October 31
1517
Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.
1846
A heavy snowfall trapped the Donner Party in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
1864
Nevada became the 36th state.
1941
Work on the Mount Rushmore monument was completed.
1956
Rear Admiral G. J. Dufek became the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole.
1984
Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated.
1992
Pope John Paul II admitted that the Roman Catholic Church had erred in convicting Galileo of heresy 350 years earlier.
Birthdays
Chiang Kai-shek
1887–1975, Chinese Nationalist leader. He was also called Chiang Chung-cheng.
Jan Vermeer
painter (1632)
John Keats
poet (1795)
Juliette Gordon Low
founder of the Girl Scouts of America (1860)
Dale Evans
actor and singer (1912)
Barbara Bel Geddes
actress (1922)
Michael Collins
astronaut (1930)
Dan Rather
television journalist, writer (1931)
Michael Landon
actor (1936)
Jane Pauley
TV journalist (1950)
Peter Jackson
director (1961)