21st OCTOBER
George Plantaganet, Duke of Clarence (b. 1449)
Katsushika Hokusai (b. 1760)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (b. 1772)
Alfred Nobel (b. 1833)
Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence (b. 1867)
Edna Purviance (b. 1895)
Lord (Peter) Graves (b. 1911)
Sir Georg Solti (b. 1912)
Owen Bradley (b. 1915)
Dizzy Gillespie (b. 1917)
Sir Malcolm Arnold (b. 1921)
Celia Cruz (b. 1924)
Leonard Rossiter (b. 1925)
Georgia Brown (b. 1933)
Derek Bell (b. 1935)
Brent Mydland (b. 1952)
Charles VI, King of France (d. 1422)
Edmund Waller (d. 1687)
Lord (Horatio) Nelson (d. 1805)
Arthur Schnitzler (d. 1931)
Bill Black (d. 1965)
Jack Kerouac (d. 1969)
Francois Truffaut (d. 1984)
Jo Ann Kelly (d. 1990)
Steven Jesse Bernstein (d. 1991)
Jim Garrison (d. 1992)
Maxene Andrews (d. 1995)
Peter Barkworth (d. 2006)
RB Kitaj (d. 2007)
Crusaders arive in front of Antioch, OS 1097
Charles VII ascends to throne of Southern France, OS 1420
Battle of Trafalgar, Cape Trafalgar, 1805
Portland cement patented by Joseph Aspdin, Wakefield, 1824
James F O'Connell, 1st tattooed man, put on view, Franklin Th, New York NY, 1849
Can-Can 1st performed, Orpheus of the Underworld, Paris, 1858
Earthquake occurs, San Francisco CA, 1868
Prototype Edison electric bulb expires after 14½ hrs, US, 1879
Dumont flies airship around Eiffel Tower, Paris, 1901
1st planetarium opened, Munich, 1923
BBC begin regional broadcasting service, 1929
Mao Tse Tung's Long March begins, China, 1934
Purchase tax introduced, UK, 1940
Facsimile high-speed radio transmissions demonstrated, Washington DC, 1948
1st woman peers introduced, House of Lords, 1958
Guggenheim Museum opened to public, New York NY, 1959
1st nuclear submarine, HMS Dreadnought, launched, Barrow, 1960
144 die in slag heap disaster, Aberfan, 1966
Willy Brandt elected Chancellor of West Germany, 1969
Sydney Opera House officially opened by Elizabeth II, 1973
Radio City 1st goes on air, Liverpool, 1974
Unemployment 1st exceeds 1 million since World War II, 1975
Madonna's book Sex launched, 1992
Lauren Hutton injured in motorcycle accident, Las Vegas NV, 2000

22nd OCTOBER
Franz Liszt (b. 1811)
Sarah Bernhardt (b. 1844)
Lord (Alfred) Douglas (b. 1870)
Edmund Dulac (b. 1882)
Timothy Leary (b. 1920)
Robert Rauschenberg (b. 1925)
Bobby Fuller (b. 1942)
Stiv Bators (b. 1949)
Samuel Arnold (d. 1802)
Thomas Sheraton (d. 1806)
Paul Cézanne (d. 1906)
Walter Davis (d. 1963)
Pablo Casals (d. 1973)
Arnold Joseph Toynbee (d. 1975)
Nadia Boulanger (d. 1979)
Ewan MacColl (d. 1989)
Cleavon Little (d. 1992)
Sir Kingsley Amis (d. 1995)
Eric Ambler (d. 1998)
2,000 die when 4 Royal Navy ships miscalculate position, Scilly Isles, 1707
Princeton University receives its charter, Princeton NJ, 1746
André Garnerin makes 1st balloon parachute jump, Parc Monceau, Paris, 1797
207 die in firedamp explosion, Blantyre Colliery, 1877
Titbits 1st published, 1881
Metropolitan Opera House opened, New York NY, 1883
Elise Deroche 1st woman to fly solo, 1909
Crippen sentenced for poisoning his wife, Old Bailey, 1910
Trans-Australian railway opened, Kalgoorlie-Port Augusta, 1917
Al Capone sentenced to 11 years in Alcatraz for tax evasion, 1931
Duke & Duchess of Windsor arrive to meet Hitler, Berlin, 1937
