Notable Deaths on October 31

Q: Who died on October 31?

Notable people who died on October 31 include: Al-Muqtadir, Wolfgang of Regensburg, Abe no Seimei, Deokjong, Robert.

Q: What is Bill Durnan known for?

Bill Durnan, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1916)

1972 — Bill Durnan

Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1916)

October 31 has seen 109 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 932 – 2023. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · October 31 — Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 109 people 932 – 2023

Did you know

However, in his final season he suffered a severe laceration of the scalp, but was only sidelined 12 days and returned heroically for the playoffs

Did you know

William Ronald Durnan was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1943 and 1950

Did you know

He served as the captain of the Canadiens in 1948, the last goaltender to be allowed to do so

Did you know

In 1964 Durnan was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and in 2017 he was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

Did you know

Durnan retired in 1950, citing the stress of playing professional hockey

Al-Muqtadir

Abbasid caliph (born 895)

Abū’l-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Aḥmad ibn Ṭalḥa ibn Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Hārūn Al-Muqtadir bi'Llāh, better known by his regnal name al-Muqtadir bi'Llāh, was the eighteenth caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 908 to 932 AD,…

932

Wolfgang of Regensburg

German bishop and saint (born 934)

Wolfgang of Regensburg was bishop of Regensburg in Bavaria from Christmas 972 until his death. He is a saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. He is regarded as one of the three great German saints of the…

994

Abe no Seimei

Japanese astrologer (born 921)

Abe no Seimei was a Japanese onmyōji, a court official and specialist of Onmyōdō, during the middle of the Heian period. In addition to his prominence in history, he is a legendary figure in Japanese folklore. He has…

1005

Deokjong

Korean ruler (born 1016)

Deokjong, personal name Wang Hŭm, was the 9th king of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea. The son of King Hyeonjong, he was confirmed as Crown Prince in 1022. During his reign, the compilation of national histories that was…

1034

Robert

1st Earl of Gloucester, son of Henry I of England (born 1100)

Robert FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Gloucester, was an illegitimate son of King Henry I. He was the half-brother of the Empress Matilda, and her chief military supporter during the civil war known as the Anarchy, in which she…

1147

Eleanor of England

queen consort of Castile (born 1163)

Eleanor of England, was Queen of Castile and Toledo as the wife of Alfonso VIII of Castile. She was the sixth child and second daughter of Henry II, King of England, and Eleanor of Aquitaine. She served as Regent of…

1214

Ricold of Monte Croce

Italian Dominican missionary (born 1242)

Riccoldo da Monte di Croce or Ricold of Monte Croce was an Italian Dominican friar, travel writer, missionary, and Christian apologist. He is most famous for his polemical works on Medieval Islam and the account of his…

1320

Marie of Évreux

Duchess Consort of Brabant (born 1303)

Marie d'Évreux was the eldest child of Louis d'Évreux and his wife Margaret of Artois. She was a member of the House of Capet.

1335

John VIII Palaiologos

Byzantine emperor (born 1390)

John VIII Palaiologos was the penultimate Roman emperor to rule in Constantinople. Ruling from 1425 to 1448, he attempted to bring about the reunification of the Orthodox and Catholic churches and prioritised the…

1448

Fra Bartolomeo

Italian artist (born 1472)

Fra Bartolomeo or Bartolommeo, also known as Bartolommeo di Pagholo, Bartolommeo di San Marco, Bartolomeo di Paolo di Jacopo del Fattorino, and his original nickname Baccio della Porta, was an Italian Renaissance…

1517

Peter Stumpp

German farmer and alleged serial killer (born 1535)

Peter Stumpp was a German farmer and alleged serial killer, accused of werewolfery, witchcraft, and cannibalism. He was known as "the Werewolf of Bedburg".

1589

Cornelis Jol

Dutch admiral (born 1597)

Cornelis Corneliszoon Jol, nicknamed Houtebeen ("pegleg"), was a 17th-century Dutch corsair and admiral in the Dutch West India Company during the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic. He was one of…

1641

John Bradshaw

English lawyer and judge, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (born 1602)

John Bradshaw was an English jurist who was President of the High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I and the first Lord President of the Council of State of the English Commonwealth.

