October 31

is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 61 days remaining.

Events

445 BC - Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 9:1, NLTse).
475 - Romulus Augustus was proclaimed Roman Emperor.
1517 - Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther posts his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
1587 - Leiden University Library opens its doors after its founding in 1575.
1822 - Emperor Agustín de Iturbide attempted to dissolve the Mexican Empire.
1861 - American Civil War: Citing failing health, Union General Winfield Scott resigns as Commander of the United States Army.
1863 - The Maori Wars resumed as British forces in New Zealand led by General Duncan Cameron began their Invasion of the Waikato.
1864 - Nevada is admitted as the 36th U.S. state.
1876 - A monster cyclone ravages India, resulting in over 200,000 human deaths.
1892 - Arthur Conan Doyle publishes The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
1912 - The Musketeers of Pig Alley, directed by D.W. Griffith, debuts as the first gangster film.
1912 - Dominican Republic becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1917 - World War I: Battle of Beersheba - "last successful cavalry charge in history"
1922 - Benito Mussolini becomes the youngest Premier in the history of Italy.
1923 - 160 consecutive days of 100 degrees at Marble Bar, Australia begins.
1926 - Magician Harry Houdini dies of gangrene and peritonitis that developed after his appendix ruptured.
1936 - The Boy Scouts of the Philippines was formed.
1938 - Great Depression: In an effort to try restore investor confidence, the New York Stock Exchange unveils a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public.
1940 - World War II: Battle of Britain ends - The United Kingdom prevents Germany from invading Great Britain.
1941 - After 14 years of work, drilling is completed on Mount Rushmore.
1941 - World War II: The destroyer USS Reuben James is torpedoed by a German U-boat near Iceland, killing more than 100 United States Navy sailors.
1941 - American photographer Ansel Adams takes a picture of a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico that would become one of the most famous images in the history of photography.
1950 - Pope Pius XII witnesses the "Miracle of the Sun" while at the Vatican"Joseph Pelletier "The Sun Danced at Fatima", Doubleday, New York (1983),pp150,151
1954 - Algerian War of Independence: The Algerian National Liberation Front begins a revolt against French rule.
1956 - Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.
1961 - In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin's body is removed from Lenin's Tomb.
1968 - Vietnam War October surprise:Citing progress with the Paris peace talks, US President Lyndon B. Johnson announces to the nation that he has ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam" effective November 1.
1984 - Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two Sikh security guards (riots soon broke out in New Delhi and nearly 2,000 innocent Sikhs were killed).
1986 - The 5th congress of the Communist Party of Sweden is inaugurated. During the course of the congress the party name is changed to the Solidarity Party and the party ceases to be a communist party.
1994 - An American Eagle ATR-72 crashes in Roselawn, Indiana, after circling in icy weather, killing all 68 on board.
1996 - A Brazilian TAM Fokker F100 crashes into several houses in São Paulo, Brazil killing 98 including 2 on the ground.
1996 - Jean Chrétien becomes UN special envoy to the African Great Lakes.
1997 - 19-year-old British au pair Louise Woodward, convicted by a Cambridge, Massachusetts, jury of second-degree murder the day before, is sentenced to life in prison.
1998 - Iraq disarmament crisis begins: Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.
1999 - EgyptAir Flight 990 traveling from New York City to Cairo crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 on-board.
1999 - Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran Church leaders sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, ending a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation.
2000 - A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 operating as Flight 006 collides with construction equipment upon takeoff in Taipei, Taiwan killing 79 passengers and 4 crew members
2000 - A chartered Antonov An-26 explodes after takeoff in Northern Angola killing 50
2000 - The last Multics machine was shut down.
2002 - A federal grand jury in Houston formally indicted former Enron Corp. chief financial officer Andrew Fastow on 78 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice related to the collapse of his ex-employer.
2003 - A bankruptcy court approves MCI's reorganization plans, essentially clearing the telecommunications company to exit bankruptcy.
2003 - Mahathir bin Mohamad resigns as Prime Minister of Malaysia after 22 years in power.
2004 - Passenger airline service ends at Mirabel International Airport in Montreal, Canada.
2005 - President George W. Bush nominates Appeals court judge Samuel Alito to join the Supreme Court of the United States.

