On This Day in History
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Learn what happened on this day in history. Browse historical events, famous birthdays and notable deaths for any date, all sourced from Wikipedia.
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What Happened On This Day in History
Find out what happened on this day in history through today's featured event, latest article, famous birthday, notable death, holidays and observances, your birthday in history, and this month in history. Each card opens the complete history page.
How did bodyguards Satwant and Beant Singh kill Indira Gandhi?
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot by her two Sikh bodyguards at her residence in New Delhi on October 31, 1984, following Operation Blue Star.
Read & Quiz
Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues.
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MF Doom
Daniel Dumile, also known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom, was a British and American rapper, songwriter, and record producer.
See Died Today
Holidays and Observances Today
National and international holidays on October 31, including Earliest day on which All Saints Day can fall.
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What Happened on Your Birthday?
Enter your birth date to see the events, famous birthdays and holidays of your birthday.
Find Your Birthday
October in History
Major events, famous birthdays and holidays of October, day by day.
See October in HistoryDaily History Challenge
Put Today's Events in Order
Four events that happened on this day, in four different years. Tap them from the oldest to the newest, you have three tries, then share your result. A new puzzle every day.
Play Today's ChallengeHolidays and Observances Today
International days, national holidays and religious feast days that fall on today's date. Each card opens the holiday in the full holidays calendar. See all 25 holidays today.
Earliest day on which All Saints Day can fall, while November 6 is the latest; celebrated on Saturday between October 31 and November 6 (Finland, Sweden)
Christian feast day
Read moreHalloween and related celebrations: Allantide (Cornwall)
Cornish festival
Read moreHalloween and related celebrations: Halloween (Ireland, Canada, United Kingdom, United States and other places)
Annual celebration held on 31 October
Read moreHalloween and related celebrations: Hop-tu-Naa (Isle of Man)
Celtic festival celebrated in the Isle of Man
Read moreHalloween and related celebrations: Samhain in the Northern Hemisphere, Beltane in the Southern Hemisphere; begins on sunset of October 31 (Gaels, Welsh people and Neopagan Wheel of the Year)
Gaelic festival marking the start of winter
Read moreHalloween and related celebrations: The first day of the Day of the Dead, celebrated until November 2 (Mexico)
Mexican multi-day holiday
Read moreGirl Scouts Founders Day (United States)
Day to celebrate the founding of Scouting
Read moreKing Father's Birthday (Cambodia)
Cambodia has numerous public holidays, including memorial holidays and religious holidays of Buddhist origin. The Khmer traditional calendar, known as…
Read moreReformation Day (Slovenia, parts of Germany, Chile, various Protestant churches with a particular emphasis in Lutheran and Reformed ones)
Protestant religious holiday
Read moreBegu
Saint Begu was a nun and later became a saint from Hackness, Yorkshire (Deira). She served at the monastic cell in the nunnery of Hackness, near Scarborough…
Read moreMartin Luther (Anglican Communion)
German priest, theologian and author (1483–1546)
Read morePaul Shinji Sasaki and Philip Lindel Tsen (Episcopal Church)
Paul Shinji Sasaki 、(March 11, 1885 – December 21, 1946) was an Anglican bishop of the Diocese of Mid-Japan and later of Tokyo, in the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the…
Read moreBlessed Theodore Romzha (Ruthenian Catholic Church)
Rusyn Greek Catholic bishop
Read moreBlessed Tommaso Bellacci
Italian member of the Third Order of Saint Francis
Read moreOctober 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day in the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar
Read moreWhat Happened This Month
October in History
See what happened in October in history, from the battles, treaties and discoveries that shaped the world to the famous October birthdays and holidays, with a page for every day of the month.
See October in HistoryOn This Day in History Articles
A new history article is published every day covering one significant event from the past. Each post explores the causes, key figures, immediate impact, and the legacy that still resonates in the world today.
How did bodyguards Satwant and Beant Singh kill Indira Gandhi?
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot by her two Sikh bodyguards at her residence in New Delhi on October 31, 1984, following Operation Blue Star.
Read More
Passengers board an overloaded luzzu that capsizes off Qala
A luzzu carrying 27 people capsizes in the Gozo Channel off Qala, killing 23. The boat was overloaded with stranded ferry passengers.
Read More
How did bin Laden link the 1982 Lebanon War to 9/11?
Al Jazeera broadcasts a video where Osama bin Laden first explicitly accepts responsibility for the September 11 attacks and references the upcoming U.S…
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Mino and Owari provinces experience a magnitude 8.0 earthquake
The 1891 Mino Owari earthquake struck the Nobi Plain with a surface wave magnitude of 8.0, becoming the largest inland quake in Japan's history.
