31 October

Events

Pre-1600

* 475 – Romulus Augustulus is proclaimed Western Roman Emperor.
* 683 – During the Siege of Mecca, the Kaaba catches fire and is burned down.
* 802 – Empress Irene is deposed and banished to Lesbos. Conspirators place Nikephoros, the minister of finance, on the Byzantine throne.
* 932 – Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir is killed while fighting against the forces of general Mu'nis al-Muzaffar. Al-Muqtadir's brother al-Qahir is chosen to succeed him.
* 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.

1601–1900

*1822 – Emperor Agustín de Iturbide attempts to dissolve the Congress of the Mexican Empire.
*1863 – The New Zealand Wars resume as British forces in New Zealand led by General Duncan Cameron begin their Invasion of the Waikato.
*1864 – Nevada is admitted as the 36th U.S. state.
*1895 – The strongest earthquake in the Midwestern United States since 1812 strikes near Charleston, Missouri, causing damage and killing at least two.

1901–present

*1903 – The Purdue Wreck, a railroad train collision in Indianapolis, kills 17 people, including 14 players of the Purdue University football team.
*1907 – The Parliament of Finland approved the Prohibition Act, but the law was not implemented because it was not ratified by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
*1913 – Dedication of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile highway across United States.
* 1913 – The Indianapolis Streetcar Strike and subsequent riot begins.
*1917 – World War I: Battle of Beersheba: The "last successful cavalry charge in history".
*1918 – World War I: The Aster Revolution terminates the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, and Hungary achieves full sovereignty.
*1922 – Benito Mussolini is made Prime Minister of Italy
*1923 – The first of 160 consecutive days of 100° Fahrenheit at Marble Bar, Western Australia.
*1924 – World Savings Day is announced in Milan, Italy by the Members of the Association at the 1st International Savings Bank Congress (World Society of Savings Banks).
*1938 – Great Depression: In an effort to 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: The Battle of Britain ends: The United Kingdom prevents a possible German invasion.
*1941 – After 14 years of work, Mount Rushmore is completed.
* 1941 – World War II: The destroyer is torpedoed by a German U-boat near Iceland, killing more than 100 U.S. Navy sailors. It is the first U.S. Navy vessel sunk by enemy action in WWII.
*1943 – World War II: An F4U Corsair accomplishes the first successful radar-guided interception by a United States Navy or Marine Corps aircraft.
*1956 – Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.
* 1956 – Hungarian Revolution of 1956: A Revolutionary Headquarters is established in Hungary. Following Imre Nagy's announcement of October 30, banned non-Communist political parties are reformed, and the MDP is replaced by the MSZMP. József Mindszenty is released from prison. The Soviet Politburo makes the decision to crush the Revolution.
*1961 – In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin's body is removed from the Lenin's Mausoleum, also known as the Lenin Tomb.
*1963 – Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion: A gas explosion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis kills 81 people and injures another 400 during an ice show.
*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.
*1973 – Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape. Three Provisional Irish Republican Army members escape from Mountjoy Prison, Dublin aboard a hijacked helicopter that landed in the exercise yard.
*1979 – Western Airlines Flight 2605 crashes on landing in Mexico City, killing 73 people.
*1984 – Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two Sikh security guards. Riots break out in New Delhi and other cities and around 3,000 Sikhs are killed.
*1994 – American Eagle Flight 4184 crashes near Roselawn, Indiana killing all 68 people on board.
*1996 – TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Flight 402 crashes in São Paulo, Brazil, killing 99 people.
*1998 – Iraq disarmament crisis begins: Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.
*1999 – Yachtsman Jesse Martin returns to Melbourne after 11 months of circumnavigating the world, solo, non-stop and unassisted.
* 1999 – EgyptAir Flight 990 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantucket, killing all 217 people on board.
*2000 – Soyuz TM-31 launches, carrying the first resident crew to the International Space Station. The ISS has been crewed continuously since then.
* 2000 – Singapore Airlines Flight 006 crashes on takeoff from Taipei, killing 83.
*2002 – A federal grand jury in Houston, Texas indicts former Enron 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 – Mahathir bin Mohamad resigns as Prime Minister of Malaysia and is replaced by Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, marking an end to Mahathir's 22 years in power.
*2011 – The global population of humans reaches seven billion. This day is now recognized by the United Nations as the Day of Seven Billion.
*2014 – During a test flight, the VSS ''Enterprise'', a Virgin Galactic experimental spaceflight test vehicle, suffers a catastrophic in-flight breakup and crashes in the Mojave Desert, California,
*2015 – Metrojet Flight 9268 is bombed over the northern Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board.
*2017 – A truck drives into a crowd in Lower Manhattan, New York City, killing eight people.
*2020 – Berlin Brandenburg Airport opens its doors after nearly 10 years of delays due to construction issues and project corruption.

