Important Days in September and October: List and MCQs
Complete notes on the important days of September and October for exams: the date of each day, the body that declared it and the reason the date was chosen.
By GK24 Editorial Team· Published · 4 min read
Questions on important days are among the easiest marks in the general awareness paper, and September and October carry more of them than most months. The paper asks only two things: the date of a named day, or the person or event behind that date. Learning the reason along with the date is what keeps the answer in memory, because the reason is usually a birth anniversary, the founding day of an organisation or the date on which an agreement was signed.
The days of September
| Date | Day | Why this date |
|---|---|---|
| 5 September | Teachers' Day (India) | Birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, born 1888 |
| 8 September | International Literacy Day | Declared by UNESCO in 1966 |
| 14 September | Hindi Diwas | The Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi in the Devanagari script as an official language in 1949 |
| 15 September | Engineers' Day (India) | Birth anniversary of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, born 1861 |
| 16 September | World Ozone Day | The Montreal Protocol on ozone depleting substances was signed in 1987 |
| 21 September | International Day of Peace | Declared by the United Nations |
| 27 September | World Tourism Day | Observed by the World Tourism Organization since 1980 |
| 29 September | World Heart Day | Observed by the World Heart Federation |
Three of these deserve a line more. Dr Radhakrishnan, whose birthday is Teachers' Day, was a philosopher who became the first Vice President and the second President of India, and it was he who asked that his birthday be marked as a day for teachers. Hindi Diwas is not the day Hindi became the national language, a claim that is simply wrong; India has no national language, and 14 September marks the adoption of Hindi in the Devanagari script as an official language of the Union under Article 343. Sir M. Visvesvaraya, remembered on Engineers' Day, built the Krishna Raja Sagara dam and was given the Bharat Ratna in 1955.
The days of October
| Date | Day | Why this date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 October | International Day of Older Persons | Declared by the United Nations |
| 2 October | Gandhi Jayanti and the International Day of Non-Violence | Birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, born 1869 |
| 4 October | World Animal Day | For animal welfare, observed worldwide |
| 5 October | World Teachers' Day | Observed by UNESCO, separate from India's Teachers' Day |
| 8 October | Indian Air Force Day | The Indian Air Force was raised on this date in 1932 |
| 9 October | World Post Day | The Universal Postal Union was founded in 1874 |
| 10 October | World Mental Health Day | Observed with the World Health Organization |
| 11 October | International Day of the Girl Child | Declared by the United Nations |
| 15 October | World Students' Day | Birth anniversary of Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, born 1931 |
| 16 October | World Food Day | The Food and Agriculture Organization was founded in 1945 |
| 21 October | Police Commemoration Day (India) | Remembers the policemen killed at Hot Springs in Ladakh in 1959 |
| 24 October | United Nations Day | The Charter of the United Nations came into force in 1945 |
| 31 October | National Unity Day (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas) | Birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, born 1875 |
The pattern behind the dates
Read the two tables again and a pattern appears. One group of days is built on a birth anniversary: Radhakrishnan on 5 September, Visvesvaraya on 15 September, Gandhi on 2 October, Abdul Kalam on 15 October and Sardar Patel on 31 October. A second group is built on the founding of an institution: the Universal Postal Union on 9 October, the Food and Agriculture Organization on 16 October, the Indian Air Force on 8 October and the United Nations Charter on 24 October. A third group is built on an agreement or a decision, such as the Montreal Protocol of 1987 behind World Ozone Day and the Constituent Assembly's decision of 1949 behind Hindi Diwas.
Two pairs are worth separating carefully, because the options in a question are usually built out of them. India's Teachers' Day falls on 5 September while the World Teachers' Day of UNESCO falls on 5 October, and the two are often exchanged in the options. Similarly, 2 October is Gandhi Jayanti in India and the International Day of Non-Violence for the United Nations, which adopted the observance in 2007; a question may name either and expect the same date. Write these days in a single list, month by month, revise them once a week, and this part of the paper stops costing time.
Exam Point of View
Two question forms cover this whole topic. The first gives the name of a day and asks for its date; the second gives a date and asks which day falls on it. A third form, seen in the tougher papers, asks which person or event a day commemorates, so the reason behind each date must be learnt with the date itself. The options are built out of near pairs, and four of them repeat: India's Teachers' Day on 5 September against World Teachers' Day on 5 October; Engineers' Day on 15 September against World Students' Day on 15 October; World Ozone Day on 16 September against World Food Day on 16 October; and Hindi Diwas on 14 September, where the trap is the belief that Hindi was made the national language, whereas India has no national language and Hindi is an official language under Article 343.
Important Facts
| 5 September | Teachers' Day, birth anniversary of Dr S. Radhakrishnan |
|---|---|
| 8 September | International Literacy Day, declared by UNESCO in 1966 |
| 14 September | Hindi Diwas, adoption of Hindi as an official language in 1949 |
| 15 September | Engineers' Day, birth anniversary of Sir M. Visvesvaraya |
| 16 September | World Ozone Day, Montreal Protocol signed in 1987 |
| 21 September | International Day of Peace |
| 27 September | World Tourism Day |
| 2 October | Gandhi Jayanti and the International Day of Non-Violence |
| 5 October | World Teachers' Day, observed by UNESCO |
| 8 October | Indian Air Force Day, the force was raised in 1932 |
| 9 October | World Post Day, the Universal Postal Union was founded in 1874 |
| 15 October | World Students' Day, birth anniversary of Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 16 October | World Food Day, the FAO was founded in 1945 |
| 24 October | United Nations Day, the UN Charter came into force in 1945 |
| 31 October | National Unity Day, birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel |
Practice MCQs on this topic
Teachers' Day is celebrated in India on 5 September, the birth anniversary of which person?
