October 31

1517 – Martin Luther, at the time the professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, posts his 95 Theses on Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences , on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

1837 – Approximately 300 members of the Upper Creeks band of the Muscogee tribe, passengers aboard the steamboat Monmouth, being removed to the Indian Territory, die when the boat collides with the steamboat Warren off Profit island in the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, and sinks.

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

1895 – A 6.8 power earthquake, the strongest in the Midwestern States since 1812, strikes near Charleston, Missouri, killing 2 people.

1903 – Two special trains operated by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, chartered to carry the Purdue football team and over 1,500 passengers from Lafayette to Indianapolis, Indiana, collide with a coal train after rounding a curve at the Mill Street Power House near 18th Street in Indianapolis, killing 17 people, including 14 players of the Purdue University football team.

1917 – What is called ‘the last successful cavalry charge in history’ occurs  when the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force’s 4th Light Horse Brigade, consisting of the Australian Mounted Division’s 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments, attacks and captures the Yildirim Army Group garrison at Beersheba

1926 – Harry Houdini dies after being injured 4 days previously by a fan.

1940 – The ‘Battle of Britain’ ends, causing Germany to abandon Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of England, due to the Luftwaffe being unable to achieve air superiority.

1941 – Before the U.S. officially enters World War II, the destroyer USS Reuben James, under the command of by LtC Heywood Edwards, is torpedoed and sunk by German Kriegsmarine submarine U-552, under the command of, K.Kapt. Erich Topp, near Iceland, killing more than 100 crew members, the first U.S. Navy vessel sunk by enemy action in WWII.
The sculpture work on Mount Rushmore is completed.

1943 – An F4U Corsair accomplishes the first successful radar guided interception by a United States Navy or Marine Corps aircraft.

1963 – A gas explosion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis kills 81 people and injures another 400 during an ice show.

1968 – Citing progress with the Paris peace talks, President Johnson announces that he has ordered a complete cessation of “all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam” effective November 1.

1979 – Western Airlines Flight 2605, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, enroute from Los Angeles, crashes on landing in Mexico City, killing 73 of the 89 passengers and crew aboard.

1994 – American Eagle Flight 4184, an ATR-72, enroute from Indianapolis, to Chicago, crashes near Roselawn, Indiana killing all 68 passengers and crew on board.

1999 – EgyptAir Flight 990, a Boeing 767, enroute from Los Angeles to Cairo, is purposefully crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantucket island by the relief 1st officer, killing all 217 passengers and crew on board.

2000 – Soyuz TM-31 carries the first resident crew to the International Space Station.

2011 – The global population of humans reaches 7 billion. This day is now recognized by the United Nations as the Day of Seven Billion.

2014 – During a test flight, the VSS Enterprise, a Virgin Galactic experimental spaceflight test vehicle, suffers a catastrophic in flight breakup and crashes in the Mojave Desert, California, killing one of the pilots.

2017 – An moslem Uzbek immigrant, claiming allegiance with ISIL, drives a truck into a crowd in Lower Manhattan, killing 8 people and injuring another 11 before being shot and taken into custody by New York City Police.

2020 – Actor, Sean Connery dies, aged 90, at his home in the Lyford Cay community of Nassau, Bahamas.