Births

1291 - Philippe de Vitry, French composer (d. 1361)
1345 - King Fernando I of Portugal (d. 1383)
1391 - King Duarte of Portugal (d. 1438)
1424 - King Wladislaus III of Poland (d. 1444)
1538 - Caesar Baronius, Italian cardinal and historian (d. 1607)
1599 - Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, English statesman and writer (d. 1680)
1620 - John Evelyn, English diarist (d. 1706)
1622 - Pierre Paul Puget, French artist (d. 1694)
1632 - (baptism) Johannes Vermeer, Flemish painter (d. 1675)
1636 - Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1679)
1692 - Comte de Caylus, French archaelogist (d. 1765)
1705 - Pope Clement XIV (d. 1774)
1711 - Laura Bassi, Italian scholar (d. 1778)
1724 - Christopher Anstey, English writer (d. 1805)
1737 - James Lovell (delegate), American educator
1795 - John Keats, British poet (d. 1821)
1815 - Karl Weierstraß, German mathematician (d. 1897)
1831 - Paolo Mantegazza, Italian neurologist (d. 1910)
1835 - Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
1860 - Juliette Low, American founder of the Girl Scouts
1875 - Eugene Meyer, American businessman and newspaper publisher (d. 1954)
1875 - Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian freedom fighter and statesman (d. 1950)
1887 - Chiang Kai-shek, Nationalist Chinese leader (d. 1975)
1892 - Alexander Alekhine, Russian chess player (d. 1946)
1895 - Basil Liddell Hart, British military historian (d. 1970)
1896 - Ethel Waters, American singer and actress (d. 1977)
1912 - Dale Evans, American singer and actress (d. 2001)
1914 - Joe Carcione (a.k.a. "The Green Grocer"), American consumer advocate (d. 1988)
1917 - Thomas Hill, Canadian actor
1918 - Ian Stevenson, American parapsychologist
1920 - Dick Francis, Welsh novelist
1920 - Helmut Newton, German photographer (d. 2004)
1920 - Fritz Walter, German footballer
1922 - Barbara Bel Geddes, American actress (d. 2005)
1922 - Illinois Jacquet, American saxophonist (d. 2004)
1922 - King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia
1925 - John Anthony Pople, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
1926 - Jimmy Saville, English entertainer
1927 - Lee Grant, American actress
1928 - Cleo Moore, American actress (d. 1973)
1929 - Eddie Charlton, Australian snooker player (d. 2004)
1930 - Michael Collins, astronaut
1931 - Dan Rather, American television journalist
1936 - Michael Landon, American actor (d. 1991)
1937 - Tom Paxton, American singer
1939 - Ron Rifkin, American actor
1939 - Tom O'Connor, British comedian
1943 - Paul Frampton, English physicist
1944 - Kinky Friedman, American musician and novelist
1945 - Brian Doyle-Murray, American comedian and actor
1946 - Stephen Rea, Northern Irish actor
1946 - Norman Lovett, British actor
1947 - Deidre Hall, American actress
1947 - Frank Shorter, American runner
1950 - John Candy, Canadian comedian and actor (d. 1994)
1950 - Jane Pauley, American news anchor
1953 - Michael J. Anderson, American actor
1955 - Mark Roesler, American buisnessman and lawyer, founder and head of CMG Worldwide
1958 - Jeannie Longo, French cyclist
1959 - Neal Stephenson, American author
1960 - Luis Fortuño, Puerto Rico's delegate to Congress
1961 - Peter Jackson, New Zealand film director
1961 - Larry Mullen, Irish drummer (U2)
1961 - Alonzo Babers, American runner
1961 - Kate Campbell, American musician
1963 - Dunga, Brazilian footballer
1963 - Fred McGriff, baseball player
1963 - Rob Schneider, American actor
1963 - Johnny Marr, guitarist/songwriter (The Smiths)
1964 - Marco van Basten, Dutch football player
1964 - Marty Wright, American professional wrestler (The Boogeyman)
1965 - Annabella Lwin, British singer (Bow Wow Wow)
1966 - Adam Horovitz, American singer (Beastie Boys)
1968 - Antonio Davis, American basketball player
1968 - Vanilla Ice, American rapper
1970 - Linn Berggren, Swedish singer (Ace of Base)
1970 - Rogers Stevens, American guitarist (Blind Melon)
1971 - Alphonso Ford, American basketball player (d. 2004)
1971 - Ian Walker, English footballer
1972 - Shaun Bartlett, South African footballer
1974 - Muzzy Izzet, Turkish footballer
1977 - Séverine Ferrer, French singer
1980 - Eddie Kaye Thomas, American actor
1981 - Irina Denezhkina, Russian writer
1981 - Frank Iero, American guitarist (My Chemical Romance)
1986 - Christie Hayes, Australian actress

