On this day in History - Oct. 31

• 445 BC - Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 9:1, NLTse).
• 0475 - Romulus Augustus was proclaimed Roman Emperor.
• 1147 - Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester dies. English politician
• 1214 - Leonora of England dies (b. 1162). Queen of Alfonso VIII of Castile
• 1291 - Philippe de Vitry was born (d. 1361). French composer.
• 1345 - King Fernando I of Portugal was born (d. 1383)
• 1391 - King Duarte of Portugal was born (d. 1438)
• 1424 - King Wladislaus III of Poland was born (d. 1444)
• 1448 - John VIII Palaeologus dies (b. 1390). Byzantine Emperor
• 1451 - Nascimento do descobridor da América, Cristóvão Colombo (1451-1506), em Génova, Itália.
• 1512 - Vaticano: se inauguran los frescos de la Capilla Sixtina, pintados por Miguel Ángel.
• 1517 - Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther posts his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church.
• 1517 - Fra Bartolommeo dies (b. 1472). Italian artist
• 1538 - Caesar Baronius was born (d. 1607). Italian cardinal and historian
• 1587 - Leiden University Library opens its doors after its founding in 1575.
• 1599 - Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles was born (d. 1680). English statesman and writer.
• 1620 - John Evelyn was born († 1706). English diarist.
• 1622 - Pierre Paul Puget was born (d. 1694). French artist.
• 1632 - Johannes Vermeer was born (d. 1675). Flemish painter
• 1636 - Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria was born (d. 1679)
• 1641 - Cornelis Jol dies (b. 1597). Dutch admiral and privateer.
• 1659 - John Bradshaw dies (b. 1602). English judge
• 1705 - Pope Clement XIV was born (1774)
• 1723 - Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany dies (b. 1642)
• 1732 - Victor Amadeus II of Savoy dies (b. 1666)
• 1733 - Eberhard IV Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg dies (b. 1676)
• 1744 - Leonardo Leo dies (b. 1694). Italian composer
• 1750 - Marquess of Alorna (D. Leonor de Almeida Lorena e Lencastre) was born. Portuguese writer.
• 1765 - Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland dies (b. 1721). English military leader.
• 1768 - Francesco Maria Veracini dies (b. 1690). Italian composer.
• 1784 - José Rafael de Gallegos y Alvarado was born. President of Costa Rica (1833-1835 and 1845-1846)
• 1784 - Jose Maria Perez de Urdininea was born. President of Bolivia (18 Apr 1828- 02 Aug 1828)
• 1795 - John Keats was born (d. 1821). British poet.
• 1815 - Karl Weierstraß was born (d. 1897). German mathematician.
• 1822 - Emperor Agustín de Iturbide attempted to dissolve the Mexican Empire.
• 1828 - Joseph Swan was born. English physicist and chemist, most famous for the development of the light bulb.
• 1835 - Adolf von Baeyer was born (d. 1917). German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1838 - King Luís I de Portugal was born (d. 1889).
• 1860 - Juliette Low was born. American founder of the Girl Scouts
• 1860 - Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald dies (b. 1775). British admiral
• 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.
• 1875 - Eugene Meyer was born (d. 1954). American businessman and newspaper publisher
• 1876 - A monster cyclone ravages India, resulting in over 200,000 human deaths.
• 1879 - Jacob Abbott dies (b. 1803). American author.
• 1884 - Marie Bashkirtseff dies (b. 1858). Russian painter.
• 1887 - Chiang Kai-shek was born (d. 1975). Nationalist Chinese leader.
• 1889 - Santa-Rita Pintor was born (d. 1918). Portuguese futurist painter.
• 1896 - Pedro de Freitas Branco was born. Portuguese conductor.
• 1892 - Alexander Alekhine was born (d. 1946). Russian chess player
• 1892 - Arthur Conan Doyle publishes The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
• 1895 - Basil Liddell Hart was born (d. 1970). British military historian
• 1896 - Ethel Waters was born (d. 1977). American singer and actress
• 1902 - Carlos Drummond de Andrade was born (d. 1987). Brazilian cronist and poet.
• 1902 - Abraham Wald was born (d. 13 Dec 1950). Hungarian mathematician
• 1912 - Dale Evans was born (d. 2001). American singer and actress
• 1912 - António Vilar was born in Lisbon (d. 16 Aug 1995). Portuguese actor.
• 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.
• 1913 - William Evans-Gordon dies (b. 1857). British politician.