1659

Köprülü Mehmed Pasha

Ottoman politician, 109th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (born 1575)

Köprülü Mehmed Pasha was Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire and founding patriarch of the Köprülü political dynasty. He helped rebuild the power of the empire by rooting out corruption and reorganizing the Ottoman army.…

1661

Cosimo III de' Medici

Grand Duke of Tuscany (born 1642)

Cosimo III de' Medici was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1670 until his death in 1723, the sixth and penultimate from the House of Medici. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinando II.…

1723

Victor Amadeus II

Duke of Savoy (born 1666)

Victor Amadeus II was the head of the House of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 12 June 1675 until his abdication in 1730. He was the first of his house to acquire a royal crown, ruling first as King of…

1732

Eberhard Louis

Duke of Württemberg (born 1676)

Duke Eberhard Louis was Duke of Württemberg from 1692 until 1733.

1733

Leonardo Leo

Italian composer (born 1694)

Leonardo Leo, more correctly Leonardo Ortensio Salvatore de Leo, was a Baroque composer.

1744

Francesco Maria Veracini

Italian violinist and composer (born 1690)

Francesco Maria Veracini was an Italian composer and violinist, perhaps best known for his sets of violin sonatas. As a composer, according to Manfred Bukofzer, "His individual, if not subjective, style has no precedent…

1768

Princess Amelia of Great Britain (born 1711)

Princess Amelia of Great Britain was the second daughter of King George II of Great Britain and Queen Caroline. Born in Hanover, she moved to England when her grandfather George I became king. Amelia lived a solitary…

1786

Kitagawa Utamaro

Japanese artist and printmaker (born ca. 1753)

Kitagawa Utamaro was a Japanese artist. He is one of the most highly regarded designers of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings, and is best known for his bijin ōkubi-e "large-headed pictures of beautiful women" of…

1806

John Lynch

American city founder and abolitionist (born 1740)

John Lynch was an American merchant and abolitionist who founded the city of Lynchburg, Virginia.

1820

Thomas Cochrane

10th Earl of Dundonald, Scottish-English admiral and politician (born 1775)

Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Marquess of Maranhão, styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a British naval officer, politician and mercenary. Serving during the French Revolutionary and…

1860

Charles A. Wickliffe

American politician, 14th Governor of Kentucky (born 1788)

Charles Anderson Wickliffe was an American politician who was the 11th U.S. postmaster general from 1841 to 1845. He served as the 14th governor of Kentucky from 1839 to 1840 and as a U.S. representative from Kentucky…

1869

Jacob Abbott

American author and academic (born 1803)

Jacob Abbott was an American writer of children's books and historical biographies.

1879

Joseph Hooker

American general (born 1814)

Joseph Hooker was an American Civil War general for the Union, chiefly remembered for his decisive defeat by Confederate general Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. Hooker had served in the Seminole…

1879

Marie Bashkirtseff

Ukrainian-Russian painter and sculptor (born 1858)

Marie Bashkirtseff, born Maria Konstantinovna Bashkirtseva, was an émigré artist who was born into a noble family on their estate near the city of Poltava. She lived and worked in Paris, and died at the age of 25.

1884

Bryan O'Loghlen

Irish-Australian politician, 13th Premier of Victoria (born 1828)

Sir Bryan O'Loghlen, 3rd Baronet was an Irish-born Australian colonial politician who was the 13th Premier of Victoria.

1905

William Evans-Gordon

English soldier and politician (born 1857)

Major Sir William Eden Evans Gordon was a British politician, military officer, and diplomat. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) who had served as a military diplomat in India.

1913

Charles Taze Russell

American minister (born 1852)

Charles Taze Russell, or Pastor Russell, was an American Adventist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and founder of the Bible Student movement. He was an early Christian Zionist.

1916

Huang Xing

Chinese revolutionary leader and statesman (born 1874)

Huang Xing or Huang Hsing was a Chinese revolutionary leader and politician, and the first commander-in-chief of the Republic of China. As one of the founders of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Republic of China, his…

1916

Egon Schiele

Austrian painter (born 1890)

Egon Leo Adolf Ludwig Schiele was an Austrian Expressionist painter. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and for the many self-portraits the artist produced, including nude self-portraits. The…

1918

Alphonse Desjardins

Canadian businessman (born 1854)

Gabriel-Alphonse Desjardins, born in Levis, Canada East was the co-founder of the Caisses Populaires Desjardins, a forerunner of North American credit unions and community banks. For his contribution to the advancement…

1920

Max Linder

French actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1883)

Gabriel-Maximilien Leuvielle, known professionally as Max Linder, was a French actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and comedian of the silent film era. His onscreen persona "Max" was one of the first recognizable…

1925

Mikhail Frunze

Bolshevik leader during and just prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917 (born 1885)

Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze was a Soviet revolutionary, politician, army officer and military theorist.

