^B{^#!16!31 October^N! All Hallows' Eve (Halloween). Feast day of St Quentin or Quintinus, St Bee or Bega, St Wolfgang, and St Foillan of Fosses.
^B{1517^B} Martin Luther nailed his theses on indulgences to the church door at Wittenberg, Germany. ^B{1864^B} Nevada became the 36th state of the Union. ^B{1902^B} The first telegraph cable across the Pacific Ocean was completed. ^B{1940^B} The Battle of Britain ended. ^B{1951^B} Zebra crossings came into effect in Britain. ^B{1952^B} At Eniwetok Atoll, in the Pacific, the US detonated the first hydrogen bomb. ^B{1956^B} British and French troops bombed Egyptian airfields at Suez. ^B{1971^B} An IRA bomb exploded at the top of the Post Office Tower, London, UK. ^B{1982^B} The Thames barrier, part of London's flood defenses, was raised for the first time. ^B{1984^B} Indian Prime Minister Mrs Ghandi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguard.
^B{^I{^#!14!Born ^N}Jan Vermeer, Dutch painter, ^B{1632^B}; John Keats, English poet, ^B{1795^B}; Joseph Wilson Swan, English inventor of the electric lamp, ^B{1828^B}; Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese leader, ^B{1887^B}; Dale Evans, US film actress, ^B{1912^B}; Michael Collins, US astronaut, ^B{1930^B}.
^B{^I{^#!14!Died ^N}^>}Dan Leno, British comedian, ^B{1904^B}; Harry Houdini, US escapologist, ^B{1926^B}; Max Reinhardt, Austrian producer and director, ^B{1943^B}; Augustus John, Welsh painter, ^B{1961^B}; Indira Gandhi, Indian politician, assassinated, ^B{1984^B}; River Phoenix, US film actor, ^B{1993^B}.
