October 16, 1978The College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church chooses 58-year-old Cardinal Wojtyla, Archbishop of Cracow, to become Pope. He takes the name John Paul II. The first non-Italian since Adrian VI of Utrecht died in 1523.

October 16, 1984Desmond Tutu, black Anglican Archbishop in South Africa, wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his decades of non-violent struggle for racial equality.

October 17, 1933Due to rising anti-Semiti