What happened on your birthday?

What’s Your Vietnam War Draft Lottery Number?

The Vietnam War draft lottery ran from 1969 to 1972. If you were born on October 31, would your number have been called?

  • Vietnam War 1969 Lottery
    CalledDrafted
    79
  • Vietnam War 1970 Lottery
    Not CalledNot drafted
    311
  • Vietnam War 1971 Lottery
    Not CalledNot drafted
    160
  • Vietnam War 1972 Lottery
    CalledDrafted
    10

Read on to learn more about the Vietnam war draft lottery.





more events on October 31

  • 2005

    Infanta Leonor of Spain, second in line of succession to the Spanish throne.

  • 2002

    Former Enron Corp. CEO Andrew Fastow convicted on 78 counts of conspiracy, money laundering, obstruction of justice and wire fraud; the Enron collapse cost investors millions and led to new oversight legislation.

  • 2000

    Soyuz TM-31 launches, carrying the first resident crew to the International Space Station.

  • 1999

    EgyptAir Flight 990 crashes into Atlantic Ocean killing all 217 people on board.

  • 1998

    Iraq announces it will no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.

  • 1984

    Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated in New Delhi by two Sikh members of her bodyguard.

  • 1971

    Saigon begins the release of 1,938 Hanoi POW’s.

  • 1968

    The bombing of North Vietnam is halted by the United States.

  • 1961

    Larry Mullen Jr., musician; drummer for U2 band.

  • Sir Peter Jackson, New Zealand film director, producer, screenwriter (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit)

  • 1952

    The United States explodes the first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific.

  • 1950

    Antonio Taguba, retired US Army major general best known for authoring the Taguba Report on abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq; Taguba is the second American citizen of Philippine birth to reach the rank of general in the US Army.

  • Jane Pauley, journalist; co-host of The Today Show (1976–1989) and Dateline NBC (1992–2003).

  • 1942

    David Ogden Stiers, actor; best known for his role as stuffy Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III on M*A*S*H* TV series (1977–1983).

  • 1941

    After 14 years of work, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial is completed.

  • 1937

    Tom Paxton, folk singer, songwriter, musician; received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2009).

  • 1936

    Michael Landon, actor (Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie TV series).

  • 1931

    Dan Rather, journalist; anchor of CBS Evening News (1981–2005).

  • 1930

    Michael Collins, U.S. astronaut.

  • 1925

    Charles Moore, influential post-modern architect.

  • 1917

    William H. McNeil, historian (The Rise of the West).

  • 1902

    Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet, journalist and short story writer.

  • 1896

    Ethel Waters, actress and blues singer.

  • 1887

    Chiang Kai-Shek, Chinese Nationalist.

  • 1864

    Nevada becomes the 36th state.

  • 1860

    Juliette Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.

  • 1838

    A mob of about 200 attacks a Mormon camp in Missouri, killing 20 men, women and children.

  • 1803

    Congress ratifies the purchase of the entire Louisiana area in North America, adding territory to the U.S. which will eventually become 13 more states.

  • 1802

    Benoit Fourneyron, inventor of the water turbine.

  • 1795

    John Keats, poet.

  • 1517

    Martin Luther nails his 95 Theses to the door of the church at Wittenberg in Germany. Luther’s theories and writings inaugurate Protestantism, shattering the external structure of the medieval church and at the same time reviving the religious consciousness of Europe.