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What happened on October 31
Every October 31 carries a layer of history: wars that began or ended, inventions, premieres, treaties, and people born or lost on this day across the centuries. We gathered 12 of the most striking events recorded on October 31, plus notable births and deaths, each with its year and a link to the Wikipedia article where the story continues. It is a fast way to answer "what happened on October 31" without digging through many sources: the list arrives ranked by relevance and dated.
Notable events
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2017 | An Uzbek immigrant drove a rented truck into cyclists and runners in Lower Manhattan, New York City, killing eight people. 2017 New York City truck attack |
| 2005 | The discovery of the Plutonian moons Nix and Hydra, based on photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope nearly five months prior, was announced. Moons of Pluto |
| 2003 | After 22 years in power, Mahathir Mohamad retired as Prime Minister of Malaysia. Mahathir Mohamad |
| 2000 | Singapore Airlines Flight 006 collided with construction equipment while attempting to take off from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan during heavy rain, killing 83 people aboard. Singapore Airlines Flight 006 |
| 1999 | All 217 people on board EgyptAir Flight 990 perished when the aircraft suddenly crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. EgyptAir Flight 990 |
| 1999 | Australian sailor Jesse Martin arrived in Melbourne, becoming the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, non-stop, and unassisted. Jesse Martin |
| 1996 | TG4, the world's first Irish language television station, began broadcasting. TG4 |
| 1984 | Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her own Sikh bodyguards, sparking riots that killed thousands of Sikhs. Indira Gandhi |
| 1973 | Three Provisional Irish Republican Army members escaped from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin aboard a hijacked helicopter that landed in the prison's exercise yard. Provisional Irish Republican Army |
| 1963 | A gas explosion at the 1963 Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion |
| 1941 | 100 crew members of the USS Reuben James perished when their vessel became the first U.S. Navy ship sunk by hostile action during World War II after it was torpedoed by the German submarine U-552. USS Reuben James (DD-245) |
| 1941 | Approximately 400 workers completed the 60-foot (18 m) busts of U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Bust (sculpture) |
Births
| Year | Who |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Leonor, Princess of Asturias Leonor, Princess of Asturias |
| 2002 | Ansu Fati Ansu Fati |
| 2000 | Willow Smith, American singer, actress, and dancer Willow Smith |
| 1999 | Léa Serna, French figure skater Léa Serna |
Deaths
| Year | Who |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Ken Mattingly, American astronaut (born 1936) Ken Mattingly |
| 2020 | Sean Connery, Scottish actor (born 1930) Sean Connery |
| 2020 | MF Doom, British-American rapper and record producer (born 1971) MF Doom |
| 2018 | Willie McCovey, American baseball player (born 1938) Willie McCovey |
A single anniversary does not explain on its own why a day matters: one October 31 can hold a scientific milestone, a tragedy and the birth of an artist, centuries apart. That is why we date every row and link the source, so you can follow what interests you. The selection mixes 12 events, 4 births and 4 deaths; the full list, with every reference, lives on Wikipedia.
Source, license and method
This page curates the day's anniversaries for October 31 from Wikipedia, delivered through the Wikimedia "On this day" feed (the encyclopedia's own open dataset). It is not original research: the facts, years and wording come from Wikipedia and are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike (CC BY-SA 4.0), which requires crediting the source and keeping the same license. We pick each day's most relevant items, favouring the editors' own selection and the most prominent articles, and every row links back to the matching entry. For the full list and primary references, see the day's article on Wikipedia (October 31).
Continue in the dates cluster
Anniversaries are just a doorway. People who arrive asking about the date usually also want: What day is it today, in every calendar, Moon phase today and the Date and age calculators.
Last updated: · Methodology and sources