October 3: "Shot Heard 'Round the World": One of the greatest moments in Major League Baseball history occurs when the New York Giants' Bobby Thomson hits a game winning home run in the bottom of the 9th inning off of Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca, to win the National League pennant after being down 14 games.

October 4: MGM's Technicolor musical film, An American in Paris, starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron, premieres in New York. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli. It would go on to win 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. - Shoppers World (one the first shopping malls in the U.S.) opens in Framingham, Massachusetts.

October 6: Malayan Emergency: Communist insurgents kill British commander Sir Henry Gurney.

October 14: Organization of Central American States (ODECA) (Organizacion de Estados Centroamericanos) formed.

October 15: Norethindrone, the progestin used in the oral contraceptive is synthesized by Luis E. Miramontes. - I Love Lucy makes its television debut on CBS.

October 16: Judy Garland begins her legendary concerts in New York's Palace Theatre. - Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan of Pakistan is assassinated. - East China Normal University is founded in Shanghai, China.

October 17: CBS' Eye logo premieres on TV.

October 20: The Johnny Bright Incident occurs in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

October 21: A storm in southern Italy kills over 100.

October 24: U.S. President Harry Truman declares an official end to war with Germany.

October 26: Winston Churchill is re-elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in a general election which sees the defeat of Clement Attlee's Labour government after six years in power.

October 27: Farouk of Egypt declares himself king of Sudan, with no support.

October 31: Scrooge, starring Alastair Sim, opens in England. (source: Wikipedia)