October 31 facts for kids

October 31 is a special day in the calendar, known for many interesting events throughout history. It's a day when important leaders were chosen, big changes happened in the world, and famous people were born or passed away. It's also a day when people celebrate different holidays around the globe.

Historical Events on October 31

Ancient Times and Middle Ages

• In 475, Romulus Augustulus became the Western Roman Emperor. He was one of the last emperors of the Western Roman Empire.
• During the Siege of Mecca in 683, the Kaaba, a very important building in Islam, caught fire and was destroyed.
• In 802, Empress Irene was removed from power and sent away. Nikephoros, who was in charge of money, became the new ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
• In 932, the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir was killed in a fight. His brother al-Qahir then became the new leader.

Big Changes in Europe

• The Protestant Reformation began on October 31, 1517. Martin Luther shared his famous 95 ideas by posting them on a church door in Wittenberg, Germany. These ideas questioned some practices of the church at the time.
• The Leiden University Library in the Netherlands first opened its doors in 1587. This university was founded earlier in 1575.

Events from the 1800s

• In 1822, Emperor Agustín de Iturbide tried to close the Congress of the Mexican Empire.
• About 300 Muscogee people died in 1837 during the steamboat Monmouth disaster. This happened on the Trail of Tears, a sad time when many Native Americans were forced to move.
• The New Zealand Wars started again in 1863. British forces began their Invasion of the Waikato in New Zealand.
• In 1864, Nevada officially became the 36th state in the United States.
• A strong earthquake hit near Charleston, Missouri, in 1895. It caused damage and at least two people died.

The 1900s and Beyond

• In 1903, a terrible train crash called the Purdue Wreck happened in Indianapolis. Seventeen people died, including 14 players from the Purdue University football team.
• The Lincoln Highway, the first major road for cars across the United States, was officially opened in 1913.
• In 1917, during World War I, the Battle of Beersheba took place. It is famous for being the "last successful cavalry charge in history."
• World War I ended for Hungary in 1918 with the Aster Revolution. Hungary became a fully independent country.
• Benito Mussolini became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922.
• The first World Savings Day was announced in 1924 in Milan, Italy. This day encourages people to save money.
• In 1940, World War II's Battle of Britain ended. This caused Germany to give up its plan to invade Great Britain.
• After 14 years of work, the famous Mount Rushmore monument was finished in 1941.
• Also in 1941, during World War II, the U.S. Navy ship USS Reuben James was sunk by a German U-boat near Iceland. More than 100 U.S. Navy sailors died.
• In 1956, the Suez Crisis began. The United Kingdom and France started bombing Egypt to make them reopen the Suez Canal.
• Also in 1956, during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, a new government was formed in Hungary. However, the Soviet Politburo decided to stop the revolution.
• The body of Joseph Stalin was moved from Lenin's Mausoleum in the Soviet Union in 1961.
• A gas explosion at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis in 1963 killed 81 people and injured 400 more during an ice show.
• In 1968, during the Vietnam War, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announced that he would stop all bombing of North Vietnam.
• Three members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army escaped from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin in 1973. They used a hijacked helicopter that landed in the prison yard.
• In 1979, Western Airlines Flight 2605 crashed while landing in Mexico City, killing 73 people.
• Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by her security guards in 1984. This led to riots where about 3,000 Sikhs were killed.
• American Eagle Flight 4184 crashed in Indiana in 1994, killing all 68 people on board.
• In 1996, TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Flight 402 crashed in São Paulo, Brazil, killing 99 people.
• The Iraq disarmament crisis started in 1998 when Iraq said it would no longer work with United Nations weapons inspectors.
• In 1999, Yachtsman Jesse Martin finished sailing around the world by himself, non-stop, and without help. He returned to Melbourne after 11 months.
• Also in 1999, EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 217 people.
• In 2000, Soyuz TM-31 launched, carrying the first crew to live on the International Space Station. The ISS has had people living on it ever since.
• Also in 2000, Singapore Airlines Flight 006 crashed during takeoff from Taipei, killing 83 people.
• Mahathir Mohamad stepped down as Prime Minister of Malaysia in 2003, after 22 years in power.
• In 2011, the global population of humans reached seven billion. The United Nations now calls this the Day of Seven Billion.
• The Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Germany finally opened its doors in 2020. Its opening was delayed for almost 10 years due to construction problems.

Famous Births on October 31

Born Before the 1900s

• 1345 – Ferdinand I, a king of Portugal.
• 1424 – Władysław III, a king of Poland.
• 1517 – Fra Bartolomeo, a talented Italian artist.
• 1632 – Johannes Vermeer, a famous Dutch painter known for his detailed works.
• 1760 – Katsushika Hokusai, a well-known Japanese artist and printmaker.
• 1795 – John Keats, a famous English poet.
• 1815 – Karl Weierstrass, an important German mathematician.
• 1835 – Adolf von Baeyer, a German chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 1838 – Luís I of Portugal, a king of Portugal.
• 1860 – Juliette Gordon Low, who founded the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.
• 1875 – Vallabhbhai Patel, an Indian lawyer and freedom fighter who became the first Deputy Prime Minister of India.
• 1887 – Chiang Kai-shek, a Chinese general and politician who was the first President of the Republic of China.
• 1892 – Alexander Alekhine, a Russian chess champion.
• 1896 – Ethel Waters, an American singer and actress.

