October 31: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

Happy Halloween! October 31^st observes Magic Day and Knock-Knock Joke Day.

Welcome to day 304 of the year folks, there are 61 days left of the year.

While Halloween is usually a pretty eventful day, the history of what happened on this day may surprise you. Here we’re going to look at facts & historic events that happened on the spookiest day of the entire year!

Did you know that on this day in 2011, Earth’s population was estimated to reach 7 billion people? This date was calculated and decided on by the United Nations Population Fund.

Keep reading for more interesting facts about October 31^st in history!

What Events Happened On October 31 In History?

2018 The Statue of Unity in India was officially completed making it the world’s tallest statue at 597 ft (182 m).

2015 The Russian Metrojet Flight 9268 was destroyed by a bomb.

The disaster happened over North Sinai, Egypt and all 224 onboard lost their lives.

2014 During tests, Virgin Galactic’s experimental spaceplane, VSS Enterprise, crashed into the Mojave Desert.

2011 The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) stated that the world’s population had reached seven billion people.

This became known as the Day of Seven Billion.

2003 A shark bit off an arm of professional surfer Bethany Hamilton in Hawaiian waters.

2000 Soyuz TM-31 was launched, carrying the first crew to reside long term on the International Space Station.

The TM-31, launched from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome, was the first Soyuz spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS). An American Astronaut, William Shepherd, was a part of the crew, along with two Russian cosmonauts - Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev. They stayed aboard the ISS for 136 days.

1984 The Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated.

The attack was carried out by her bodyguards in the morning in her New Delhi home.

1962 The American psychological thriller, “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane” with Joan Crawford and Bette Davis was released.

1950 The Big Cat, aka Earl Lloyd, became the first African-American to play in the NBA.

1941 After 14 years of work, Mount Rushmore was completed.

Each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist, but lack of funding forced construction to end on this day.

1918 The Spanish Flu was reported to have killed 21,000 people in the US in the week ending on this date.

1864 Nevada became the 36th state to join the United States of America.

1541 After over four years in the making, Michelangelo unveiled “The Last Judgment” painting at the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City.

683 AD The Kaaba caught fire and was burned down during the Siege of Mecca.

Famous Quotes Said On October 31

Who said what today throughout history? Here are the most famous things people have said on Oct 31.

1923

“The power of effecting changes for the better is within ourselves, not in the favorableness of circumstances.”

– Helen Keller

October 30 Oct 30 November 1 Nov 1

Famous People Born On October 31

Is today is your birthday? If so, you share the same birthday with Willow Smith. Here are a few other famous people born on this day.

2000 Willow Smith

American Singer

Age:: 21 years old
Born In:: California, USA

1981 Frank Iero

American Musician

Age:: 40 years old
Born In:: New Jersey, USA

1976 Piper Perabo

American Actress

Age:: 45 years old
Born In:: Texas, USA

Special Holidays On October 31

If you’ve got a few minutes spare today, why not celebrate these special holidays.

National Magic Day

National Knock-Knock Joke Day

October 31 Birthday Facts, Zodiac & Birthstone

If you were born on the day of Halloween, your zodiac sign is Scorpio.

Pink tourmaline is the birthstone given to people born in October. Tourmaline gets its name from the Sinhalese (Sri Lankan) word “tourmali,” which means “mixed stones.”

If you were born on Halloween, you were likely conceived on the week of February 7 in the same year.