Friday, October 31, 2014

History for October 31

History for October 31 - On-This-Day.com
John Keats 1795, Juliette Low 1860, Chiang Kai-Shek 1887 


Dale Evans 1912, Dick Francis 1920, John Candy 1950 


1517 - Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace Church. The event marked the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany. 


1922 - Benito Mussolini became prime minister of Italy. 


1926 - Magician Harry Houdini died of gangrene and peritonitis resulting from a ruptured appendix. His appendix had been damaged twelve days earlier when he had been punched in the stomach by a student unexpectedly. During a lecture Houdini had commented on the strength of his stomach muscles and their ability to withstand hard blows. 


1940 - The British air victory in the Battle of Britain prevented Germany from invading Britain. 


1941 - Mount Rushmore was declared complete after 14 years of work. At the time the 60-foot busts of U.S. Presidents George WashingtonThomas JeffersonTheodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were finished. 


1952 - The U.S. detonated its first hydrogen bomb. 


1969 - Wal-Mart Discount City stores were incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. 


1984 - Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated near her residence by two Sikh security guards. Her son, Rajiv, was sworn in as prime minister. 


1994 - 68 people were killed when an American Eagle ATR-72, plunged into a northern Indiana farm. 


1998 - Iraq announced that it was halting all dealings with U.N. arms inspectors. The inspectors were investigating the country's weapons of mass destruction stemming from Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. 


1999 - EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed off the coast of Nantucket, MA, killing all 217 people aboard. 

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