• 1916 - Charles Taze Russell dies (b. 1852). American founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses
• 1917 - World War I: Battle of Beersheba - "last successful cavalry charge in history"
• 1918 - Independência da Hungria
• 1918 - Ian Stevenson was born. American parapsychologist
• 1918 - Egon Schiele dies (b. 1890). Austrian painter.
• 1920 - Dick Francis was born. Welsh novelist
• 1920 - Helmut Newton was born (d. 2004). German photographer.
• 1920 - Fritz Walter was born. German football player
• 1920 - Alphonse Desjardins dies (b. 1854). Founder of the Caisses populaires Desjardins.
• 1922 - Barbara Bel Geddes was born (d. 2005). American actress
• 1922 - Illinois Jacquet was born (d. 2004). American saxophonist.
• 1922 - King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia was born
• 1922 - Benito Mussolini becomes the youngest Premier in the history of Italy.
• 1923 - 160 consecutive days of 100 degrees at Marble Bar, Australia begins.
• 1925 - John Anthony Pople was born (d. 2004). English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1925 - Max Linder dies (b. 1883). French actor, director and screenwriter
• 1926 - Harry Houdini dies of gangrene and peritonitis that developed after his appendix ruptured (b. 1874). Hungarian-born American magician.
• 1927 - Lee Grant was born. American actress
• 1928 - Cleo Moore was born (d. 1973). Actress.
• 1929 - Eddie Charlton was born (d. 1994). Australian snooker player.
• 1929 - José Relvas dies (b. 5 Mar 1858). Portuguese politician.
• 1929 - António José de Almeida dies (b. 27 Jul 1866). Portuguese proeminent republican personality and President of Portugal
• 1930 - Michael Collins was born. Astronaut
• 1931 - Dan Rather was born. American television journalist
• 1936 - Michael Landon was born (d. 1991). American actor
• 1936 - The Boy Scouts of the Philippines was formed.
• 1937 - Tom Paxton was born. American singer
• 1937 - Claudete Soares was born. Brazilian singer
• 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.
• 1939 - Ron Rifkin was born. American actor
• 1939 - Otto Rank dies (b. 1884). Austrian psychologist.
• 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.
• 1943 - Max Reinhardt dies (b. 1873). German director.
• 1944 - Kinky Friedman was born. American musician and novelist
• 1945 - Brian Doyle-Murray was born. American comedian and actor
• 1945 - Peru é admitido como Estado-Membro da ONU
• 1946 - Stephen Rea was born. Irish actor
• 1947 - Deidre Hall was born. American actress
• 1947 - Frank Shorter was born. American runner
• 1950 - John Candy was born (d. 1994). Canadian comedian and actor
• 1950 - Jane Pauley was born. American news anchor
• 1952 - U Chit Hlaing dies (b. 1879). Burmese politician.
• 1953 - Michael J. Anderson was born. American actor
• 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.
• 1958 - Jeannie Longo was born. French cyclist
• 1958 - John Jairo Torres de la Pava was born. Colombian singer.
• 1959 - Neal Stephenson was born. American author .
• 1959 - Jean Cabannes dies (b. 1885). French physicist.
• 1961 - Peter Jackson was born. New Zealand film director
• 1961 - Larry Mullen was born. Irish drummer (U2)
• 1961 - Alonzo Babers was born. American runner
• 1961 - In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin's body is removed from Lenin's Tomb.
• 1963 - Indiana State Fair Coliseum (now Pepsi Coliseum) explosion in Indianapolis kills 74 people during an ice skating show. The mammoth explosion injured 400. A faulty propane tank connection in a concession stand was blamed.
• 1963 - Dunga was born. Brazilian footballer
• 1963 - Fred McGriff was born. baseball player
• 1963 - Rob Schneider was born. American actor
• 1964 - Marco van Basten was born. Dutch football player
• 1965 - Annabella Lwin was born. British singer (Bow Wow Wow)
• 1966 - Adam Horovitz was born. American singer (Beastie Boys)
• 1966 - Antonio de Arruda Carneiro Leão dies (b. 2 Jul 1887). Brazilian teacher, educator and essayist.
• 1968 - Vanilla Ice was born. American rapper
• 1968 - Antonio Davis was born. American basketball player
• 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.
• 1970 - Rogers Stevens was born. American guitarist (Blind Melon)
• 1971 - Alphonso Ford was born (d. 2004). American basketball player.