Chester Carlson patents 1st electrostatic dry-copier, Xerox Model A, 1938
Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf begins, 1944
Non-metallic fastener patented by SA Velcro, 1952
Kennedy announces that USSR has installed missiles in Cuba, 1962
Mandela's trial for treason begins, 1962
1st volume of Gutenberg bible sells at auction for record £3_26m, 1987
Bus driver shot dead in 13th and final attack of Beltway Sniper, Aspen Hill MD, 2002

23nd OCTOBER
Adlai Ewing Stevenson (b. 1835)
Pierre Larousse (b. 1837)
Robert Bridges (b. 1844)
Johnny Carson (b. 1925)
Diana Dors (b. 1931)
Dame Anita Roddick (b. 1942)
Roger Scott (b. 1943)
Marcus Junius Brutus (d. BC 42)
Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (d. 1869)
Théophilé Gautier (d. 1872)
WG Grace (d. 1915)
John Boyd Dunlop (d. 1921)
Dutch Schultz (d. 1935)
Zane Grey (d. 1939)
Al Jolson (d. 1950)
Clarice Cliff (d. 1972)
Leonard Lee (d. 1976)
Maybelle Carter (d. 1978)
Oskar Werner (d. 1984)
Gavin Ewart (d. 1995)
Christopher Gable (d. 1998)
Adolph Green (d. 2002)
James Ussher's date for Creation of World, 9 hr, BC 4004
2nd Battle of Philippi, BC 42
Franco-Scottish alliance, 1295
Battle of Edgehill, Civil War, Cotswolds, 1642
1st parliament of Great Britain meets, Westminster, 1707
1st UK cosmetic surgery performed, on a nose, 1814
Manchester becomes a Borough of Lancashire, 1838
Freud's father dies, 1896
1st Post Office motor van goes into service, UK, 1897
25,000 women demonstrate in favour of suffrage, New York, 1915
Bonar Law becomes prime minister, UK, 1922
1st automatic record-changer demonstrated, Tasmania, 1925
Battle of El Alamein begins, 1942
1st meeting of UN General Assembly, New York NY, 1946
UK, France, US & USSR agree to end German occupation, 1954
Hungarian Revolution against USSR leadership begins, Budapest, 1956
1st video recording on magnetic tape televised coast-to-coast, CBS TV, US, 1956
Stevie Wonder records Thank You For Loving Me All The Way, his 1st Motown record, 1962
National Theatre Company comes into being, London, 1963
Jimi Hendrix Experience record Hey Joe, London, 1966
George Blake escapes using steel knitting-needles ladder, Wormwood Scrubs, 1966
World record 631_367 mph reached by Gabelich, in Blue Flame rocket car, Utah, 1970
Access credit card introduced, UK, 1972
Sid Vicious attempts suicide, Rikers Island Detention Centre, New York, 1978
Lester Piggott sentenced to 3 years for tax evasion, UK, 1987
Dolphins 1st used to detect Gulf War mines, US Navy, 1987
Hungary changes from a People's Republic to a Republic, 1989
Nirvana play 1st European gig, Newcastle Riverside, 1989
House of Lords rule that men can be convicted of raping their wives, 1991
HMS Vanguard, 1st UK Trident, launched, 1992
1st National British Sausage Convention held, London, 1993

24th OCTOBER
Aurangzeb (b. OS 1618)
Jacques Laffitte (b. 1767)
Ernst Richter (b. 1808)
James Maybrick (b. 1838)
Dame Sybil Thorndyke (b. 1882)
Jack Warner (b. 1894)
Moss Hart (b. 1904)
Sir Fred Pontin (b. 1906)
Sonny Terry (b. 1911)
Tito Gobbi (b. 1915)
Bob Kane (b. 1915)
Marghanita Laski (b. 1915)
Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
Sir Robin Day (b. 1923)
Willie Mabon (b. 1925)
