TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, OCT. 31, the 304th day of 2018. There are 61 days left in the year. This is Halloween.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two Sikh security guards.
In 1517, Martin Luther sent his 95 Theses denouncing what he saw as the abuses of the Catholic Church, especially the sale of indulgences, to the Archbishop of Mainz, Germany (by some accounts, Luther also posted the Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg), marking the start of the Protestant Reformation.
In 1864, Nevada became the 36th state as President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation.
In 1926, magician Harry Houdini died in Detroit of peritonitis resulting from a ruptured appendix.
In 1941, the Navy destroyer USS Reuben James was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Iceland with the loss of some 100 lives, even though the United States had not yet entered World War II. Work was completed on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, begun in 1927.
In 1961, the body of Josef Stalin was removed from Lenin’s Tomb as part of the Soviet Union’s “de-Stalinization” drive.
In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, saying he hoped for fruitful peace negotiations.
In 1975, the Queen single “Bohemian Rhapsody” was released in the United Kingdom by EMI Records.
In 1992, Pope John Paul II formally proclaimed that the Roman Catholic Church had erred in condemning the astronomer Galileo for holding that the Earth was not the center of the universe.
In 1994, a Chicago-bound American Eagle ATR-72 crashed in northern
Indiana, killing all 68 people aboard.
In 1998, a genetic study was released suggesting President Thomas Jefferson did in fact father at least one child by his slave Sally Hemings.
In 1999, EgyptAir Flight 990, bound from New York to Cairo, crashed off the Massachusetts coast, killing all 217 people aboard.
In 2001, New York hospital worker Kathy T. Nguyen died of inhalation anthrax, the fourth person to perish in a spreading wave of bioterrorism.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Lee Grant is 93. Former astronaut Michael Collins is 88. Former CBS anchorman Dan Rather is 87. Folk singer Tom Paxton is 81. Actor Ron Rifkin is 80. Actress Sally Kirkland is 77. Actor Brian Doyle-Murray is 73. Actor Stephen Rea is 72. Olympic gold medal long-distance runner Frank Shorter and actress Deidre Hall are 71. TV show host Jane Pauley is 68. Actor Brian Stokes Mitchell is 61. Movie director Peter Jackson and rock musician Larry Mullen are 57. Actor Dermot Mulroney, rock musician Mikkey Dee and rock singer-musician Johnny Marr are 55. Actor Rob Schneider and country singer Darryl Worley are 54. Actor-comedian Mike O’Malley is 53. Rap musician Adrock is 52. Songwriter Adam Schlesinger and rap performer Vanilla Ice (aka Rob Van Winkle) are 51. Rock singer Linn Berggren (Ace of Base) is 48. Reality TV host Troy Hartman is 47. Gospel singer Smokie Norful is 45. Actress Piper Perabo is 42. Actor Brian Hallisay is 40. Actress Samaire Armstrong, folk-rock musician Tay Strathairn (Dawes) and actor Eddie Kaye Thomas are 38. Rock musician Frank Iero (My Chemical Romance) is 37. Actor Justin Chatwin is 36. Actor Scott Clifton is 34. Actress Vanessa Marano is 26. Actress Holly Taylor is 21. Actress-singer Willow Smith is 18.