What happened today
1803
Famous birthdays
1896
Get history's greatest tales
Subscribe to our HistoryNet Now! newsletter for a blast from the past each week in your inbox.
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.