Hankering For History: Events that happened today in history, October 31st!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Before you leave, make sure you are aware of the real Halloween safety hazards!

Some of the great historical events that happened today in history, on October 31st!

1517	Martin Luther nails his 95 Theses to the door of the church at Wittenberg in Germany. Luther’s theories and writings inaugurate Protestantism, shattering the external structure of the medieval church and at the same time reviving the religious consciousness of Europe.
1795	Poet John Keats was born in London.
1803	Congress ratifies the purchase of the entire Louisiana area in North America, adding territory to the U.S. which will eventually become 13 more states.
1838	A mob of about 200 attacks a Mormon camp in Missouri, killing 20 men, women and children.
1864	Nevada becomes 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 show was real.
1941	After 14 years of work, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial is completed.
1952	The United States explodes the first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific.
1968	President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, saying he hoped for fruitful peace negotiations.
1971	Saigon begins the release of 1,938 Hanoi POW’s.
1984	Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated in New Delhi by two Sikh members of her bodyguard.
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.
1999	EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed off the Massachusetts coast, killing all 217 people aboard.
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.

Today’s historical facts are from various sites including, but not limited too: the History Channel, The New York Times, WHG Historynet.com, HistoryOrb.com, and On This Day blogs from my blogroll.