129 things happened on 31 October, from AD 475 to 2020. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1795 · 231 years ago
John Keats was an English poet, born in 1795. He was one of the Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems were not widely admired during his short life, but his fame grew quickly after his death. In 1888 an encyclopedia describ…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
The Battle of Britain, a campaign of the Second World War, came to an end. The Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm had defended the UK against huge attacks by Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe. It was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces. Germany's planned invasion of Britain, called Operation Sea Lion, never went ahead.
UK story
The New Zealand Wars resume as British forces in New Zealand led by General Duncan Cameron begin their Invasion of the Waikato.
Romulus Augustulus became emperor of the Western Roman Empire. He was still a boy, placed on the throne by his father Orestes, a powerful army commander, and he had little real power. After about ten months, a general called Odoacer removed him and chose nobody to take his place. That is why Romulus is usually seen as the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
Martin Luther, a German priest and professor, is said to have posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg. The theses were a list of points for debate about indulgences, a teaching of the Church at the time. They are seen as the start of the Protestant Reformation, which gave rise to Protestant Christianity. Many Protestants mark Reformation Day on 31 October each year.
The town of Marble Bar in Western Australia began a run of 160 days in a row at 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That is about 38 degrees Celsius. The Fahrenheit temperature scale was proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit. He set 0 degrees as the freezing point of a salty mixture of water and ice.
About 400 workers finished the giant sculptures of four US presidents at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. The heads show George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Each one is about 18 metres (60 feet) tall. George Washington was the first president of the United States and is known as the Father of His Country.
Australian sailor Jesse Martin arrived in Melbourne, becoming the youngest person to sail around the world alone, without stopping and without help. He was 18 years old. His voyage in a 10-metre yacht called Lionheart-Mistral took about 11 months. He wrote a book about his adventure, and his story was made into a documentary.
Soyuz TM-31 blasted off from Kazakhstan, carrying the first long-stay crew to the International Space Station, known as Expedition 1. The station has had people living on board ever since, without a break. The ISS is run by space agencies from the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada. Scientists use it to carry out experiments in space.
Astronomers announced that they had found two more moons of Pluto, later named Nix and Hydra. They had spotted them in photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope about five months earlier. Nix is named after Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night. Pluto, a dwarf planet, is now known to have five moons, and Charon is the largest.
The number of people in the world reached seven billion, and the United Nations marked it as the Day of Seven Billion. It took around 300,000 years for the human population to reach its first billion. After that it grew much faster, passing eight billion in 2022. All these figures are only rough estimates.
Empress Irene is deposed and banished to Lesbos. Conspirators place Nikephoros, the minister of finance, on the Byzantine throne.
Leiden University Library opens its doors after its founding in 1575.
Emperor Agustín de Iturbide attempts to dissolve the Congress of the Mexican Empire.
Nevada is admitted as the 36th U.S. state.
The Parliament of Finland approved the Prohibition Act, but the law was not implemented because it was not ratified by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
Public-transportation workers in Indianapolis went on strike (pictured), shutting down mass transit in the city.
Dedication of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile highway across United States.
World War I: Allied forces defeated Turkish troops in Beersheba in Southern Palestine at the Battle of Beersheba, with the battle involving one of the last successful cavalry charges.
World War I: The Aster Revolution terminates the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, and Hungary achieves full sovereignty.
World Savings Day is announced in Milan, Italy by the Members of the Association at the 1st International Savings Bank Congress (World Society of Savings Banks).
Great Depression: In an effort to restore investor confidence, the New York Stock Exchange unveils a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public.
World War II: An F4U Corsair accomplishes the first successful radar-guided interception by a United States Navy or Marine Corps aircraft.
Hungarian Revolution of 1956: A Revolutionary Headquarters is established in Hungary. Following Imre Nagy's announcement of October 30, banned non-Communist political parties are reformed, and the MDP is replaced by the MSZMP. József Mindszenty is released from prison. The Soviet Politburo makes the decision to crush the Revolution.
In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin's body is removed from Lenin's Mausoleum, and is buried near the Kremlin Wall under a plain white marker.
Great Drought of 1968: Amidst a collapse of hydropower President of Chile Eduardo Frei Montalva decrees the establishment of daylight saving time.
TG4, the world's first Irish language television station, began broadcasting.
Iraq disarmament crisis begins: Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.
A federal grand jury in Houston, Texas indicts former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow on 78 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice related to the collapse of his ex-employer.
After 22 years in power, Mahathir Mohamad retired as Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year was John Keats born?
C: 1795. 1795 — that’s 231 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “The Battle of Britain comes to an end”?
A: 1940. 1940 — that’s 86 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
C: Romulus Augustulus becomes the last Western Roman emperor. 1940: The Battle of Britain comes to an end · 1517: Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses spark the Reformation · AD 475: Romulus Augustulus becomes the last Western Roman emperor Find it on the page
“Zaha Hadid” happened in 1950. How many years ago was that?
A: 76 years. 2026 − 1950 = 76. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 31 October.
UK story
John Keats was an English poet, born in 1795. He was one of the Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems were not widely admired during his short life, but his fame grew quickly after his death. In 1888 an encyclopedia described his Ode to a Nightingale as one of the final masterpieces.
UK story
Zaha Hadid was an Iraqi and British architect, born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1950. She studied mathematics before going to architecture school, and she used painting as a way to design. She is seen as one of the most important architects of her time. Her buildings include the Bridge Pavilion in Zaragoza, Spain, a 270-metre covered bridge over the River Ebro.
Well-known people who died on 31 October.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 31 October somewhere in the world.
UK story
Halloween, also called All Hallows' Eve, is celebrated in many countries on 31 October. It is the evening before All Hallows' Day, or All Saints' Day, a Christian feast for remembering saints and others who have died. Over time it has become linked with spooky and supernatural fun. On the Isle of Man, people mark the night with an old festival called Hop-tu-Naa, carving lanterns from turnips.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “October 31” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.