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Today is Thursday, October 31, the 305th day of 2024. There are 61 days left in the year. This is Halloween.
Today in history:
On October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India for more than fifteen years, was assassinated by two of her own guards.
Also on this date:
In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation making Nevada the 36th state, eight days before the presidential election.
In 1913, the Lincoln Highway, the first highway through the United States, was dedicated.
In 1941, work begun in 1927 on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota was completed.
In 1950, Earl Lloyd of the Washington Capitols became the first African American to play in an NBA game; Lloyd would play nine seasons and win an NBA championship with the Syracuse Nationals in 1955.
In 1961, Josef Stalin’s body was removed from Lenin’s grave as part of the Soviet Union’s “de-Stalinization” campaign.
In 1999, EgyptAir Flight 990, en route from New York to Cairo, crashed off the coast of Massachusetts, killing all 217 people on board.
In 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.
In 2011, the United Nations estimated that the world’s population had reached seven billion people (the world’s population today exceeds eight billion).
Today’s Birthdays:
- Actor Lee Grant is 99.
- Former CBS anchor Dan Rather is 93.
- Actor Stephen Rea is 78.
- Olympic gold medal marathoner Frank Shorter is 77.
- TV presenter Jane Pauley is 74.
- Football coach Nick Saban is 73.
- Film director Peter Jackson is 63.
- Rock drummer Larry Mullen Jr. (U2) is 63.
- Rock musician Johnny Marr is 61.
- Baseball Hall of Famer Fred McGriff is 61.
- Actor Dermot Mulroney is 61.
- Country singer Darryl Worley is 60.
- Actor-comedian Mike O’Malley is 58.
- Rap musician Adam Horovitz (Beastie Boys) is 58.
- Rapper Vanilla Ice is 57.
- Actor Leticia Wright is 31.
- Singer Willow Smith is 24.