October 31st in History

October 31 is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 61 days remaining until the end of the year.

Holidays

Christian Feast Day:

• Abaidas (Coptic Church)
• Quentin
• Martin Luther (Anglican Communion)
• Paul Shinji Sasaki and Philip Lindel Tsen (Episcopal Church (USA))
• October 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Earliest day on which All Saints Day can fall, while November 6 is the latest; celebrated on Saturday between October 31 and November 6 (Finland)
• Eve of Winter, the eve of the first day of winter in the Northern hemisphere (see November 1):
• Allantide (Cornwall)
• Halloween (Ireland, Canada, United Kingdom, United States and other places)
• Samhain in the Northern Hemisphere, Beltane in the Southern Hemisphere; begins on sunset of October 31 (Gaels, Welsh people and Neopagan Wheel of the Year)
• King Father’s Birthday (Cambodia)
• Reformation Day (Slovenia, Germany and Lutheran Church)

In 475,  Romulus Augustulus is proclaimed Western Roman Emperor.

In 683,  During the Siege of Mecca, the Kaaba catches fire and is burned down.

In 1291,  Philippe de Vitry, French composer and poet was born (d. 1361) was an accomplished, innovative, and influential composer, and may also have been the author of the Ars Nova treatise. He was widely acknowledged as the greatest musician of his day, with Petrarch writing a glowing tribute, calling him: “…the keenest and most ardent seeker of truth, so great a philosopher of our age.

In 1517,  Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther posts his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

The Ninety-five Theses are a list of propositions written by Martin Luther that started the Protestant Reformation, a schism in the Catholic Church. Luther, a professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, Germany, enclosed them in a letter to the Archbishop of Mainz on 31 October 1517, a date now commemorated annually as Reformation Day. They advance Luther’s positions against the selling of plenary indulgences, certificates that were said to reduce the punishment for sins in purgatory. Luther claimed that his positions accorded with those of the pope, but the Theses contradict a 14th-century papal bull. Luther’s ecclesiastical superiors had him tried for heresy, which culminated in his excommunication in 1521. Though the Theses mark the start of the Reformation, Luther did not consider indulgences to be as important as other theological matters which would divide the church, such as justification by faith and the bondage of the will. His breakthrough on these issues would come later, and he did not see the writing of the Theses as the point at which his beliefs diverged from those of Rome.

In 1587,  Leiden University Library opens its doors after its founding in 1575.

In 1795, The birth of  John Keats, English poet (d. 1821) was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, despite his work only having been in publication for four years before his death. Although his poems were not generally well received by critics during his life, his reputation grew after his death, so that by the end of the 19th century he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets. He had a significant influence on a diverse range of poets and writers. Jorge Luis Borges stated that his first encounter with Keats was the most significant literary experience of his life.

The poetry of Keats is characterized by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. Today his poems and letters are some of the most popular and most analysed in English literature.

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk: ’Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,  But being too happy in thine happiness,— That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees, In some melodious plot  Of beechen green, and shadows numberless, Singest of summer in full-throated ease.

First stanza of “Ode to a Nightingale“, May 1819

In 1822,  Emperor Agustín de Iturbide attempts to dissolve the Mexican Empire.

In 1861,  American Civil War: Citing failing health, Union General Winfield Scott resigns as Commander of the United States Army.

In 1863, The Maori Wars resumes as British forces in New Zealand led by General Duncan Cameron begin their Invasion of the Waikato.

In 1864,  Nevada is admitted as the 36th U.S. state.

In 1876,  A monster cyclone ravages India, resulting in over 200,000 deaths.

In 1913,  Dedication of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile highway across United States.

In 1913,  The Indianapolis Street Car Strike and subsequent riot begins.

In 1916, Charles Taze Russell, American minister (b. 1852) dies at age 64 near Pampa, Texas, while returning to Brooklyn by train. Pastor Russell, was an American prominent early 20th century Christian restorationist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, and founder of what is now known as the Bible Student movement, from which Jehovah’s Witnesses and numerous independent Bible Student groups emerged after his death.

Beginning in July 1879 he began publishing a monthly religious journal, Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence. The journal is now published by Jehovah’s Witnesses on a semi-monthly basis under the name, The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom. In 1881 he co-founded Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society with William Henry Conley as president and in 1884 the corporation was officially registered, with Russell as president. Russell wrote many articles, books, tracts, pamphlets and sermons, totaling approximately 50,000 printed pages. From 1886 to 1904, he published a six-volume Bible study series originally entitled Millennial Dawn, later renamed Studies in the Scriptures, nearly 20 million copies of which were printed and distributed around the world in several languages during his lifetime. (A seventh volume was commissioned by his successor as society president, Joseph Rutherford, and published in 1917.) The Watch Tower Society ceased publication of Russell’s writings in 1927, though his books are still published by several independent groups.

Russell was a charismatic figure, but claimed no special revelation or vision for his teachings and no special authority on his own behalf. He stated that he did not seek to found a new denomination, but instead intended merely to gather together those who were seeking the truth of God’s Word “during this harvest time”. He wrote that the “clear unfolding of truth” within his teachings was due to “the simple fact that God’s due time has come; and if I did not speak, and no other agent could be found, the very stones would cry out.” He viewed himself—and all other Christians anointed with the Holy Spirit—as “God’s mouthpiece” and an ambassador of Christ. Later in his career he accepted without protest that many Bible Students viewed him as the “faithful and wise servant” of Matthew 24:45,^[10] and was described by the Watch Tower after his death as having been made “ruler of all the Lord’s goods”.

