The following events occurred in October 1970:
October 1, 1970 (Thursday) An estimated five million mourners, more than one-eighth of the population of Egypt, flooded the streets of Cairo in order to witness the long funeral procession for President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had died suddenly on Monday from a heart attack. Born: Moses Kiptanui, Kenyan long distance runner, world champion in 3000m steeplechase 1991, 1993 and 1995; in Marakwet District Died: Petar Konjović, 87, Serbian Yugoslavian classical music composer
October 2, 1970 (Friday) The crash of a chartered airplane in the Rocky Mountains killed 32 of the 40 people on board, including 14 members of the Wichita State University football team and head coach Ben Wilson. The group had been traveling to play against Utah State University in a game scheduled for the following afternoon. Two Martin 4-0-4 airplanes, designated as N464M and N470M had been chartered from Golden Eagle Aviation from Wichita, Kansas to Logan, Utah, with an intermediate stop at Denver. While the N470M plane (with 23 other players) safely flew from Denver to Logan according to the flight plan filed with the FAA, the crew of N464M informed its passengers that they would be flown along a "scenic route" through the Rocky Mountains. Flying at an altitude of , N464M was unable to clear the high Mount Trelease near Silver Plume, Colorado. Two of the three crew and 30 of the 37 passengers were killed. The final investigation report by the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the cause of the crash was "The intentional operation of the aircraft over a mountain valley route at an altitude from which the aircraft could neither climb over the obstructing terrain ahead, nor execute a successful course reversal." Despite the loss of their starters, the remaining Wichita State players would vote, 17–16, to play the last six scheduled games of the season with assistant Bob Seaman as the new coach All 38 passengers and five crew aboard a United States Air Force Lockheed C-130 transport were killed when the plane crashed into the side of the high Chin Tien mountain a hillside shortly after departing Taipei en route to Ching Chuan Kang AFB in Taichung. Pink Floyd released Atom Heart Mother, which would become their first number one album. Born: Kelly Ripa, American talk show host of Live! with Regis and Kelly, later Live with Kelly and Ryan; in Berlin, New Jersey] Died: Lauro Gazzolo, 69, Italian comedian and character actor on film, known also for dubbing voices for American films released in Italy
October 3, 1970 (Saturday) In Lebanon, the government of Prime Minister Rashid Karami resigned following the August 17 election of Suleiman Franjieh as the nation's new president. Reportedly, the expected change in government had been delayed by the Jordanian civil war and then by the death of Egypt's President Nasser. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began operations as the successor to the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA), as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) went into effect The United States Weather Bureau was renamed as the National Weather Service, and made a division of NOAA. Pope Paul VI named Saint Catherine of Siena as the second female Doctor of the Church.
October 4, 1970 (Sunday)