Today in History: Turgut Özal Elected the 263th President of Turkey with 8 Votes

October 31 is the 304th (305th in leap years) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. The number of days left until the end of the year is 61.

Railways

• October 31, 1919 General Milne complained to Cemal Pasha about the blown up of a bridge near Eskişehir. He asked for the railway line to be secured.

Events 

• 475 - Romulus Augustus is proclaimed Roman Emperor.
• 644 – Omar bin Khattab was attacked with a dagger during the morning prayer in Medina by Abu Lu'lue, who wanted to reduce the tax collected from him, but his demand was not accepted. As the attacker committed suicide, Omar bin Khattab died on 3 November.
• 1517 - Martin Luther declared Protestantism by hanging his 95 theses on the church door in Wittenberg.
• 1831 – Calendar-i Vekayi began to be published.
• 1864 - Nevada became the 36th state of the USA.
• 1876 ​​– Giant hurricane in India: More than 200 people died.
• 1892 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle begins publishing the adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
• 1918 – The short-lived Republic of Banat is established in the Banat region of Southeast Europe.
• 1919 – Sütçü İmam fired the first bullet at the French invaders in Kahramanmaraş.
• 1922 - Mussolini becomes Prime Minister of Italy.
• 1924 – Mustafa Kemal Pasha, on the 1st anniversary of the Republic, said, “The administration most appropriate to the nature and customs of the Turkish nation is the administration of the Republic”.
• 1926 - Famous American illusionist Harry Houdini dies of peritonitis and gangrene as a result of appendicitis.
• 1951 – Crosswalk lines are first used in Berkshire, UK.
• 1952 - The United States tests the first hydrogen bomb in the Marshall Islands.
• 1956 – Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to get the Suez Canal to reopen.
• 1961 – At the 25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the body of Josef Stalin, accused of his past mistakes, was exhumed from Lenin's mausoleum in Moscow's Red Square and interred in the Kremlin Wall Cemetery.
• 1963 – The Military Court of Cassation approved the execution of Talat Aydemir, Fethi Gürcan, Osman Deniz and Erol Dinçer.
• 1963 – Fenerbahce football player Lefter Küçükandonyadis, who wore the national jersey for the 50th time, was given a medal of honor.
• 1967 – Rauf Denktaş secretly entered the island during the days when the Turkish Cypriots were attacked by the Greek Cypriot gangs.
• 1970 – The Grand Congress of the Workers' Party of Turkey elected Behice Boran as the Chairman.
• 1972 – A passenger train and a freight train collided near Eskişehir, 30 people were killed and 60 injured.
• 1984 - About 2000 innocent Sikhs died in the riots when Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two Sikh security guards.
• 1989 – Turgut Özal was elected the 263th President of Turkey with 8 votes.
• 1992 – Turkish Armed Forces captured the PKK base Haftanin camp in northern Iraq.
• 1992 - The Vatican acknowledged that Galileo was right when he said that the Earth revolves around the Sun.
• 1994 - An American passenger plane crashes in Indiana: 68 people are killed.
• 1996 – A Brazilian passenger plane crashes in Sao Paulo (Brazil): 98 people are killed.
• 1997 – At the meeting of the National Security Council, the revised National Security Policy Document was approved to replace the document dated November 18, 1992.
• 1998 - Iraq announces that it will not cooperate with UN arms controllers.
• 1999 – An EgyptAir airliner flying from New York to Cairo crashes off the coast of Massachusetts: 217 people are killed.
• 2000 – Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 type passenger plane crashes during takeoff: 83 people are killed.
• 2000 – An Antonov-type passenger plane explodes in northern Angola just after takeoff: 50 people are killed.
• 2000 – The air pollution around the Yatağan Thermal Power Plant exceeded the limit values, 3 units of the power plant were stopped, the people of the district were called to "don't go out".
• 2010 – A bomb exploded in Taksim. An attack was carried out on the riot squad that was constantly on duty in Taksim Square.
• 2011 – Symbolically the birth of Earth's 7 billionth person.
• 2012 – Taksim Pedestrianization Project construction started.
• 2015 – The passenger plane of Russian Metrojet Airlines, on its way from Egypt to Russia, crashed on the Sinai Peninsula with 23 passengers and 214 crew 7 minutes after taking off. 224 people died in the tragic incident.