1925

Thomas Henry Tracy

Canadian architect and alderman (born 1848)

Thomas Henry Tracy was a Canadian architect and alderman. Born in London, Upper Canada, to Irish immigrants, Tracy was apprenticed to William Robinson for five years beginning in 1864; after spending time working for…

1925

Harry Houdini

American magician and stuntman (born 1874)

Erik Weisz, known professionally as Harry Houdini, was an American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts.

1926

António José de Almeida

Portuguese physician and politician, 6th President of Portugal (born 1866)

António José de Almeida was a Portuguese politician who served as the president of Portugal from 1919 to 1923. António José de Almeida also served as prime minister from 1916 to 1917. He was the only president of the…

1929

Octave Uzanne

French journalist and author (born 1851)

Octave Uzanne was a 19th-century French bibliophile, writer, publisher, and journalist.

1931

Otto Rank

Austrian psychologist, author, and educator (born 1884)

Otto Rank was an Austrian psychoanalyst, writer, and philosopher. Born in Vienna, he became one of Sigmund Freud's closest collaborators, served as secretary of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, and edited leading…

1939

Joseph Hubert Priestley

British botanist (born 1883)

Joseph Hubert Priestley was a British lecturer in botany at University College, Bristol, and professor of botany and pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Leeds. He has been described as a gifted teacher who…

1944

Chit Hlaing

Burmese lawyer and politician (born 1879)

Chit Hlaing was a notable Burmese politician. During his time, he was called a Burmese king without a crown, and was popular in rural Burma. He was imprisoned when the British Crown Prince of Wales visited Burma in 1921.

1952

Jean Cabannes

French physicist and academic (born 1885)

Jean Cabannes was a French physicist specialising in optics.

1959

H. L. Davis

American author and poet (born 1894)

Harold Lenoir Davis, also known as H. L. Davis, was an American novelist and poet. A native of Oregon, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Honey in the Horn, the only Pulitzer Prize for Literature given to a native…

1960

Mesut Cemil

Turkish cellist and composer (born 1902)

Mesut Cemil was a Turkish composer, and a notable tanbur lute and cello player. His father was Tanburi Cemil Bey.

1963

Tuomas Bryggari

Finnish politician (born 1881)

Tuomas Bryggari was a Finnish trade unionist, politician and member of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature of Finland. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he represented Vaasa Province East between…

1964

Malek Bennabi

Algerian philosopher and author (born 1905)

Malek Bennabi was an Algerian writer and philosopher, of Islamic inspiration who wrote about human society, particularly Muslim society with a focus on the reasons behind the fall of Muslim civilization and the keys for…

1973

Sachin Dev Burman

Indian composer and singer (born 1906)

Sachin Dev Burman was an Indian music director and singer. He was a member of the Tripura royal family. He started his career with Bengali films in 1937. He later began composing for Hindi movies and became one of the…

1975

C. B. Colby

American author and illustrator (born 1904)

Carroll Burleigh Colby was an American writer, primarily of nonfiction children's books. He wrote more than 100 books that were widely circulated in public and school libraries in the United States. He is best known for…

1977

Jan Werich

Czech actor and playwright (born 1905)

Jan Werich was a Czech actor, playwright and writer.

1980

George Halas

American football player and coach (born 1895)

George Stanley Halas Sr., nicknamed "Papa Bear", was an American professional football end, coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), and served as…

1983

Lu Jiaxi

Chinese self-taught mathematician (born 1935)

Lu Jiaxi was a self-taught Chinese mathematician who made important contributions in combinatorial design theory. He was a high school physics teacher in a remote city and worked in his spare time on the problem of…

1983

Sharof Rashidov

Uzbek politician, CPSU Politburo candidate member (born 1917)

Sharof Rashidovich Rashidov was the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan from 1959 until his death in 1983. During his tenure the Uzbek SSR saw considerable economic growth and…

1983

Eduardo De Filippo

Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1900)