Born in the 1900s and 2000s

• 1902 – Carlos Drummond de Andrade, a Brazilian poet.
• 1912 – Dale Evans, an American singer and actress.
• 1912 – Ollie Johnston, an American animator who worked on many classic Disney films.
• 1920 – Dick Francis, a Welsh jockey and author.
• 1920 – Helmut Newton, a German-Australian photographer.
• 1922 – Barbara Bel Geddes, an American actress.
• 1922 – Norodom Sihanouk, the first Prime Minister of Cambodia.
• 1925 – John Pople, an English-American chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 1926 – Jimmy Savile, an English radio and television host.
• 1929 – Bud Spencer, an Italian swimmer and actor.
• 1930 – Michael Collins, an American astronaut who flew on Apollo 11.
• 1931 – Dan Rather, a well-known American journalist.
• 1936 – Michael Landon, an American actor and director.
• 1937 – Tom Paxton, an American folk music singer.
• 1939 – Ron Rifkin, an American actor.
• 1941 – Derek Bell, an English race car driver.
• 1941 – Sally Kirkland, an American actress.
• 1942 – David Ogden Stiers, an American actor.
• 1946 – Stephen Rea, an Irish actor.
• 1947 – Deidre Hall, an American actress.
• 1947 – Frank Shorter, an American runner who won an Olympic gold medal.
• 1950 – John Candy, a Canadian actor and comedian.
• 1950 – Zaha Hadid, a famous Iraqi-English architect.
• 1950 – Jane Pauley, an American journalist.
• 1951 – Nick Saban, a successful American football coach.
• 1957 – Brian Stokes Mitchell, an American singer and actor.
• 1959 – Neal Stephenson, an American author.
• 1961 – Peter Jackson, a New Zealand director, known for The Lord of the Rings films.
• 1961 – Larry Mullen, Jr., the drummer for the band U2.
• 1963 – Johnny Marr, an English guitarist and songwriter.
• 1963 – Rob Schneider, an American actor and comedian.
• 1964 – Marco van Basten, a famous Dutch footballer.
• 1966 – Ad-Rock, an American rapper from the Beastie Boys.
• 1967 – Vanilla Ice, an American rapper.
• 1976 – Piper Perabo, an American actress.
• 1979 – Simão Sabrosa, a Portuguese footballer.
• 1980 – Samaire Armstrong, an American actress.
• 1981 – Frank Iero, an American singer and guitarist.
• 1982 – Justin Chatwin, a Canadian actor.
• 1988 – Lizzy Yarnold, a British skeleton racer who won Olympic gold.
• 1992 – Vanessa Marano, an American actress.
• 1993 – Letitia Wright, a Guyanese-British actress.
• 1997 – Marcus Rashford, an English footballer.
• 2000 – Willow Smith, an American singer and actress.
• 2005 – Leonor, Princess of Asturias, a Spanish princess.

Notable Deaths on October 31

Passed Away Before the 1900s

• 932 – Al-Muqtadir, an Abbasid caliph.
• 994 – Wolfgang of Regensburg, a German bishop and saint.
• 1005 – Abe no Seimei, a Japanese astrologer.
• 1147 – Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, a son of Henry I of England.
• 1214 – Eleanor of England, a queen of Castile.
• 1448 – John VIII Palaiologos, a Byzantine emperor.
• 1659 – John Bradshaw, an English judge.
• 1723 – Cosimo III de' Medici, a Grand Duke of Tuscany.
• 1732 – Victor Amadeus II, a Duke of Savoy.
• 1806 – Kitagawa Utamaro, a Japanese artist.
• 1860 – Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, a Scottish-English admiral.
• 1879 – Joseph Hooker, an American general.

Passed Away in the 1900s and 2000s

• 1916 – Charles Taze Russell, an American minister.
• 1918 – Egon Schiele, an Austrian painter.
• 1925 – Max Linder, a French actor and director.
• 1926 – Harry Houdini, a famous American magician and escape artist.
• 1939 – Otto Rank, an Austrian psychologist.
• 1972 – Bill Durnan, a Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1975 – Sachin Dev Burman, an Indian composer and singer.
• 1983 – George Halas, an American football player and coach.
• 1984 – Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India.
• 1986 – Robert S. Mulliken, an American physicist and chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 1988 – John Houseman, a Romanian-born American actor and producer.
• 1991 – Joseph Papp, an American theater director.
• 1993 – Federico Fellini, a famous Italian film director.
• 1993 – River Phoenix, an American actor.
• 1999 – Greg Moore, a Canadian race car driver.
• 2000 – Ring Lardner, Jr., an American journalist and screenwriter.
• 2006 – P. W. Botha, a South African politician.
• 2008 – Studs Terkel, an American historian and author.
• 2010 – Ted Sorensen, an American lawyer and advisor.
• 2011 – Flórián Albert, a Hungarian footballer.
• 2012 &Gae Aulenti, an Italian architect and designer.
• 2014 – Michael Alsbury, an American engineer and pilot.
• 2018 – Willie McCovey, an American baseball player.
• 2020 – Sean Connery, a famous Scottish actor.
• 2020 – MF Doom, a British-American rapper.
• 2023 – Ken Mattingly, an American astronaut.

Holidays and Celebrations

October 31 is a day for many different holidays and observances around the world:

• Christian feast days for various saints like Martin Luther and Wolfgang of Regensburg.
• Día de la Canción Criolla is celebrated in Peru.
• In Finland and Sweden, it's the earliest day that All Saints Day can happen.
• Halloween and related celebrations are very popular:
  • Allantide in Cornwall.
  • Halloween in Ireland, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other places.
  • Hop-tu-Naa on the Isle of Man.
  • Samhain in the Northern Hemisphere and Beltane in the Southern Hemisphere. These are ancient festivals celebrated by Gaels and Neopagans.
  • The first day of the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico, which lasts until November 2.
• Girl Scouts Founders Day in the United States.
• King Father's Birthday in Cambodia.
• National Unity Day in India.
• Reformation Day in Slovenia, parts of Germany, Chile, and by many Protestant churches.
• Saci Day in Brazil.

See also

In Spanish: 31 de octubre para niños