Luciano Berio (b. 1925)
Big Bopper (b. 1930)
Ronald Kray (b. 1933)
Reginald Kray (b. 1933)
Paul Ryan (b. 1948)
Jane Seymour, Queen of England (d. 1537)
Tycho Brahe (d. 1601)
Pierre Gassendi (d. 1655)
Alessandro Scarlatti (d. 1725)
Daniel Webster (d. 1852)
Francis Turner Palgrove (d. 1897)
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (d. 1898)
Sir William Herschel (d. 1917)
George Cadbury (d. 1922)
Vidkun Quisling (d. 1945)
Franz Lehár (d. 1948)
Christian Dior (d. 1957)
GE Moore (d. 1958)
Gene Roddenberry (d. 1991)
Lord (Jo) Grimond (d. 1993)
Raul Julia (d. 1994)
Gioconda da Vito (d. 1994)
David Kelly (d. 1996)
Bob Kane (d. 1998)
Rosa Parks (d. 2005)
Notre Dame Cathedral consecrated, Chartres, 1260
James proclaimed King of England, Scotland, France & Ireland, 1604
Gt Britain comes into being, 1604
Treaty of Westphalia ends Thirty Year War, 1648
1st football club formed, by Cambridge University Old Boys, Sheffield, 1857
Pony Express Mail Service ceases to operate, US, 1861
Transcontinental telegraph lines completed, US, 1861
Anna Edson Taylor is 1st to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, 1901
Austria-Hungary surrenders to Allies, 1918
Wall Street Crash begins, Black Thursday, New York NY, 1929
George Washington Bridge opened to traffic, New York-New Jersey, 1931
1st ladies' nylon hosiery goes on sale, Wilmington DE, 1939
United Nations formally comes into being, 1945
Soviet troops intervene, Hungary, 1956
US Blockade of Cuba begins, 1962
N Rhodesia becomes independent Republic of Zambia, 1964
Richard Burton buys $1m 69ct diamond ring for Elizabeth Taylor, 1969
Yom Kippur War ends, 1973
Largest record store opened, HMV, Oxford St, 1986
Jim Bakker fined and sentenced to 45 years for fraud, US, 1988
Hassan Raza becomes youngest Test cricketer, 1996
John Muhammad and John Malvo arrested on Beltway Sniper charges, Frederick MD, 2002
Concorde completes last commercial flight, New York-Heathrow, 2003

25th OCTOBER
Lord (Thomas Babington) Macauley (b. 1800)
Richard Bonington (b. 1801)
Johann Strauss the Younger (b. 1825)
Georges Bizet (b. 1838)
Pablo Picasso (b. 1881)
Richard Byrd (b. 1888)
Abel Gance (b. 1889)
Minnie Pearl (b. 1912)
Klaus Barbie (b. 1913)
John Berryman (b. 1914)
Earl Palmer (b. 1924)
Stephen, King of England (d. 1154)
Geoffrey Chaucer (d. 1400)
Giorgione (d. 1510)
George II, King of Gt Britain (d. 1760)
Peter Tchaikovsky (d. OS 1893)
Sir Charles Hallé (d. 1895)
Frederick William Rolfe (d. 1913)
Robert Delaunay (d. 1941)
Lord Dunsany (d. 1957)
Nick Drake (d. 1974)
Richard Brautigan (d. 1984)
Mary McCarthy (d. 1989)
Roger Miller (d. 1992)
Vincent Price (d. 1993)
Jack Jones (d. 1993)
Mildred Natwick (d. 1994)
Richard Harris (d. 2002)
John Peel (d. 2004)
Charles VI crowned King of France, Reims, OS 1380
English defeat French, Battle of Agincourt, Hundred Years' War, 1415
George III proclaimed King of Great Britain, 1760
Erie Canal (New York State Barge Canal) opened, New York NY, 1825
Bradshaw's Railway Companion, 1st national timetable, published, 1839
Lord Cardigan leads charge of the Light Brigade, Battle of Balaklava, 1854
Airbrush patented, 1881
Annexation of the Transvaal, 1900
Sinn Féin elects de Valera as its 1st leader as a republican party, 1917