Deaths

1147 - Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, English politician
1214 - Leonora of England, wife of Alfonso VIII of Castile (b. 1162)
1448 - John VIII Palaeologus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1390)
1517 - Fra Bartolommeo, Italian artist (b. 1472)
1659 - John Bradshaw, English judge (b. 1602)
1723 - Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1642)
1732 - Victor Amadeus II of Savoy (b. 1666)
1733 - Eberhard IV Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1676)
1744 - Leonardo Leo, Italian composer (b. 1694)
1765 - Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, English military leader (b. 1721)
1768 - Francesco Maria Veracini, Italian composer (b. 1690)
1860 - Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, British admiral (b. 1775)
1879 - Jacob Abbott, American author (b. 1803)
1884 - Marie Bashkirtseff, Russian painter (b. 1858)
1916 - Charles Taze Russell, American founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses (b. 1852)
1918 - Egon Schiele, Austrian painter (b. 1890)
1926 - Harry Houdini, Hungarian-born magician (b. 1874)
1939 - Otto Rank, Austrian psychologist (b. 1884)
1943 - Max Reinhardt, German film director (b. 1873)
1959 - Jean Cabannes, French physicist (b. 1885)
1983 - George Halas, American football player, coach, and team owner (b. 1895)
1984 - Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (b. 1917)
1985 - Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor (b. 1913)
1986 - Robert S. Mulliken, American physicist and chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1896)
1987 - Joseph Campbell, American author and expert on mythology (b. 1904)
1988 - John Houseman, Romanian-born actor and director (b. 1902)
1991 - Joseph Papp, American theatrical producer (b. 1921)
1991 - Gene Anderson, Professional wrestler
1993 - Federico Fellini, Italian director (b. 1920)
1993 - River Phoenix, American actor (drug overdose) (b. 1970)
1995 - Rosalind Cash, American actress (b. 1938)
1999 - Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (b. 1975)
2000 - Watanabe Kazuki (founder and guitarrist of Raphael), Japanese musician (b. 1981)
2000 - Ring Lardner, Jr., American screenwriter (b. 1915)
2002 - Lionel Poilâne, French baker and entrepreneur (b. 1945)
2003 - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Indian singer (b. 1908)
2003 - Dharmsamrat Paramhans Swami Madhavananda, Indian guru (b. 1923)
2003 - Richard Neustadt, American political historian (b. 1919)
2005 - Mary Wimbush, English actress (b. 1924)
2005 - John "Beatz" Holohan, American drummer (Bayside) (b. 1974)

Holidays and observances

R.C. Saints - October 31 is the feast day of the following Roman Catholic Saints:
Also see October 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Protestant Church - Reformation Day: Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the Wittenberg church on this day in 1517
October 31st is Halloween; also see Samhain (an approximate date)
Cornwall - Allantide
Wikipedia holidays - Tim Starling Day
Paganism and Celts - Samhain
October 31st is Nevada Day

External links

BBC: On This Day

October 30 - November 1 - September 30 - November 30 -- listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: October 31

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links