MONDAY IN HISTORY

Today is Monday, Oct. 31, the 305th day of 2016. There are 61 days left in the year. This is Halloween.

Highlight in History:

On Oct. 31, 1926, magician HarryHoudini died in Detroit of peritonitis resulting from a ruptured appendix.

On this date:

In 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wit ten berg Palace church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

In 1864, Nevada became the 36th state as President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation.

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 WorldWar II.

In 1956, Navy Rear Adm. George J. Dufek and six others becamethe first air travelers to set foot at the SouthPole.

In 1961, the body of Josef Stalin was removed from Lenin’s Tomb as part of the Soviet Union’s “de-Stalinization” drive.

In 1964, Theodore C. Freeman, 34, became the first member of NASA’s astronaut corps to die when his T-38 jet crashed while approaching Ellington Air Force Base in Houston.

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 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two Sikh security guards.

Ten years ago: A fire at a residential hotel in Reno, Nev., killed 12 people.

Five years ago: Palestinians won their greatest international endorsement yet with full membership in UNESCO, but the move prompted the U.S. to cut off payments to the Paris-based cultural agency. The United Nations estimated that the world’s population had surpassed 7 billion.

One year ago: A Russian passenger airliner crashed in a remote part of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula 23 minutes after taking off froma popular Red Sea resort, killing all 224 people on board.

Today’s Birthdays: Actress LeeGrant is 91. Former astronaut Michael Collins is 86. Former CBS anchorman Dan Rather is 85. Folk singer Tom Paxton is 79. Movie director Peter Jackson is 55. Actor Rob Schneider is 52. Rap performer Vanilla Ice is 49. Actresssinger Willow Smith is 16.

Thought for Today: “Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral, forty-eight percent indignation, and fifty percent envy.” — Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974).