In 1917,  World War I: Battle of Beersheba – “last successful cavalry charge in history”.

In 1923,  The first of 160 consecutive days of 100 degrees Fahrenheit at Marble Bar, Australia.

In 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).

In 1926,  Magician Harry Houdini dies of gangrene and peritonitis that developed after his appendix ruptured. He was a Hungarian-American illusionist and stunt performer, noted for his sensational escape acts. He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the US and then as “Harry Handcuff Houdini” on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can.

In 1904, thousands watched as he tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by London’s Daily Mirror, keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state of near-breakdown. While many suspected that these escapes were faked, Houdini presented himself as the scourge of fake spiritualists. As President of the Society of American Magicians, he was keen to uphold professional standards and expose fraudulent artists. He was also quick to sue anyone who pirated his escape stunts.

Houdini made several movies, but quit acting when it failed to bring in money. He was also a keen aviator, and aimed to become the first man to fly a plane in Australia.

In 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.

In 1940,  World War II: The Battle of Britain ends – the United Kingdom prevents a possible German invasion.

In 1941,  After 14 years of work, Mount Rushmore is completed.

In 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. It is the first U.S. Navy vessel sunk by enemy action in WWII.

In 1943,  World War II: An F4U Corsair accomplishes the first successful radar-guided interception by a USN or USMC aircraft.

In 1944,  Dr. jur. Erich Göstl, a member of the Waffen SS, is awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, to recognize extreme battlefield bravery, after losing his face and eyes during the Battle of Normandy.

In 1956,  Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.

In 1961,  In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin‘s body is removed from Lenin’s Tomb.

In 1963,  An explosion at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum (now Pepsi Coliseum) in Indianapolis kills 74 people during an ice skating show. The explosion also injures 400. A faulty propane tank connection in a concession stand is blamed.

In 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.

In 1973,  Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape. Three Provisional Irish Republican Army members escape from Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, Republic of Ireland aboard a hijacked helicopter that lands in the exercise yard.

In 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two security guards. Riots break out in New Delhi and nearly 10,000 Sikhs are killed.

In 1998,  Iraq disarmament crisis begins: Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.

In 1999,  Yachtsman Jesse Martin returns to Melbourne after 11 months of circumnavigating the world, solo, non-stop and unassisted.

In 1999,  EgyptAir Flight 990 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean killing all 217 people on board.

In 2000, Soyuz TM-31 launches, carrying the first resident crew to the International Space Station. The ISS has been continuously crewed since.

In 2002,  A federal grand jury in Houston, Texas indicts 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.

In 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.

In 2006, Actor Michael J. Fox started a national crusade late in the year’s elections to promote candidates who back embryonic stem cell research. He started his campaign by slamming a pro-life candidate in Missouri and backing a massive proposal that would promote embryonic stem cell research and human cloning. However, the actor admitted in a weekend interview that he hasn’t read the text of Missouri’s Amendment 2. He also said he opposes cloning, even though the proposition promotes it.

In an interview with ABC’s “This Week” with host George Stephanopoulos, Fox, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, admit he hasn’t read the lengthy Missouri embryonic stem cell research proposal he supports. “And so I have to qualify it by saying I’m not qualified to speak on the page-to-page content of the initiative,” Fox admitted. Although, I am quite sure that I’ll agree with it in spirit, I don’t know, I – in full disclosure, I haven’t read it, and that’s why I didn’t put myself up for it distinctly.”

Fox said he opposes human cloning, but Amendment 2 calls for human cloning for research purposes. He also said he opposes human egg farming, which the proposal  wound up promoting as well.

In 2006, The final piece of financing for the river port at Cates Landing was placed Friday when the state gave permission for Lake County to issue $2.75 million in bonds to finance the development.

“It is gratifying to see it beginning to take shape and become a reality,” said Port Authority Chairman Jimmy Williamson, who described the action as “the last major regulatory hurdle” for the project.

The Building Finance Committee of the Tennessee Board for Economic Growth granted the approval – the Certificate of Public Purpose and Necessity – to the county to proceed with purchasing the land needed for the industrial park portion of the port project. The total $22 million financing package of federal, state and local funding achieved since 1998 is to build the Northwest Tennessee Regional Port and Industrial Park, north of Tiptonville.

The Port and Park were advanced using an overly zealous proposal by Younger and Associates as confirmed by the U. of Memphis.

In 2011, The global population of humans reached seven billion. This day is now recognized by the United Nations as Seven Billion Day.

In 2014, Virgin Galactic‘s SpaceShipTwo crashes in the Mojave Desert during a test flight.

In 2015,  Kogalymavia Flight 9268 crashed in the Sinai Peninsula with 224 aboard.

In 2016, Ryan Haynes, who has served in the position for 19 months, is reportedly looking to announce right after the election and before the December Tennessee State Executive Committee meeting that he will not run for a full two-year term for party chairman.  Several of the “powers-that-be” are contacting party apparatchiks across the state, apparently looking to get behind one candidate and line up enough votes to force out any late competitors.  An important part of their strategy was to keep the whole thing under wraps so that it would be too late for the party rank and file to complain.

In 2017,  A truck drives in a crowd of people in Lower Manhattan, killing eight people.