Births

Pre-1600

* 1345 – Ferdinand I, king of Portugal (d. 1383)
*1391 – Edward, King of Portugal (d. 1438)
* 1424 – Władysław III, king of Poland (d. 1444)
*1445 – Hedwig, Abbess of Quedlinburg, Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg (d. 1511)
* 1472 – Wang Yangming, Chinese Neo-Confucian scholar (d. 1529)
*1542 – Henriette of Cleves, Duchess of Nevers, Countess of Rethel (d. 1601)
*1599 – Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, English politician (d. 1680)

1601–1900

*1620 – John Evelyn, English gardener and author (d. 1706)
* 1632 – Johannes Vermeer, Dutch painter (d. 1675)
*1636 – Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1679)
*1638 – Meindert Hobbema, Dutch painter (d. 1709)
*1686 – Senesino, Italian singer and actor (d. 1758)
* 1692 – Anne Claude de Caylus, French archaeologist and author (d. 1765)
* 1694 – Yeongjo of Joseon (d. 1776)
* 1705 – Pope Clement XIV (d. 1774)
*1711 – Laura Bassi, Italian physician, physicist, and academic (d. 1778)
*1714 – Hedvig Taube, Swedish courtier (d. 1744)
* 1724 – Christopher Anstey, English author and poet (d. 1805)
*1729 – Alonso Núñez de Haro y Peralta, Spanish cleric, Archbishop of Mexico, Viceroy of New Spain (d. 1800)
* 1737 – James Lovell, American educator and politician (d. 1789)
*1760 – Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese artist and printmaker (d. 1849)
*1795 – John Keats, English poet (d. 1821)
*1815 – Thomas Chapman, English-Australian politician, 5th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1884)
* 1815 – Karl Weierstrass, German mathematician and academic (d. 1897)
*1825 – Charles Lavigerie, French-Algerian cardinal and academic (d. 1892)
*1831 – Paolo Mantegazza, Italian neurologist, physiologist, and anthropologist (d. 1910)
*1835 – Adelbert Ames, American general and politician, 27th Governor of Mississippi (d. 1933)
* 1835 – Krišjānis Barons, Latvian linguist and author (d. 1923)
* 1835 – Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
*1838 – Luís I of Portugal (d. 1889)
* 1847 – Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist and engineer (d. 1897)
*1848 – Boston Custer, American soldier (d. 1876)
* 1849 – Marie Louise Andrews, American story writer and journalist (d. 1891)
*1851 – Louise of Sweden (d. 1926)
*1856 – Charles Leroux, American balloonist and skydiver (d. 1889)
*1858 – Saint Geevarghese Mar Dionysius of Vattasseril, Indian Orthodox Saint (d. 1934)
*1860 – Juliette Gordon Low, American scout leader, founded the Girl Scouts of the United States of America (d. 1927)
* 1860 – Andrew Volstead, American politician (d. 1947)
*1868 – John Weir Troy, American journalist, and politician, 5th Governor of the Territory of Alaska (d. 1942)
*1875 – Eugene Meyer, American businessman and publisher (d. 1954)
* 1875 – Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian lawyer, freedom fighter and politician, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of India (d. 1950)
*1876 – Natalie Clifford Barney, American poet and playwright (d. 1972)
*1879 – Karel Hašler, Czech actor, director, and composer (d. 1941)
*1880 – Julia Peterkin, American author (d. 1961)
* 1880 – Mikhail Tomsky, Soviet politician, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (d. 1936)
*1881 – Toshizō Nishio, Japanese general (d. 1960)
*1883 – Marie Laurencin, French painter and illustrator (d. 1956)
* 1883 – Anthony Wilding, New Zealand tennis player, cricketer, and soldier (d. 1915)
*1887 – Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese general and politician, 1st President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) (d. 1975)
* 1887 – Newsy Lalonde, Canadian ice hockey player and lacrosse player (d. 1970)
*1888 – Napoleon Lapathiotis, Greek poet and author (d. 1944)
*1892 – Alexander Alekhine, Russian chess player and author (d. 1946)
*1895 – B. H. Liddell Hart, English soldier, historian, and theorist (d. 1970)
*1896 – Ethel Waters, American singer and actress (d. 1977)
*1897 – Constance Savery, English author (d. 1999)
*1900 – Asbjørg Borgfelt, Norwegian sculptor (d. 1976)

