On this day...

1517 Martin Luther posts 95 theses on Wittenberg church-Protestant Reformation
1759 Earthquake in Safed Palestine kills hundred
1793 Execution of the Girondins at Paris, during the Reign of Terror
1815 Sir Humphrey Davy of London patents miner's safety lamp
1864 Nevada admitted as 36th state
1908 4th Olympic games ends in London
1922 Benito Mussolini (Il Duce) becomes premier of Italy
1940 Deadline for Warsaw Jews to move into the Warsaw Ghetto
1943 Wash Redskin Sammy Baugh passes for 6 touchdowns vs Bkln (48-10)
1950 Collazo & Torresola attempt to kill Truman in Washington, DC
1952 First thermonuclear bomb detonated-Marshall Islands
1954 Algerian Revolution against French begins
1956 First American to land an airplane at South Pole-Rear Admiral G.J. Dufek
1956 Britain & France begin to bomb Egypt to reopen the Suez Canal
1956 Brooklyn, NY ends streetcar service
1959 Lee Harvey Oswald announces in Moscow he will never return to US
1963 Ed Sullivan witnesses the Beatles & their fans at London Airport
1963 Leaking propane gas explodes, kills 64 at "Holiday on Ice" (Indiana)
1964 Barbra Streisand's "People," album goes #1 for 5 weeks
1967 Nguyen Van Thieu took oath of office as first President of S. Vietnam 2nd Rep
1968 Linda Eastman moves to UK permanently
1968 Milwaukee Bucks win their first game beating Detroit 138-118 (6th game)
1968 President Johnson orders a halt to all bombing of North Vietnam
1969 George Harrison's "Something" is released in UK
1969 Race riot in Jacksonville Florida
1974 Bundy victim Laura Aime disappears in Utah
1980 Julian Nott sets world hot-air balloon altitude record (16,806 m)
1982 Pope John Paul II becomes first pontiff to visit Spain
1983 Ron Grant completes a 217 day, 8,316 mile run around Australia
1984 Puerto Rican tanker, San Francisco explodes spilling 2 million gallons of oil as the ship caught fire
1987 First jockey to win 9 races in one day (Chris Antley at Belmont)
1987 A pair in Coventry, England ties the world record for the longest singles tennis match at 80 hours, 21 minutes
1988 First Monday Night NFL game in Indianapolis, Colts beat Denver 55-23
1988 Journalists demand greater press freedom in Yugoslavia

Halloween - is an ancient celebration combining Christian customs with ancient Druid autumn festival. All Hallow's Eve is the beginning of Hallowtide, a season embracing the Feast of All Saints (11/1) and the Feast of All Souls (11/2). This observance, dating from the sixth century, has long been associated with thoughts of spirits, the dead, ghosts, devils, and witches.

Birthdays which occurred on October 31st:

1620 John Evelyn, British diarist (Life of Mrs. Godolphin)
1632 Jan Vermeer, Holland, painter (Procuress, The Astronomer)
1795 John Keats, London, England, romantic poet (Ode to a Grecian Urn)
1815 Karl Weierstrass, Germany, mathematician (theory of functions)
1860 Juliette Gordon Low, Girl Scout founder
1887 Chiang Kai-shek, Chekiang Province, China, President of Nationalist China
1887 Edouard Lalonde, Canada, NHLer (Montreal Candiens)/lacrosse player
1888 Sir George Hubert Wilkins, polar explorer (Flying the Arctic)
1893 Sara Allgood, Dublin Ireland, actress (Jane Eyre, Spiral Staircase)
1896 Ethel Waters, Chester PA, actress (Beulah)/singer (Stormy Weather)
1897 Wilbur (Pete) Henry, NFL tackle (Canton, NY Giants, Pottsville)
1902 Eduard Franz, Milwaukee, actor (Zorro)
1902 Willie Shaw, race car driver (Indy 500-1937, 39, 40)
1906 Louise Talma Arcachon, France, composer (Summer Sounds)
1912 Dale Evans, Uvalde TX, cowgirl (Roy Rogers Show)
1920 Dick Francis, Wales, jockey/novelist (Whip Hand, High Stakes)
1922 Barbara Bel Geddes, NYC, actress (Vertigo, Miss Ellie-Dallas)
1923 Hicks B. Waldron, Amsterdam NY, CEO (Avon)
1926 Shirley Dinsdale, San Francisco, ventriloquist (Judy Splinters)
1927 Lee Grant [Lyova Haskell Rosenthal], NYC, actress (Shampoo, Landlord)
1928 Andrew Sarris, movie critic (Village Voice)
1931 Dan Rather, Wharton TX, news anchor (CBS Evening News, 60 Minutes)
1937 Michael Landon ,Forest Hills NY, actor (Bonanza, Highway to Heaven)
1937 Tom Paxton, Chicago, folk singer/songwriter (Forest Lawn)
1942 David Ogden Stiers, Peoria IL, actor (Winchester-M*A*S*H, Doc)
1944 Kinky Friedman, Palestine TX, country rocker (Ride 'em Jewboy)
1944 Sally Kirkland, NYC, actress (Anna, Sting, Pvt Benjamin, Big Bad Mama)
1947 Deidre Hall, Milwaukee, actress (Days of our Life, Our House)
1947 Frank Shorter, US, marathon runner (Olympic-gold-1972)
1949 Terrence W. Wilcutt, Russellville KY, Major USMC/astronaut
1950 Jane Pauley, Indianapolis, newscaster (Today, NBC Weekend)
1950 John Candy, Ontario Canada, comedian (SCTV, Uncle Buck)
1953 John Lucas, NBA guard (Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks)
1960 Reza Pahlavi, Iran, son of Shah of Iran
1961 Larry Mullen, Jr., drummer (U2)
1963 Johnny Marr, rocker (The Smiths-Ask, Girl Afraid)
1964 Amanda Sandrelli, Rome Italy, actress (The Key)
1966 Ad-Rock [Adam Horowitz], rocker (Beastie Boys-You Gotta Fight)
1968 Vanilla Ice [Robert Van Winkle], rapper (Ice Ice Baby)

Deaths which occurred on October 31st:

1865 William Parson, 3rd Earl of Rosse & maker of large telescopes, dies
1918 Count Stephen Tisza, Hungarian PM assassinated by soldiers
1926 Erich Weiss, better known as magician Harry Houdini, dies in Detroit
1963 Henry Daniell, actor (Camille, Body Snatchers), dies at 69
1964 Theodore C. Freeman, astronaut, dies at 34 in a T-38 jet air crash
1965 Rita Johnson, actress (All Mine to Give), dies at 53
1975 Joseph Calleia, actor (Jungle Book, Gilda), dies at 78
1983 George Halas, NFL Hall of Fame, dies at 88
1984 Indira Gandhi, PM of India assassinated by 2 of her Sikh bodyguards
1987 Joseph Campbell, mythologist (Mythic Image), dies at 83
1988 John Houseman, actor, dies of spinal cancer at 86
1991 Joseph Papp, Broadway producer (Chorus Line), dies of cancer at 70