1st scheduled transcontinental air service begins, 1930
Florence Foster Jenkins sells out Carnegie Hall, New York NY, 1944
Margaret Roberts (26) becomes youngest candidate to stand at a general election, 1951
1st microwave oven introduced by Tappan, Mansfield, OH, 1955
Bulova Accutron, 1st electronic wrist watch, launched, New York NY, 1960
Private Eye 1st published, 1961
Burt Reynolds and Judy Carne divorce, 1966
Foot-and-mouth plague begins, Oswestry, 1967
Taiwan leaves and China People's Republic admitted to United Nations, 1971
National Theatre opened, South Bank, London, 1976
2,000 US Marines invade Grenada to take control from Soviet-Cubans, 1983
Windsor Safari Park suddenly closes to public, 1992
Reading Room closes, British Museum, London, 1997

26th OCTOBER
Domenico Scarlatti (b. 1685)
Sweeney Todd (b. 1756)
Georges-Jacques Danton (b. 1759)
Joseph Hansom (b. 1803)
Leon Trotsky (b. OS 1879)
Beryl Markham (b. 1902)
Mahalia Jackson (b. 1911)
Don Siegel (b. 1912)
Jackie Coogan (b. 1914)
François Mitterrand (b. 1916)
Alfred the Great, King of Wessex (d. 899)
Elizabeth, Queen of Scotland (d. 1327)
William Hogarth (d. 1764)
Elizabeth Stanton (d. 1902)
Nikos Kazantzakis (d. 1957)
Alma Cogan (d. 1966)
Igor Sikorsky (d. 1972)
Elbridge Bryant (d. 1975)
Wilbert Harrison (d. 1994)
Bobby Riggs (d. 1995)
Richard Seifert (d. 2001)
Prince Edward proclaimed Keeper Of The Realm, 1326
100 die at Fatal Vespers, Blackfriars, 1623
New York State Barge Canal (or Erie Canal) opened to traffic, 1825
Asiatic cholera 1st appears in England, Sunderland, 1831
Telegraph service inaugurated in US, 1861
English Football Association formed, 1863
Gunfight At OK Corral takes place, Tombstone AZ, 1881
Workers form 1st Russian Soviet, St Petersburg (Leningrad), 1905
Territorial Army established, UK, 1907
Tunnel linking Woolwich and North Woolwich opened, Thames, 1912
October Revolution (NS 7th November), Russia, 1917
Rebuilt chamber of House of Commons opened by George VI, 1950
International Atomic Energy Agency formed, 1956
BOAC inaugurates 1st New York-London jet passenger service, 1958
Pan-Am inaugurates 1st New York-Paris jet passenger service, 1958
The Beatles receive their MBEs, Buckingham Palace, 1965
Soyuz III launched, USSR, 1968
Sheila Ann Thorns gives birth to sextuplets, Birmingham, 1968
Doonesbury comic strip introduced, 1970
Alcatraz Prison opened for guided tours, San Francisco Bay, 1972
IRA bomb blast, Wimpy, Oxford St, London, 1981
Ayers Rock returned to Aborigines, 1985
De-regulation of bus services takes effect, UK, 1986
IKEA takes over Habitat, UK, 1992
Israel and Jordan sign Peace Accord, 1994
End of Sixth Millenium, 0900 hr, 1997
Courtney Love makes her live solo debut, Ventura Th, Ventura CA, 2001

27th OCTOBER
Catherine of Valois (b. 1401)
Desiderius Erasmus (b. 1466)
Capt James Cook (b. 1728)
Niccolò Paganini (b. 1782)
Isaac Singer (b. 1811)
Theodore Roosevelt (b. 1858)
Emily Post (b. 1872)
Dylan Thomas (b. 1914)
Harry Saltzman (b. 1915)
Oliver Tambo (b. 1917)
Roy Lichtenstein (b. 1923)
Sylvia Plath (b. 1932)
Carrie Snodgress (b. 1945)
Athelstan, King of England (d. 939)
Ivan the Great (d. 1515)
Lascelles Abercrombie (d. 1938)
Lise Meitner (d. 1968)
James Cain (d. 1977)