Eduardo De Filippo OMRI, also known mononymously as Eduardo, was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright, best known for his Neapolitan works Filumena Marturano and Napoli milionaria. Considered one of…

1984

Indira Gandhi

Indian politician, Prime Minister of India (born 1917)

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi was an Indian stateswoman who served as the prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. She was India's first and only female prime…

1984

Nikos Engonopoulos

Greek painter and poet (born 1907)

Nikos Engonopoulos was a Greek painter and poet. He is one of the most important members of "Generation of the '30s", as well as a major representative of the surrealist movement in Greece. His work as a writer also…

1985

Poul Reichhardt

Danish actor and singer (born 1913)

Poul David Reichhardt was a Danish actor, well known for his roles in Danish 1940s/1950s comedies. Later on, he also played more serious and varied roles; he has also starred in Huset på Christianshavn, Matador and as…

1985

Robert S. Mulliken

American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1896)

Robert Sanderson Mulliken was an American physical chemist, primarily responsible for the early development of molecular orbital theory, i.e. the elaboration of the molecular orbital method of computing the structure of…

1986

John Houseman

Romanian-born American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1902)

John Houseman was a British-American theatre and film producer, actor, director, and teacher. He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director Orson Welles from their days in the Federal Theatre…

1988

Alfred Pellan

Canadian painter and academic (born 1906)

Alfred Pellan was an important figure in twentieth-century Canadian painting.

1988

Joseph Papp

American stage director and producer (born 1921)

Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp is a pioneering figure in American theater, known for creating Shakespeare in the Park, which aimed to make classical theater accessible to all people…

1991

Gary Rippingale

English ice hockey player (born 1974)

Gary Rippingale was an English professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Nottingham Panthers. He also played for the Great Britain national ice hockey team at Under-18 level.

1992

Federico Fellini

Italian director and screenwriter (born 1920)

Federico Fellini was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style that blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. Recognized as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of…

1993

River Phoenix

American actor and singer (born 1970)

River Jude Phoenix was an American actor and musician. The older brother of actor Joaquin Phoenix, he was known as a teen actor before taking on leading roles in critically acclaimed films, becoming one of the…

1993

Rosalind Cash

American actress and singer (born 1938)

Rosalind Cash was an American actress. Her best-known film role is in the 1971 science-fiction film The Omega Man. Cash also had another notable role as Mary Mae Ward in ABC's General Hospital, a role she portrayed from…

1995

Marcel Carné

French director and screenwriter (born 1906)

Marcel Albert Carné was a French film director. A key figure in the poetic realism movement, Carné's best known films include Port of Shadows (1938), Le Jour Se Lève (1939), Les Visiteurs du Soir (1942) and Children of…

1996

George Roth

American gymnast (born 1911)

George Helm Roth was an American gymnast and Olympic champion who competed at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and won a gold medal in…

1997

Elmer Vasko

Canadian ice hockey player (born 1935)

Elmer "Moose" Vasko was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks and Minnesota North Stars. He was on the Blackhawks team that won the…

1998

María de la Purísima Salvat Romero

Spanish nun and saint (Roman Catholic Church) (born 1926)

María de la Purísima Salvat Romero, born María Isabel Salvat Romero, was a Spanish religious sister of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross. She assumed the religious name María de la Purísima of the Cross.

1998

Greg Moore

Canadian race car driver (born 1975)

Gregory William Moore was a Canadian professional race car driver who competed in the Indy Lights and Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) series from 1993 to 1999. He began competitive karting at the age of ten and…

1999

Ring Lardner

Jr., American journalist and screenwriter (born 1915)

Ringgold Wilmer Lardner Jr. was an American screenwriter and novelist. After enjoying early success in Hollywood, he was subpoenaed in 1947 by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), where he refused to…

2000

Kazuki Watanabe

Japanese songwriter and guitarist (born 1981)

Kazuki Watanabe , known by his stage name Kazuki (華月), was a Japanese musician known as guitarist and lead songwriter of the visual kei rock band Raphael. The group became quite popular, with all their releases entering…

2000

Régine Cavagnoud

French skier (born 1970)

Régine Cavagnoud was a World Cup alpine ski racer from France. She was the World Cup and World Champion in Super-G in 2001. Later that year, Cavagnoud was involved in a high-speed collision while training and died two…

2001

Lionel Poilâne

French banker and businessman (born 1945)

