* October 18-Charles Babbage ( born 1791 ), English mathematician and inventor of computing machines.

* October 18 – Charles Gounod, French composer ( b. 1818 )

Charles-François Gounod (; 17 June 181817 October or 18 October 1893 ) was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria ( based on a work by Bach ) as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.

Alessandro Scarlatti ( 2 May 1660 – 24 October 1725 ) was an Italian Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas.

Amr Abdul-Basset Abdul-Azeez Diab (; born 11 October 1961 ) is an Egyptian singer and composer of geel music ; he is the contemporary face of Egyptian el-geel pop music, according to World Music.

1710 – 14 October 1740 ) was an Italian singer, harpsichordist, and composer whose works bridge the Baroque and Classical periods.

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901 ) was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera.

* October 15 – Cole Porter, American composer ( You're The Top ) ( b. 1891 )

* October 29 – Rudolf Tobias, Estonian composer ( b. 1873 )

* October 26 – Harold Rome, American composer ( b. 1908 )

* October 19 – Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer ( d. 1981 )

* October 3 – Carl Nielsen, Danish composer ( b. 1865 )

* October 24 – Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer ( b. 1870 )

* October 27 – Conlon Nancarrow, American composer ( d. 1997 )

* October 8 – Wilhelm Kuhe, composer

* October 24 – Mykola Lysenko, Ukrainian composer ( b. 1842 )

* October 1 – Paul Dukas, French composer ( d. 1935 )

* October 23 – Award-winning composer and Hollywood songwriter Ralph Rainger (" Thanks for the Memory ") is among 12 people killed in the mid-air collision between an American Airlines DC-3 airliner and a U. S. Army bomber near Palm Springs, California.

* October 23 – Ralph Rainger, American composer and Hollywood songwriter ( b. 1901 )

* October 13 – Paul Simon, American singer and composer

* October 22 – Louis Spohr, German violinist and composer ( b. 1784 )

* October 1 – Ödön Pártos, Hungarian-Israeli violist and composer ( d. 1977 )

* October 15 – Zdeněk Fibich, Czech composer ( b. 1850 )

* October 21 – Lera Auerbach, Russian composer & pianist

* October 29 – Tsunku, Japanese singer, music producer, and song composer

* October 5 – Pierre de Manchicourt, Flemish composer

* October 28 – Howard Hanson, American composer ( d. 1981 )

* October 15 – Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, English composer and pianist ( b. 1892 )

# Maria Johanna Ludovica Anna Amalia Nepomucena Aloysia Ignatia Xaveria Josepha Franziska de Chantal Eva Apollonia Magdalena Crescentia Vincentia ( b. Dresden, 5 April 1798-d. Dresden, 30 October 1799 ).

# Maria Theresia ( b. and d. Dresden, 15 October 1799 ).

# Frederick ( b. Torgau, 26 October 1474 – d. Rochlitz, 14 December 1510 ), Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.

* Sir William Reid ( b. April 25, 1791, Kinglassie-d. October 31, 1858, London, England ), governor of Bermuda ( 1839 – 46 ), Barbados ( 1846 – 48 ), and Malta ( 1851 – 58 ); knighted 1851

Konrad Emil Bloch ForMemRS ( b. January 21, 1912 – October 15, 2000 ) was a German American biochemist.

His youngest child, Rachel ( b. 1975 ) is a BBC TV director, whose work includes Masterchef: The Professionals, shown on BBC2 throughout October and November 2010.

** 20 December 1947 – 29 October 1955 Johannes Hoffmann ( b. 1890 – d. 1967 ), CVP

** 29 October 1955 – 10 January 1956 Heinrich Welsch ( b. 1888 – d. 1976 ), Non-party

The immediate followers of Pretorius now became extremely incensed at the action of the Lydenburg party, and a mass meeting was held at Potchefstroom ( October 1860 ), where it was resolved that: ( a ) the volksraad no longer enjoyed its confidence ; ( b ) that Pretorius should remain president of the South African Republic, and have a year's leave of absence to bring about union with the Free State ; ( c ) that Schoeman should act as president during the absence of Pretorius ; ( d ) that before the return of Pretorius to resume his duties a new volksraad should be elected.

* October 10 – Eddie Cantor, American actor, comedian and dancer ( b. 1892 )

* October 20 – Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States ( b. 1874 )

* October 22 – Whip Wilson, American actor ( b. 1911 )

* October 15 – Zhang Xueliang, Chinese military figure ( b. 1901 )

* October 22 – Bertie Mee, English football player and coach ( b. 1918 )

* October 7 – Helen Vinson, American actress ( b. 1907 )

* October 8 – John McLendon, American basketball coach ( b. 1915 )

* October 11 – Rafi ' Daham Al-Tikriti, Director of the Iraqi Intelligence Service ( b. 1937 )

* October 12 – Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player ( b. 1936 )

* October 14 – Julius Nyerere, President of Tanzania ( b. 1922 )

* October 20 – Jack Lynch, Taoiseach of Ireland ( b. 1917 )

* October 24 – John Chafee, American politician ( b. 1922 )

* October 25 – Payne Stewart, American golfer ( b. 1957 )

* October 31 – Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver ( b. 1975 )

* October 1 – Alan III, Duke of Brittany ( poisoned ) ( b. 997 )