On This Day: Major World Events of October 31
On October 31, events in many parts of the world changed the course of history: the Reformation was ignited in Germany, Britain held its home skies, the United States completed a mountain of presidents, and India lost a prime minister. The entries below are arranged by year and state the facts only.
In 1517, in Germany, according to tradition, theologian Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, protesting the sale of indulgences; that same day he sent the theses to Archbishop Albert of Mainz. What began as a call for scholarly debate became the Protestant Reformation, permanently reshaping Western Christianity and European history. October 31 is now observed as Reformation Day.
In 1632, in the Netherlands, painter Johannes Vermeer was baptized in Delft. He left few paintings, but works such as Girl with a Pearl Earring made him one of the most revered artists of the Dutch Golden Age.
In 1864, in the United States, Nevada became the 36th state, admitted during the American Civil War.
In 1917, in Ottoman-ruled Palestine, the Battle of Beersheba was fought, in which the Australian Light Horse charged and captured Beersheba, a pivotal action in the Sinai and Palestine campaign of the First World War.
In 1922, in Italy, Benito Mussolini became prime minister. He later established a fascist dictatorship, and his rise to power inspired other dictators, including Germany's Adolf Hitler.
In 1926, in the United States, magician Harry Houdini died in Detroit of peritonitis stemming from a ruptured appendix following a stomach injury, aged 52. The famed escape artist could not escape his illness.
In 1940, in the United Kingdom, the Battle of Britain ended. The Royal Air Force had defended Britain, the German Luftwaffe failed to gain air superiority, and Germany's planned invasion was abandoned, Germany's first major defeat of the Second World War.
In 1941, in the United States, after nearly 15 years of work, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota was completed, its colossal sculpture featuring the heads of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
In 1968, in the United States, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered an end to American bombing in North Vietnam, seeking to open the way for peace talks in the stalemated Vietnam War.
In 1984, in India, Indira Gandhi, the four-term prime minister and daughter of independent India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was assassinated in New Delhi by two of her own Sikh bodyguards.
In 2011, worldwide, the United Nations Population Fund designated the day as the Day of Seven Billion, as the world's population reached seven billion around this date.
In 2020, in the United Kingdom, Scottish actor Sean Connery died at age 90. He was best known worldwide for portraying James Bond in a series of films.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 拉什莫尔山国家纪念碑（资料图）。Dean Franklin 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Mount Rushmore National Memorial (file photo). Photo by Dean Franklin, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