Steve Peregrine Took (d. 1980)
Charles Hawtrey (d. 1988)
Jacques Demy (d. 1990)
Xavier Cugat (d. 1990)
Sir Andrzej Panufnik (d. 1991)
Robert White (d. 1992)
Tom Dowd (d. 2002)
Sarah Josepha Hale's date for Creation of Adam and Eve, BC 4001
2nd Battle of Newbury, 1644
US Navy established, 1775
Florida boundary settled, Treaty of San Lorenzo, 1795
French troops make unsuccessful invasion of Ireland, 1798
1st RH Macy & Co Store opened, New York NY, 1858
Garibaldi begins march on Rome, 1867
Liverpool Echo first published, 1879
1st section of New York Subway opened, 1904
US troops enter World War I, France, 1917
Fox Movietone News, 1st with sound, shown, Roxy Th, New York, 1927
Courtauld Institute of Art established, 1930
Wallis Simpson divorced from 2nd husband, US, 1936
Present Prince of Wales Theatre opened, 1937
Japanese fleet defeated at naval Battle of Leyte Gulf, 1944
Winston Churchill again becomes prime minister of UK, 1951
Elvis Presley makes Hollywood debut, Pan Pacific Auditorium, 1957
China admits to firing guided missile with nuclear warhead, Peking, 1966
Abortion Act given Royal Assent, UK, 1967
Earthquake destroys Banja Luka, central Yugoslavia, 1969
Wildlife in 3,000-acre destroyed after 2 bitten by rabid dog, Camberley, 1969
Republic of the Congo becomes Zaïre, 1971
Mariner 9 ceases to operate, Mars, 1972
Paul Weller announces that the The Jam are to break up, 1982
Big Bang takes place, Stock Exchange, City of London, 1986
Neighbours 1st broadcast, 1986
Channel 5 Broadcasting awarded licence to run Channel 5, UK, 1995
Dow Jones index falls 554.26 points, forcing stock market to shut down, US, 1997
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva elected president of Brazil, 2002

28th OCTOBER
Cornelius Jansen (b. 1585)
Auguste Escoffier (b. 1846)
Prince Keiko Tokugawa (b. 1857)
Evelyn Waugh (b. 1903)
Lee Krasner (b. 1908)
Francis Bacon (b. 1909)
Jonas Salk (b. 1914)
Ian Hamilton Finlay (b. 1925)
Andy Warhol (b. 1930)
Ted Hawkins (b. 1936)
Graham Bond (b. 1937)
Elton Dean (b. 1945)
Rodolphus Agricola (d. 1485)
Jahangir (d. 1627)
John Locke (d. 1704)
Prince George of Denmark, Consort of Queen Anne (d. 1708)
John Smeaton (d. 1792)
Charlotte Smith (d. 1806)
Ottmar Mergenthaler (d. 1899)
Georges Gurdjeff (d. 1949)
Earl Bostic (d. 1965)
John Braine (d. 1986)
Eddie Waring (d. 1986)
Jean Hélion (d. 1987)
André Masson (d. 1987)
Jack de Manio (d. 1988)
Henry Hall (d. 1989)
Vince Taylor (d. 1991)
Ted Hughes (d. 1998)
Porter Wagoner (d. 2007)
Coronation of Henry III, 1216
Christopher Columbus discovers Cuba, 1492
Harvard College founded, Cambridge MA, 1636
Lima & Celao demolished by earthquake, 1746
Statue of Liberty unveiled, New York NY, 1886
HMS Havock, 1st Royal Navy destroyer, goes on trials, 1893
Fingerprint investigation 1st introduced by US police, St Louis MI, 1904
Czechoslovakia spontaneously declared a republic, Wenceslaus Square, Prague, 1918
1st aircraft birth takes place, Miami FL, 1929
London share prices fall following Wall Street Crash, Black Monday, 1929
Italy invades Greece, 1940
Flag of Israel adopted, 1948
Sooty 1st appears on BBC TV, 1949
Today 1st broadcast, BBC Home Service, 1957
Queen's speech for opening of Parliament 1st televised, 1958