1901–present

*1902 – Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet (d. 1987)
* 1902 – Julia Lee, American blues singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1958)
* 1902 – Abraham Wald, Jewish-Hungarian mathematician and economist (d. 1950)
*1907 – Edgar Sampson, American musician and composer (d. 1973)
* 1908 – Muriel Duckworth, Canadian activist (d. 2009)
*1912 – Dale Evans, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2001)
* 1912 – Ollie Johnston, American animator and voice actor (d. 2008)
*1914 – John Hugenholtz, Dutch engineer and designer (d. 1995)
*1915 – Jane Jarvis, American pianist and composer (d. 2010)
*1916 – Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Wisborg (d. 2012)
*1917 – William H. McNeill, Canadian-American historian and author (d. 2016)
* 1917 – Gordon Steege, Australian soldier and pilot (d. 2013)
*1918 – Ian Stevenson, American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2007)
*1919 – Daphne Oxenford, English actress (d. 2012)
* 1919 – Magnus Wenninger, American mathematician and author (d. 2017)
*1920 – Dick Francis, Welsh-Caymanian jockey and author (d. 2010)
* 1920 – Joseph Gelineau, French priest and composer (d. 2008)
* 1920 – Helmut Newton, German-Australian photographer (d. 2004)
* 1920 – Fritz Walter, German footballer (d. 2002)
*1922 – Barbara Bel Geddes, American actress (d. 2005)
* 1922 – Illinois Jacquet, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2004)
* 1922 – Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Cambodia (d. 2012)
*1925 – Lawrence A. Cremin, American historian and author (d. 1990)
* 1925 – John Pople, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
* 1925 – Robert B. Rheault, American colonel (d. 2013)
*1926 – Jimmy Savile, English radio and television host (d. 2011)
*1928 – Andrew Sarris, American critic and educator (d. 2012)
*1929 – William Orchard, Australian water polo player and psychiatrist (d. 2014)
* 1929 – Bud Spencer, Italian swimmer, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
*1930 – Michael Collins, American general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2021)
* 1930 – Booker Ervin, American saxophonist (d. 1970)
*1931 – Dan Rather, American journalist
*1933 – Phil Goyette, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
* 1933 – Iemasa Kayumi, Japanese voice actor (d. 2014)
*1935 – Dale Brown, American basketball player and coach
* 1935 – Ronald Graham, American mathematician and theorist (d. 2020)
* 1935 – David Harvey, English-American geographer and academic
*1936 – Michael Landon, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1991)
*1937 – Tom Paxton, American folk music singer-songwriter and guitarist
*1939 – Tom O'Connor, English actor and game show host (d. 2021)
* 1939 – Ron Rifkin, American actor
* 1939 – Ali Farka Touré, Malian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
*1940 – Craig Rodwell, American businessman and activist, founded the Oscar Wilde Bookshop (d. 1993)
* 1940 – Judith Wilcox, Baroness Wilcox, English businesswoman and politician
*1941 – Dan Alderson, American scientist and academic (d. 1989)
* 1941 – Derek Bell, English race car driver
* 1941 – Sally Kirkland, American actress
* 1941 – Werner Krieglstein, Czech-American philosopher and academic
*1942 – David Ogden Stiers, American actor (d. 2018)
*1943 – Elliott Forbes-Robinson, American race car driver
* 1943 – Paul Frampton, English-American physicist and academic
* 1943 – Aristotelis Pavlidis

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