Lionel Poilâne was a French baker and entrepreneur whose commitment to crafting quality bread earned him worldwide renown. His father, Pierre Poilâne started a baking business in 1932, creating bread using stone-ground…

2002

Michail Stasinopoulos

Greek jurist and politician, President of Greece (born 1903)

Michail Stasinopoulos was a Greek jurist and politician who served as the President of Greece from 18 December 1974 to 19 July 1975. A member of New Democracy, he was the first officeholder under the Third Hellenic…

2002

Raf Vallone

Italian footballer and actor (born 1916)

Raffaele "Raf" Vallone was an Italian actor and footballer. One of the top male Italian stars of the 1950s and 1960s, he first became known for his association with the neorealist movement, and found success in several…

2002

Richard Neustadt

American political scientist and historian (born 1919)

Richard Elliott Neustadt was an American political scientist specializing in the United States presidency. He served as adviser to several presidents. His book Presidential Power has been described as "one of the most…

2003

Hal Anger

American biophysicist and engineer (born 1920)

Hal Oscar Anger was an American electrical engineer and biophysicist at Donner Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, known for his invention of the gamma camera.

2005

Amrita Pritam

Indian author and poet (born 1919)

Amrita Pritam was an Indian novelist, essayist and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi. A prominent figure in Punjabi literature, she is the recipient of the 1956 Sahitya Akademi Award. Her body of work comprised over…

2005

P. W. Botha

South African soldier and politician, State President of South Africa (born 1916)

Pieter Willem Botha, was a South African politician who served as the last Prime Minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and as the first executive State President of South Africa from 1984 until his resignation in…

2006

Peter Fryer

English journalist and author (born 1927)

Peter Fryer was an English Marxist writer and journalist. Among his most influential works is the 1984 book Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain.

2006

Erdal İnönü

Turkish physicist and politician, Prime Minister of Turkey (born 1926)

Erdal İnönü was a Turkish theoretical physicist and politician who served as the interim prime minister of Turkey between 16 May and 25 June 1993. He also served as the deputy prime minister of Turkey from 1991 to 1993…

2007

Studs Terkel

American historian and author (born 1912)

Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1985 for The Good War and is best remembered for his oral histories of common…

2008

Mustafa Mahmud

Egyptian physician and author (born 1921)

Mustafa Kamal Mahmoud Hussein was an Egyptian doctor, philosopher, and author. Mustafa was born in Shibin el-Kom, Monufia province. He was trained as a doctor, but later chose a career as a journalist and author,…

2009

Tom Wheatcroft

English businessman, founded the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition (born 1922)

Frederick Bernard "Tom" Wheatcroft was an English businessman and car collector. He made his fortune through building and construction, and was known for resurrecting the Donington Park motor racing circuit and founding…

2009

Qian Xuesen

Chinese aerodynamicist and academic (born 1911)

Qian Xuesen was a Chinese aerospace engineer and cyberneticist who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics and established engineering cybernetics. He achieved recognition as one of America's leading…

2009

Ted Sorensen

American lawyer, 8th White House Counsel (born 1928)

Theodore Chaikin Sorensen was an American lawyer, writer, and presidential adviser. He was the primary speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy, as well as one of his closest advisers. President Kennedy once called…

2010

Flórián Albert

Hungarian footballer and manager (born 1941)

Flórián György Albert was a Hungarian professional football player, manager and sports official, who was named European Footballer of the Year in 1967. Nicknamed "The Emperor", he played as a forward, and has been…

2011

Roberto Lippi

Italian race car driver (born 1926)

Roberto Lippi was a racing driver from Italy. He was the inaugural champion of the Campionato Italiano for Formula Junior cars in 1958, and participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, all at Monza…

2011

Gae Aulenti

Italian architect and designer (born 1927)

Gaetana "Gae" Emilia Aulenti was an Italian architect and designer. Aulenti began her career in the early 1950s, establishing herself as one of the few prominent female architects in post-war Italy.

2012

John Fitch

American race car driver and engineer (born 1917)

John Cooper Fitch was an American racing driver and inventor. He was the first American to race automobiles successfully in Europe in the post-war era.