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Deadly Smog Begins in Donora
A deadly smog event begins in Donora, Pennsylvania, caused by industrial emissions trapped by a temperature inversion, eventually killing 20 people.
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Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty
Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in the Arava valley, ending a state of war that had existed since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
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How did Robert Card's spree end in Lisbon, Maine?
Robert Card killed 18 people and wounded 13 in two Lewiston, Maine locations. Police found him dead in Lisbon 49 hours later.
Read More
New York Stock Exchange records record share volume
Black Thursday saw a record 12.9 million shares traded on the NYSE, marking the first day of the 1929 stock market panic.
Read MoreOur blog
Explore the Blog
A new history article every day covering one major event, with sourced facts and key figures behind it.
Visit the BlogHistory in 60 Seconds
Short videos covering one significant historical event each, told through archival imagery and narration. A new video goes up every day alongside the daily article.
Passengers board an overloaded luzzu that capsizes o...
A luzzu carrying 27 people capsizes in the Gozo Channel off Qala, killing 23. The boat ...
Watch
How did bin Laden link the 1982 Lebanon War to 9/11?
Al Jazeera broadcasts a video where Osama bin Laden first explicitly accepts responsibi...
Watch
Deadly Smog Begins in Donora
A deadly smog event begins in Donora, Pennsylvania, caused by industrial emissions trap...
Watch
Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty
Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in the Arava valley, ending a state of war that...
Watch
How did Nixon fire Cox after two AGs resigned?
Nixon ordered the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Attorney General Richards...
Watch
What Happened at the First Battle of Ypres in 1914?
The First Battle of Ypres began on October 19, 1914, as part of the Race to the Sea. Ge...
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How did Smith and Carlos protest during the 1968 ant...
Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised black-gloved fists during the US national anthem at...
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How did Yang Liwei complete China's first solo orbit...
Shenzhou 5 launched astronaut Yang Liwei into orbit, making China the third nation to i...
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Historical events told through archival imagery and narration, daily.
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Explore History by Date
Click any date on the calendar to browse historical events, famous birthdays, and notable deaths from that day. Move between months to explore thousands of years of recorded history.
October
On This Day, October 31
- 2020: Berlin Brandenburg Airport opens its doors after nearly 10 years of delays due to construction issues and project corruption.
- 2017: A truck drives into a crowd in Lower Manhattan, New York City, killing eight people.
- 2015: Metrojet Flight 9268 is bombed over the northern Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board.
- 2014: During a test flight, the VSS Enterprise, a Virgin Galactic experimental spaceflight test vehicle, suffers a catastrophic in-flight breakup and crashes in the Mojave Desert, California.
- 2011: The global population of humans reaches seven billion. This day is now recognized by the United Nations as the Day of Seven Billion.
thisDay.info is a free historical events calendar where you can explore what happened on any date in history. It covers wars, discoveries, natural disasters, famous birthdays and deaths, and landmark moments in world history, all sourced from Wikipedia.
Every day a new article is published covering one significant historical event from that calendar date. Each article includes background context, key figures, a Did You Know section, a Quick Facts block, and an analysis of the lasting impact on the world. A short quiz at the end lets you test what you have learned.
All historical events, birthdays, and deaths are sourced from Wikipedia's On This Day archives. Wikipedia is one of the most thorough and regularly updated references for world history, covering events from ancient civilizations right through to the present day on every continent.
Yes. Use the calendar on this page to go to any date of the year. Clicking a date opens a page listing everything notable that happened on that day in history, from ancient times right through to recent decades.
History in 60 Seconds is a short video series published on YouTube Shorts. Each video tells the story of one historical event using archival imagery and narration. A new video goes up every day so you can keep up with this day in history wherever you are.
A new article and a new video are published every single day. The events calendar is always current with today's On This Day data from Wikipedia. Famous birthdays and notable deaths for the current date load every time you visit the site.
Yes, thisDay.info is completely free. There is no account, no subscription, and no paywall. Every article, video, event listing, and the full historical calendar are open to everyone and will stay that way.
Yes. Every date page includes a list of notable people born or who died on that day, with links to their Wikipedia biographies. You can also browse person pages on thisDay.info to read about the historical figures who appear in our daily articles.
thisDay.info covers all major topics in world history including wars and conflicts, political revolutions, scientific discoveries, space exploration, natural disasters, cultural milestones, and sporting achievements. Events range from ancient history through to the 21st century, covering every part of the world.
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