1st car telephone service introduced, 1959
Beatles play 1st major UK concert, The Empire, Liverpool, 1962
Tanzania named, 1964
House of Commons vote in favour of joining Common Market, 1971
The Who premiere Quadrophenia, Trentham Gardens, Stoke-on-Trent, 1973
Father Jerzy Popieluszko murdered by Polish police, 1984
Nirvana play Smells Like Teen Spirit live on Top Of The Pops, 1991

29th OCTOBER
Edmond Halley (b. OS 1656)
James Boswell (b. OS 1740)
Charlotte Stuart, Duchess of Albany (bapt. 1753)
Jean Giraudoux (b. 1882)
Irwin Charwin (b. 1891)
Fanny Brice (b. 1891)
Joseph Goebbels (b. 1897)
Susie Cooper (b. 1902)
Vivian Ellis (b. 1904)
Edwige Feuillère (b. 1907)
Sir Alfred Ayer (b. 1910)
Zoot Sims (b. 1925)
RB Kitaj (b. 1932)
Sir Walter Raleigh (d. 1618)
James Shirley (d. 1666)
Luke Hansard (d. 1828)
Joseph Pulitzer (d. 1911)
Frances Hodgson Burnett (d. 1924)
Louis B Mayer (d. 1957)
Michael Holliday (d. 1963)
Duane Allman (d. 1971)
Ursula Bloom (d. 1984)
Woody Herman (d. 1987)
Pietro Annigoni (d. 1988)
Sir Kenneth MacMillan (d. 1992)
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (d. 2004)
Anthony Clare (d. 2007)
1st performance of Don Giovanni, Prague, 1787
International Red Cross founded, Geneva, 1863
Suez Canal opened to vessels, Constantinople Convention, 1888
Battle of Warsaw, 1914
Turkish Republic proclaimed, 1923
Runnin' Wild, which introduced the Charleston, opened on Broadway, 1923
Great Depression follows Wall St Crash, Black Tuesday, 1929
Atomic Energy Research Establishment set up, Harwell, 1945
Israeli forces invade Sinai Peninsula, 1956
Beale St declared national landmark as birthplace of the blues, Memphis TN, 1966
Expo-67 opened, Montreal, 1967
1st ARPANET connection made between UCLA and Stanford Research Institute, US, 1969
Final section of M25 opened, London, 1986
Galileo takes 1st close-up photo of an asteroid, Gaspra, 1991
John Glenn becomes oldest man to enter space, Discovery, 1998

30th OCTOBER
Sawrey Gilpin (b. 1733)
Angelica Kauffmann (b. 1741)
Richard Brinsley Sheridan (b. 1751)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (b. 1821)
Alfred Sisley (b. 1839)
Paul Valéry (b. 1871)
Ezra Pound (b. 1885)
Charles Atlas (b. 1893)
Peter Warlock (b. 1894)
Ruth Gordon (b. 1896)
Teo Macero (b. 1925)
Nestor Almendros (b. 1930)
Louis Malle (b. 1932)
William Bentinck, Duke of Portland (d. 1809)
Edmund Cartwright (d. 1823)
John Chubb (d. 1872)
Henri Dunant (d. 1910)
Andrew Bonar Law (d. 1923)
Dame Rose Macauley (d. 1958)
Jim Mollison (d. 1959)
Conrad Richter (d. 1968)
Ramon Novarro (d. 1968)
Gustav Hertz (d. 1975)
Sir Barnes Wallis (d. 1979)
Terry Southern (d. 1995)
Samuel Fuller (d. 1997)
Jam Master Jay (d. 2002)
Henry VII establishes Yeomen of the Guard, 1485
Society of Friends (Quakers), founded by George Fox, comes into being, 1650
Bolivar establishes independent government, Venezuela, 1817
Caledonian Canal opened, Scotland, 1822
Fire at Tower of London, 1841
Tsar of Russia agrees October Manifesto, 1905
Aspirin 1st goes on sale, UK, 1905
Manchu Dynasty ends with Chinese Emperor's surrender of absolute power, 1911
Republic of Czechoslovakia proclaimed, 1918
Mussolini appointed prime minister and forms Fascist ministry, Italy, 1922