2012

John H. Reed

American soldier and politician, 67th Governor of Maine (born 1921)

John Hathaway Reed was an American diplomat and politician who served as the 67th governor of Maine, holding office during the 1960s. He was once an Aroostook County potato farmer. Reed was a Republican who took office…

2012

Chris Chase (aka Irene Kane)

American actress and author (born 1924)

Chris Chase, also known by the stage name Irene Kane, was an American model, film actress, writer, and journalist. Her best-known role was in Killer's Kiss. She later wrote advice books and co-authored several celebrity…

2013

Gérard de Villiers

French journalist and author (born 1929)

Gérard de Villiers was a French writer, journalist and publisher whose SAS series of spy novels have been major bestsellers.

2013

Trevor Kletz

English chemist and author (born 1922)

Trevor Asher Kletz was a British author on the topic of chemical engineering safety. He was a central figure in establishing the discipline of process safety. He is credited with introducing the concept of inherent…

2013

Johnny Kucks

American baseball player (born 1933)

John Charles Kucks was an American pitcher for the New York Yankees and Kansas City Athletics in Major League Baseball. In 1952, he was signed as an amateur free agent. Johnny Kucks won the final game of the 1956 World…

2013

Andres Narvasa

Filipino lawyer and jurist, 19th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (born 1928)

Andres dela Rosa Narvasa was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from December 1, 1991, to November 30, 1998.

2013

Bobby Parker

American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1937)

Robert Lee Parker was an American blues-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his 1961 song "Watch Your Step", a single for the V-Tone record label which reached the Billboard Hot 100; the song…

2013

David Manker Abshire

American commander and diplomat, United States Permanent Representative to NATO (born 1926)

David Manker Abshire was an American politician who served as a Special Counselor to President Ronald Reagan and was the United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 1983 to 1987. Abshire presided over the Center…

2014

Michael Alsbury

American engineer and pilot (born 1975)

Michael Tyner Alsbury was an American test pilot for Scaled Composites. He died on October 31, 2014, during test flight PF04 of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo VSS Enterprise.

2014

Brad Halsey

American baseball player (born 1981)

Bradford Alexander Halsey was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees in 2004, for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2005, and for the Oakland Athletics in 2006.

2014

Hitoshi Motoshima

Japanese educator and politician (born 1922)

Hitoshi Motoshima was a Japanese politician. He served four terms as mayor of Nagasaki from 1979 to 1995. He publicly made controversial statements about the responsibility of Japan and its then-reigning Emperor for…

2014

Gus Savage

American businessman and politician (born 1925)

Augustus Alexander "Gus" Savage was an American entrepreneur, publisher and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois. He served six terms from 1981 to 1993.

2015

Willie McCovey

American baseball player (born 1938)

Willie Lee McCovey, nicknamed "Stretch" and "Willie Mac", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman from 1959 to 1980, most notably as a member of the San…

2018

Sean Connery

Scottish actor (born 1930)

Sir Thomas Sean Connery was a Scottish actor. Connery was the first actor to portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond in motion pictures, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. He originated…

2020

MF Doom

British-American rapper and record producer (born 1971)

Daniel Dumile, also known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom, was a British and American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and "supervillain" stage…

2020

Peter Philpott

Australian cricketer (born 1934)

Peter Ian Philpott was an Australian cricketer. He was a leg-spin bowler and middle order batsman who played for New South Wales and the national team in the 1960s. More recently, he was known as a coach.

2021

Ken Mattingly

American astronaut (born 1936)

Thomas Kenneth Mattingly II was an American aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, rear admiral in the United States Navy, and astronaut who orbited the Moon on Apollo 16 and flew on the STS-4 and STS-51-C missions.

2023

Notable deaths

Who died on October 31?

Bill Durnan — Canadian ice hockey player (1916–1972)

FeaturedBill Durnan

Death year1972

Known forHe was one of the best goaltenders in his time, winning the Vezina Trophy for fewest goals allowed six times, being named First All-Star team as best goaltender six times, and helping the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup twice

Deaths on this date109 (932 – 2023)

Explore October 31

Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.

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Also on October 31 in History

2020

Berlin Brandenburg Airport opens its doors after nearly 10 years of delays due to construction issues and project corruption. Wikipedia →

2017

A truck drives into a crowd in Lower Manhattan, New York City, killing eight people. Wikipedia →

2015

Metrojet Flight 9268 is bombed over the northern Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board. Wikipedia →

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Notable Deaths on October 31

1972 — Bill Durnan

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