October 31
  • Wal-Mart incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
  • The disappearance of Patricia Spencer and Pamela Hobley occurs.

October - 1968

• October 2 – Tlatelolco massacre: A student demonstration ends in bloodbath at La Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, Mexico, 10 days before the inauguration of the 1968 Summer Olympics.
• October 3 – In Peru, Juan Velasco Alvarado takes power in a revolution.
• October 5 – Police baton civil rights demonstrators in Derry, Northern Ireland, marking the beginning of The Troubles.
• October 7 – José Feliciano At the height of protests against the Vietnam War, Jose Feliciano performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Tiger Stadium in Detroit during Game 5 pre-game ceremonies of the 1968 World Series between the Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. His personalized, slow, Latin jazz performance[6] proved highly controversial, opening the door for later interpretations of the national anthem.
• October 8 – Vietnam War – Operation Sealords: United States and South Vietnamese forces launch a new operation in the Mekong Delta.
• October 10 – Detroit Tiger Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games (4-3) after being down 3 games to 1, completing an unlikely comeback against the heavily favored Cardinals led by the overpowering left hand pitcher Bob Gibson.
• October 11
  • Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission (Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele, Walter Cunningham). Mission goals include the first live television broadcast from orbit and testing the lunar module docking maneuver.
  • In Panama, a military coup d'état, led by Col. Boris Martinez and Col. Omar Torrijos, overthrows the democratically elected (but highly controversial) government of President Arnulfo Arias. Within a year, Torrijos ousts Martinez and takes charge as de facto Head of Government in Panama.
• October 12–October 27 – The Games of the XIX Olympiad are held in Mexico City, Mexico.
• October 12 – Equatorial Guinea receives its independence from Spain.
• October 14 – Vietnam War: The United States Department of Defense announces that the United States Army and United States Marines will send about 24,000 troops back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours.
• October 15 – Led Zeppelin makes their first live performance, at Surrey University in England^[7]
• October 16
  • In Mexico City, African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise their arms in a black power salute after winning, respectively, the gold and bronze medals in the Olympic men's 200 metres.
  • Kingston, Jamaica is rocked by the Rodney Riots, provoked by the banning of Walter Rodney from the country.
• October 18 – US athlete Bob Beamon breaks the long jump world record by 55cm / 21 3/4ins at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. His record stands for 23 years, and is still the second longest jump in history.
• October 20 – Former U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis on the Greek island of Skorpios.
• October 22 – The Gun Control Act of 1968 is enacted.
• October 31 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in the Paris peace talks, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces to the nation that he has ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam" effective November 1.

October - 1967

• October 3 – An X-15 research aircraft with test pilot William J. Knight establishes an unofficial world fixed-wing speed record of Mach 6.7.
• October 4
  • Omar Ali Saifuddin III of Brunei abdicates in favour of his son, His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.
  • The Shag Harbour UFO incident occurs.
• October 6 – Southern California's Pacific Ocean Park closes down, known as the "Disneyland By The Sea".
• October 8 – Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia; they are executed the following day.
• October 12
  • Vietnam War: U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk states during a news conference that proposals by the U.S. Congress for peace initiatives are futile, because of North Vietnam's opposition.
  • Desmond Morris publishes The Naked Ape.^[10]
• October 14 – Quebec Nationalism: René Lévesque leaves the Liberal Party.
• October 16 – Thirty-nine people, including singer-activist Joan Baez, are arrested in Oakland, California, for blocking the entrance of that city's military induction center.
• October 17
  • The musical Hair opens off-Broadway. It moves to Broadway the following April.
  • Vietnam War: Battle of Ong Thanh
• October 18
  • Vietnam War: Students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison protest over recruitment by Dow Chemical on the University campus; 76 are injured in the resulting riot.
  • Walt Disney's 19th full-length animated feature The Jungle Book, the last animated film personally supervised by Disney, is released and becomes an enormous box-office and critical success. On a double bill with the film is the (now) much less well-known true-life adventure, Charlie the Lonesome Cougar.
  • The Venera 4 probe descends through the Venusian atmosphere.
• October 19 – The Mariner 5 probe flies by Venus.
• October 20 – Patterson–Gimlin film: Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin's famous film of an unidentified animate cryptid, thought to be Bigfoot or Sasquatch, is recorded at Bluff Creek, California.
• October 21
  • Tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters march in Washington, D.C.; Allen Ginsberg symbolically chants to 'levitate' The Pentagon.
  • An Egyptian surface-to-surface missile sinks the Israeli destroyer Eilat, killing 47 Israeli sailors. Israel retaliates by shelling Egyptian refineries along the Suez Canal.
• October 25 – An abortion bill passes in the British Parliament.
• October 26
  • Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran is officially crowned.
  • U.S. Navy pilot John McCain is shot down over North Vietnam and made a POW. His capture will be announced in the NY Times and Washington Post two days later.
• October 27
  • Charles de Gaulle vetoes British entry into the European Economic Community again.
  • London criminal Jack McVitie is murdered by the Kray twins, leading to their eventual imprisonment and downfall.
• October 29
  • Mobutu's troops launch an offensive against mercenaries in Bukavu, Congo.
  • The Montreal, Quebec Expo 67 closes, having received over 50 million attendees.
• October 30 – Hong Kong 1967 riots: British troops and Chinese demonstrators clash on the border of China and Hong Kong.