Baird transmits 1st facial image, Frith St, London, 1925
1st Gang Show presented by Ralph Reader, Scala Th, London, 1932
500,000 ton asteroid makes record close pass to Earth, 1937
Orson Welles' radio production of The War of Worlds broadcast, 1938
The Crystals' Oh Yeah Maybe Baby becomes 1st single released by Philles, US, 1961
1st unmanned docking in space takes place, between 2 Soviet satellites, 1967
Jim Morrison sentenced in exposure case, Miami, 1970
Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour begins, Plymouth MA, 1975
Sun Myung Moon marries 6,516 couples, Seoul, 1988
England & France connected by a Channel Tunnel bore hole, 1990
Queen Elizabeth Bridge over R Thames opened, Dartford, 1991
Stone Roses announce split, 1996
Royal Greenwich Observatory closed, Cambridge, 1998
Lonnie Donegan makes final performance, Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, 2002

31st OCTOBER
John Evelyn (b. 1620)
Jan Vermeer (b. 1632)
John Bevis (b. 1693)
John Keats (b. 1795)
Philo Remington (b. 1816)
Joseph Swan (b. 1828)
Alexander Borodin (b. OS 1834)
Henri Regnault (b. 1843)
Lord (Cosmo) Lang (b. 1864)
LS Lowry (b. 1887)
Helmut Newton (b. 1920)
Barbara Bel Geddes (b. 1922)
Illinois Jacquet (b. 1922)
Michael Landon (b. 1936)
John Candy (b. 1950)
Bernard Edwards (b. 1952)
William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (d. 1765)
Dan Leno (d. 1904)
Harry Houdini (d. 1926)
Max Reinhardt (d. 1943)
Augustus John (d. 1961)
Indira Gandhi (d. 1984)
John Houseman (d. 1988)
Roger Scott (d. 1989)
Joseph Papp (d. 1991)
Federico Fellini (d. 1993)
River Phoenix (d. 1993)
Marcel Carné (d. 1996)
Lord (Immanuel) Jakobovits of Regent's Park (d. 1999)
PW Botha (d. 2006)
Studs Terkel (d. 2008)
Coronation of Henry VII takes place, Westminster Abbey, 1485
Luther nails 95 Theses to door, Castle Church, Wittenberg, 1517
1st stone of Blackfriars Bridge laid, London, 1760
Nevada, the Sagebrush or Battle Born State, becomes 36th state of the Union, 1864
1st telegraph cable across Pacific completed, Suva, 1902
Hampden Park, Queen's Park Football Club home ground, opened, Glasgow, 1903
National University of Ireland comes into being, Dublin, 1909
Queen's University comes into being, Belfast, 1909
Shah of Persia deposed, 1925
Battle of Britain ends, 1940
Dumbo 1st released, 1941
Gutzon Borglum ends work on presidential bust carvings, Mt Rushmore, 1941
Zebra crossing introduced, UK, 1951
Princess Margaret announces she shall not marry Capt Peter Townsend, 1951
UK & French troops bomb Egyptian airfields, Suez, 1956
GJ Dufek becomes 1st American to land at South Pole, 1956
Dr Ake Senning fits 1st internal heart pacemaker, to Arne Larsson, Stockholm, 1958
Queen Mary embarks on final journey, to Long Beach CA, Southampton, 1967
Windmill Theatre closed, London, 1964
MC5 recorded live Kick Out The Jams album, Grande Ballroom, Detroit MI, 1968
Post Office Tower suffers bomb damage, London, 1971
London Evening News ceases publication, London, 1980
1st raising of Thames Barrier takes place, 1981
Siouxsie & the Banshees record live LP Nocturne, Royal Albert Hall, 1983
Radio 1 1st broadcast on own VHF waveband, London, 1987
The Times publishes its final broadsheet edition, UK, 2004

Last updated: April 11, 2009