What are the important events that happened on October 31? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

October 31: Facts & Myths About This Day

October 31 is the 304^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 61 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is October 18, 2025 – a Friday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 489,408 hours has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘trihectatetragon’ day.

Scorpio is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Opal is the modern birthstone for this month. Jasper is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 109 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,697 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

October 31 Historical Events

• 1917 –
  World War I: Battle of Beersheba – “last successful cavalry charge in history”.
• 1924 –
  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).
• 1938 –
  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.
• 1941 –
  World War II: The destroyer USS Reuben James is torpedoed by a German U-boat near Iceland, killing more than 100 United States Navy sailors. It is the first U.S. Navy vessel sunk by enemy action in WWII.
• 1943 –
  World War II: An F4U Corsair accomplishes the first successful radar-guided interception.
• 1963 –
  An explosion at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum (now Pepsi Coliseum) in Indianapolis kills 74 people during an ice skating show. The explosion also injures 400. A faulty propane tank connection in a concession stand is blamed.
• 1998 –
  Iraq disarmament crisis begins: Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.
• 1999 –
  EgyptAir Flight 990 traveling from New York City to Cairo crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 on-board.
• 2003 –
  Bethany Hamilton is attacked by a tiger shark and loses her left arm and three liters of blood.
• 2003 –
  Mahathir bin Mohamad resigns as Prime Minister of Malaysia and is replaced by Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, marking an end to Mahathir’s 22 years in power.

Who were born on October 31?

• 1835 –
  Adelbert Ames, American general, 27th and 30th Governor of Mississippi (d. 1933)
• 1875 –
  Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian freedom fighter and statesman (d. 1950)
• 1917 –
  William Hardy McNeill, Canadian-born historian
• 1939 –
  Tom O'Connor, British comedian
• 1960 –
  Mike Gallego, American baseball player
• 1966 –
  Annabella Lwin, British singer (Bow Wow Wow)
• 1967 –
  Irina Pantaeva, Russian model and actress
• 1971 –
  Ian Walker, English footballer
• 1972 –
  Grigoris Georgatos, Greek footballer
• 1978 –
  Inka Grings, German footballer

Who died on October 31?

• 1733 –
  Eberhard IV Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1676)
• 1879 –
  Jacob Abbott, American author (b. 1803)
• 1883 –
  Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Indian spiritual figure (b. 1824)
• 1939 –
  Otto Rank, Austrian psychologist (b. 1884)
• 1973 –
  Malek Bennabi, Algerian thinker (b. 1905)
• 1988 –
  Alfred Pellan, Québécois painter (b. 1906)
• 1993 –
  River Phoenix, American actor (b. 1970)
• 1996 –
  Marcel Carné, French film director (b. 1906)
• 2001 –
  Régine Cavagnoud, French skier (b. 1970)
• 2006 –
  Peter Fryer, English writer and journalist (b. 1927)