- A.Dr Rajendra Prasad
- B.Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
- C.Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
- D.Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
Show answer
He was a philosopher and a teacher who became the first Vice President and the second President of India, and when his students wished to celebrate his birthday he asked that the day be kept for teachers instead.
Read the full explanation →Hindi Diwas is observed on 14 September every year to mark which event?
- A.The declaration of Hindi as the national language of India
- B.The adoption of Hindi in the Devanagari script as an official language in 1949
- C.The publication of the first Hindi newspaper
- D.The birth anniversary of Munshi Premchand
Show answer
On 14 September 1949 the Constituent Assembly decided that Hindi written in the Devanagari script would be an official language of the Union, a decision that later became Article 343 of the Constitution, and that date is kept every year as Hindi Diwas.
Read the full explanation →Engineers' Day is observed in India on 15 September in memory of which engineer?
- A.Sir M. Visvesvaraya
- B.Homi J. Bhabha
- C.Vikram Sarabhai
- D.Satish Dhawan
Show answer
He was the engineer behind the Krishna Raja Sagara dam and the flood protection works of Hyderabad, served as Diwan of Mysore and was given the Bharat Ratna in 1955.
Read the full explanation →World Ozone Day is observed on which date?
- A.5 September
- B.16 September
- C.16 October
- D.5 June
Show answer
The day, formally the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, marks the signing of the Montreal Protocol on 16 September 1987, the agreement under which countries agreed to stop using chlorofluorocarbons and other substances that thin the ozone layer.
Read the full explanation →International Literacy Day is celebrated every year on which date?
- A.8 September
- B.8 October
- C.21 September
- D.11 October
Show answer
International Literacy Day was declared by UNESCO in 1966 and has been observed every year since to remind governments of the work left in teaching people to read and write.
Read the full explanation →World Tourism Day is observed on which of the following dates?
- A.21 September
- B.25 September
- C.27 September
- D.29 September
Show answer
World Tourism Day has been observed on this date since 1980 by the World Tourism Organization, the United Nations body for tourism, and each year a member country hosts the main celebration with a chosen theme.
Read the full explanation →The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2 October, the birth anniversary of which leader?
- A.Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
- B.Mahatma Gandhi
- C.Lal Bahadur Shastri
- D.Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Show answer
India observes the day as Gandhi Jayanti, and the United Nations adopted the same date in 2007 as the International Day of Non-Violence in recognition of the method of non-violent struggle that Gandhi used.
Read the full explanation →Indian Air Force Day is celebrated on 8 October to mark which event?
- A.The raising of the Indian Air Force in 1932
- B.The first Indian fighter aircraft flight in 1947
- C.The founding of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
- D.The victory in the 1971 war
Show answer
The Indian Air Force was raised on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary force, and that date is kept every year as Air Force Day, usually with a parade and a fly past at an air force station.
Read the full explanation →World Food Day is observed on 16 October to mark the founding of which organisation?
- A.World Health Organization
- B.Food and Agriculture Organization
- C.World Trade Organization
- D.United Nations Development Programme
Show answer
World Food Day is kept on the anniversary of that founding, and it draws attention to hunger, nutrition and the security of the world's food supply.
Read the full explanation →United Nations Day is observed on 24 October every year because on that date in 1945
- A.the Charter of the United Nations came into force
- B.the Second World War ended
- C.the first General Assembly was held
- D.India became a member of the United Nations
Show answer
The Charter of the United Nations, signed at San Francisco in June 1945, came into force on 24 October 1945 after it had been ratified by the required number of states, and the United Nations counts that day as the day it came into being.
Read the full explanation →Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, or National Unity Day, is observed on 31 October as the birth anniversary of
- A.Indira Gandhi
- B.Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
- C.Dr B. R. Ambedkar
- D.Subhas Chandra Bose
Show answer
As the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister he brought the princely states into the Indian Union, which is why his birthday is kept as National Unity Day, with the Run for Unity held across the country.
Read the full explanation →World Students' Day is observed on 15 October, the birth anniversary of which Indian?
- A.Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
- B.Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
- C.Sir M. Visvesvaraya
- D.Dr C. V. Raman
Show answer
He led the missile programme, was a key figure in the nuclear tests of 1998, served as the eleventh President of India and was given the Bharat Ratna in 1997.
Read the full explanation →Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Teachers' Day celebrated on 5 September in India?
Teachers' Day is celebrated on 5 September because it is the birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, born in 1888, a philosopher and teacher who became the first Vice President and the second President of India. When students wished to mark his birthday, he asked that it be observed as a day for teachers instead.
What is celebrated on 14 September as Hindi Diwas?
Hindi Diwas marks 14 September 1949, the day the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi written in the Devanagari script as an official language of the Union. It is not the day Hindi became a national language; India has no national language, and Hindi is an official language under Article 343 of the Constitution.
Why is World Ozone Day observed on 16 September?
World Ozone Day, properly the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, is observed on 16 September because the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer was signed on that date in 1987. The day draws attention to the protection of the ozone layer from chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons.
Which days fall on 2 October?
2 October is Gandhi Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who was born in 1869 at Porbandar. The United Nations also observes the same date as the International Day of Non-Violence, an observance it adopted in 2007 in recognition of Gandhi's method of non-violent struggle.
What is observed on 31 October in India?
31 October is observed as National Unity Day, or Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, born in 1875, who brought the princely states into the Indian Union. The Statue of Unity in Gujarat was built in his memory.
Sources
- International Days and Weeks — United Nations
- National observances and commemorative days — Press Information Bureau, Government of India
