Saturday, October 31st
The 304th day of 2009.
There are 61 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
On Oct. 31, 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated near her residence by two Sikh security guards. (Go to article.)
On Oct. 31, 1887, Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese general and president whose regime collapsed to the Communists in 1949, was born. Following his death on April 5, 1975, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On October 31, 1863, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the controversial campaign of Clement Vallandignham, a leading Peace Democrat ("Copperhead"), for governor of Ohio. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.
1795 Poet John Keats was born in London.
1864 Nevada became the 36th state.
1926 Magician Harry Houdini died of complications from a ruptured appendix.
1938 The day after his "War of the Worlds" broadcast had panicked radio listeners, Orson Welles expressed "deep regret" but also bewilderment that anyone had thought the simulated Martian invasion was real.
1956 Rear Admiral G.J. Dufek became the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole.
1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, saying he hoped for fruitful peace negotiations.
1991 Theatrical producer Joseph Papp died at age 70.
1992 It was announced that five American nuns in Liberia had been shot to death near the capital Monrovia; the killings were blamed on rebels loyal to Charles Taylor.
1993 Italian movie director Federico Fellini died at age 73.
1999 EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed off the Massachusetts coast, killing all 217 people aboard.
2001 A 61-year-old New York hospital worker died from inhalation anthrax.
2001 Microsoft and the Justice Department reached a tentative agreement to settle the historic antitrust case against the software giant.
2005 President George W. Bush nominated Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.
2006 P.W. Botha, South Africa's apartheid-era president, died at age 90.
2007 Three lead defendants in the 2004 Madrid train bombings were found guilty of mass murder and other charges, but four other top suspects were convicted on lesser charges and an accused ringleader was completely acquitted in the attacks that killed 191 people.
Current Birthdays
Larry Mullen Jr. turns 48 years old today.
AP Photo/Charles Sykes Rock musician Larry Mullen Jr. (U2) turns 48 years old today.
89 Dick Francis
Author
79 Michael Collins
Astronaut
78 Dan Rather
Broadcast journalist
72 Tom Paxton
Folk singer
70 Ron Rifkin
Actor ("Alias")
68 Sally Kirkland
Actress
67 David Ogden Stiers
Actor ("M.A.S.H.")
63 Stephen Rea
Actor
61 Deidre Hall
Actress
59 Jane Pauley
Broadcast journalist
51 Brian Stokes Mitchell
Actor
48 Peter Jackson
Director ("Lord of the Rings" movies)
46 Mikkey Dee
Rock musician (Motorhead)
46 Johnny Marr
Rock musician (The Smiths, Modest Mouse)
46 Dermot Mulroney
Actor
45 Rob Schneider
Actor, comedian ("Saturday Night Live")
45 Darryl Worley
Country singer
44 Mike O'Malley
Actor, comedian
43 Adrock
Musician (The Beastie Boys)
42 Adam Schlesinger
Rock musician (Fountains of Wayne)
41 Rob Van Winkle (Vanilla Ice)
Rapper
41 Fred McGriff
Baseball player
39 Linn Berggren
Rock singer (Ace of Base)
36 Smokie Norful
Gospel singer
31 Brian Hallisay
Actor
29 Eddie Kaye Thomas
Actor ("American Pie" movies)
28 Frank Iero
Rock musician (My Chemical Romance)
Historic Birthdays
Chiang Kai-shek
10/31/1887 - 4/5/1975
Chinese president of Nationalist government (1928-49) and leader of Taiwan (1949-75)
(Go to obit.)
43 Jan Vermeer
10/31/1632 - 12/15/1675
Dutch painter
68 Clement XIV
10/31/1705 - 9/22/1774
Italian Roman Catholic pope (1769-74)
58 William Paca
10/31/1740 - 10/23/1799
American signer of the Declaration of Independence
25 John Keats
10/31/1795 - 2/23/1821
British poet
85 Sir Joseph Wilson Swan
10/31/1828 - 5/27/1914
English physicist and chemist
49 Galileo Ferraris
10/31/1847 - 2/7/1897
Italian physicist
66 Juliette Gordon Low
10/31/1860 - 1/18/1927
American founder of Girl Scouts of America
86 Andrew Volstead
10/31/1860 - 1/20/1947
American Congressman from Minnesota (1903-23); introduced National Prohibition Act
83 Eugene Meyer
10/31/1875 - 6/17/1959
American publisher of The Washington Post (1933-46)
70 Sir George Hubert Wilkins
10/31/1888 - 12/1/1958
Australian-born British explorer
80 Ethel Waters
10/31/1896 - 9/1/1977
American jazz and blues singer and film actress
51 Wilbur Shaw
10/31/1902 - 10/30/1954
American race-car driver
54 Michael Landon
10/31/1936 - 7/1/1991
American television actor
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SOURCE: The Associated Press
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