Dashed left edge = started before October 2014 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond October 2014
Events in October 2014 9
1916 – 2014Gough Whitlam (1916-2014)Died 21 October 2014, aged 98Gough Whitlam, the reformist Australian prime minister whose government was controversially dismissed by the governor-general in 1975, died in Sydney. His government introduced universal healthcare and free university education in Australia. His dismissal remains a defining moment in Australian constitutional history.
1943 – 2014Jack Bruce (1943-2014)Died 25 October 2014, aged 71Jack Bruce, the Scottish bassist and singer for the rock band Cream, died in Suffolk, England. His playing helped define the power trio format alongside Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. Cream was one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s.
1969 – 2014The Allman Brothers BandAmerican southern rock bandGeorgia band founded by Duane and Gregg Allman, the originators of southern rock and one of the great live bands.
2014Lisa Su becomes CEO — the turnaround beginsLisa Su becomes AMD's CEO on 8 October 2014, replacing Rory Read. Su, an MIT-trained electrical engineer with a background in semiconductor R&D at IBM, Freescale and AMD itself, is one of the most technically credible CEOs in the industry. She immediately focuses AMD on its core competency: high-performance computing chips. She kills marginal businesses, increases R&D investment in CPUs and GPUs, and commissions a completely new processor architecture — the project that becomes Zen. Su's appointment is the inflection point in AMD's history.
2014Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi win Nobel Peace PrizePakistani and Indian activists honored for children's rights workThe Nobel Peace Prize was jointly awarded to Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai and Indian children's rights campaigner Kailash Satyarthi. At 17, Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel laureate in history. The award recognized their work against the suppression of children and for children's right to education.
2014Breaks NFL All-Time Career Passing Touchdown RecordSurpasses Brett Favre with 509th career touchdown passManning threw his 509th career touchdown pass in a game against the San Francisco 49ers, surpassing Brett Favre to become the NFL's all-time leader in career passing touchdowns. The record capped years of statistical dominance and highlighted Manning's remarkable longevity and consistency at the position. He would extend the record further before retiring, finishing his career with 539 touchdown passes.
2014Ottawa Parliament Hill shootingGunman kills soldier before being shot inside Canada's parliamentA lone gunman fatally shot a soldier standing guard at Canada's National War Memorial before storming into the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, where he was killed by security personnel. The attack, linked to a radicalized individual, prompted a review of security at Canadian government buildings. It came amid heightened concern about lone-wolf terrorism in the West.
2014The Allman Brothers Band play their last concertBeacon Theatre, New YorkThe final show of a record 238 Beacon Theatre concerts.
2014Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo crashTest flight accident kills co-pilot over the Mojave DesertVirgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo experimental spacecraft broke apart during a test flight over California's Mojave Desert, killing co-pilot Michael Alsbury and seriously injuring pilot Peter Siebold. An investigation found the co-pilot had prematurely unlocked a braking system. The accident delayed Virgin Galactic's commercial space tourism plans by years.