October 1962

Tuesday 02:

Johnny Carson debuts as host of The Tonight Show.

Wednesday 03:

At Cape Canaveral the Mercury 8 blasts off with Astronaut Wally Schirra aboard for a nine-hour flight.

Friday 05:

The Beatles release their first hit, "Love Me Do," in Britain.

Sunday 07:

U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya, U.S.S.R.

Monday 08:

Spiegel scandal: Der Spiegel publishes the article "Bedingt abwehrbereit" ("Conditionally prepared for defense") about a NATO manoeuver called "Fallex 62", which uncovered the sorry state of the Bundeswehr (Germany's army) facing the communist threat from the east at the time. The magazine was soon accused of treason.

Tuesday 09:

Uganda becomes a republic.

Thursday 11:

Second Vatican Council: Pope John XXIII convenes the first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in 92 years.

Friday 12:

Infamous Columbus Day Storm strikes the U.S. Pacific Northwest with record wind velocities; 46 dead and at least U.S. $230 million in damages

Saturday 13:

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opens on Broadway.

Sunday 14:

Cuban Missile Crisis begins: A U-2 flight over Cuba takes photos of Soviet nuclear weapons being installed.

Monday 15:

Cuban Missile Crisis: A stand-off ensues between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba.

Monday 22:

Cuban Missile Crisis: US President John F. Kennedy announces that American spy planes have discovered Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, and that he has ordered a naval "quarantine" of the island nation.

Thursday 25:

Cuban missile crisis: Adlai Stevenson shows photos at the UN proving Soviet missiles are installed in Cuba

Saturday 27:

The Cuban Missile Crisis ends peacefully.

Sunday 28:

Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.