• 1972 - Bill Durnan dies (b. 1916). National Hockey League goaltender
• 1976 - José María Gutiérrez Hernández (Guti) was born. Spanish football player (Real Madrid)
• 1978 - España: las Cortes aprueban la Constitución.
• 1979 - Simão Sabrosa was born at Constantim, Vila Real. Portuguese football player (Benfica). See his personal page
• 1981 - In the Harry Potter novels Voldemort kills James & Lily Potter.
• 1981 - Frank Iero was born. American guitarist (My Chemical Romance)
• 1981 - Irina Denezhkina was born. Russian Generation Y writer
• 1983 - George Halas dies (b. 1895). American football player, coach, and team owner.
• 1983 - Raúl Alfonsin is elected President of Argentina
• 1984 - Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (b. 1917) is assassinated by two Sikh security guards (riots soon broke out in New Delhi and nearly 2,000 innocent Sikhs were killed).
• 1984 - Eduardo de Filippo dies (b. 1900). Italian actor and screenwriter .
• 1985 - Poul Reichhardt dies (b. 1913). Danish actor.
• 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.
• 1986 - Christie Hayes was born. Australian actress
• 1986 - Robert S. Mulliken dies (b. 1896). American physicist and chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• 1987 - Joseph Campbell dies (b. 1904). American author and expert on mythology.
• 1988 - John Houseman dies (b. 1902). Romanian-born actor and director.
• 1988 - Alfred Pellan dies (b. 1906). Québécois painter.
• 1989 - Turquia: Turgut Ozal assume a presidencia.
• 1991 - Joseph Papp dies (b. 1921). American theatrical producer.
• 1991 - Gene Anderson dies (b. 1933). American professional wrestler.
• 1993 - Federico Fellini dies (b. 1920). Italian director.
• 1993 - River Phoenix dies (drug overdose) (b. 1970). American actor.
• 1994 - An American Eagle ATR-72 crashes in Roselawn, Indiana, after circling in icy weather, killing 64 passengers.
• 1994 - Em Lusaca, assinatura de um acordo de Paz entre o Governo de Luanda e a UNITA.
• 1995 - Rosalind Cash dies (b. 1938). American actress.
• 1996 - A Brazilian TAM Fokker-100 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.
• 1996 - Marcel Carné dies(b. 1906). French film director.
• 1997 - Entrada em vigor das sanções da ONU à UNITA, por este movimento não cumprir as acções necessárias para implementar o acordo de Lusaca.
• 1997 - Um desabamento de lama, provocado por intensas chuvadas, causa a morte a 29 pessoas, na localidade de Ribeira Quente, em S. Miguel, Açores.
• 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.
• 1998 - Elmer Vasko dies (b. 1935). National Hockey League defenceman
• 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.
• 1999 - Greg Moore dies (b. 1975). Canadian race car driver
• 2000 - Ikram Antaki dies (9 Jul 1948). Sirian-born Mexican writer.
• 2000 - Ring Lardner, Jr. dies (b. 1915). American screenwriter
• 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.
• 2000 - Watanabe Kazuki dies (b. 1981). Japanese musician (Raphael)
• 2000 - Ring Lardner, Jr. dies (b. 1915). American screenwriter.
• 2001 - Régine Cavagnoud dies (b. 1970). French skier.
• 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.
• 2002 - Lionel Poilâne dies (b. 1945).French baker and entrepreneur
• 2002 - Raf Vallone dies (b. 17 Feb 1916). Italian actor.
• 2003 - Dharmsamrat Paramhans Swami Madhavananda dies (b. 1923). Indian guru.
• 2003 - Richard Neustadt dies (b. 1919). American political historian.
• 2003 - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer dies (b. 1908). Indian singer.
• 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 - Tabaré Vázquez is elected President of Uruguay
• 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.
• 2005 - Mary Wimbush dies (b. 1924). English actress.
• 2005 - John "Beatz" Holohan dies (b. 1974). American drummer (Bayside)
• 2006 - NASA is expected to announce whether or not there will be a space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. If the decision is made to fly the mission, designated STS-125, the crew will also be announced.
• R.C. Saints - October 31 is the feast day of the following Roman Catholic Saints:
• St. Antoninus St. Arnulf St. Bega St. Notburga St. Quentin St Urban St. Wolfgang
• 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 31th is Halloween / Dia das Bruxas
• Dia Mundial da Poupança
• Cornwall - Allantide
• Wikipedia - Wikipedia:Tim Starling Day