Births 

• 1424 – III. Władysław, king of Poland, Hungary, and Croatia (d. 1444)
• 1451 – Christopher Columbus, Genoese navigator and explorer (d. 1506)
• 1472 – Wang Yangming, Chinese calligrapher, philosopher, and statesman (d. 1529)
• 1538 – Caesar Baronius, Italian church historian and Catholic advocate (d. 1607)
• 1599 – Denzil Holles, English writer and statesman (d. 1680)
• 1620 – John Evelyn, English writer (d. 1706)
• 1632 – Johannes Vermeer, Dutch painter (d. 1675)
• 1638 – Meindert Hobbema, Dutch painter (d. 1709)
• 1694 – Yeongjo, 21st king of the Joseon Dynasty (b. 1776)
• 1705 – XIV. Clemens, pope from May 19, 1769 to September 22, 1774 (b. 1774)
• 1760 – Hokusai, Japanese artist, painter, engraver, woodcut engraver, and ukiyo-e painter (d. 1849)
• 1795 – John Keats, English poet (d. 1821)
• 1815 – Karl Weierstrass, German mathematician (d. 1897)
• 1828 – Joseph Wilson Swan, English physicist and chemist (d. 1914)
• 1835 – Adolf von B.aeyPrivate, German chemist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
• 1841 – Charles B. Stoughton, American officer and regimental commander (d. 1898)
• 1880 – Julia Peterkin, American novelist (d. 1961)
• 1880 – Mikhail Tomsky, Factory worker, trade unionist, and Bolshevik leader (d. 1936)
• 1887 – Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese leader (d. 1975)
• 1892 – Alexander Alehin, Russian world chess champion (d. 1946)
• 1895 – Basil Liddell Hart, British soldier, military theorist, and military historian (d. 1970)
• 1896 – Ethel Waters, American singer and actress (d. 1977)
• 1916 - Carl Johan Bernadotte, King of Sweden VI. Fourth son and youngest child of Gustaf Adolf and his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught (d. 2012)
• 1917 – William Hardy McNeill, Canadian author and historian (d. 2016)
• 1920 – Fritz Walter, German football player (d. 2002)
• 1922 – Barbara Bel Geddes, American actress (d. 2005)
• 1922 – Norodom Sihanuk, King of Cambodia (d. 2012)
• 1925 – John Pople, English mathematician and chemist (d. 2004)
• 1929 – Bud Spencer, Italian writer, actor, former swimmer (d. 2016)
• 1930 – Michael Collins, American astronaut (d. 2021)
• 1931 Dan Rather, American newscaster
• 1935 - David Harvey, British professor of Geography and Anthropology
• 1936 – Michael Landon, American actor (d. 1991)
• 1939 – Ron Rifkin, American stage actor, actor, and director
• 1939 – Çiğdem Talu, Turkish songwriter (d. 1983)
• 1939 – Ali Farka Touré, Malian guitarist
• 1940 – Craig Rodwell, American gay rights activist (d. 1993)
• 1941 - Sally Kirkland is an American film actress.
• 1947 – Carmen Alborch, Spanish politician (d. 2018)
• 1942 – David Ogden Stiers, American comedian and actor (d. 2018)
• 1943 – Melendy Britt, American voice actor
• 1945 – Barrie Keeffe, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 2019)
• 1946 – Stephen Rea, Irish actor
• 1947 - Deidre Hall is an American actress.
• 1947 – Herman Van Rompuy, Flemish politician
• 1950 – John Candy, Canadian actor and comedian (d. 1994)
• 1950 – Zaha Hadid, British architect (d. 2016)
• 1955 – Susan Orlean, an American journalist
• 1959 – Neal Stephenson, American novelist and essayist
• 1960 – Luis Fortuño, former governor of Puerto Rico
• 1960 – Reza Pahlavi is the current head of the Pahlavi Dynasty in exile, the last dynasty in Iran, since July 27, 1980
• 1961 – Peter Jackson, New Zealand filmmaker, screenwriter, director, and winner of the Academy Award for Best Director
• 1961 – Larry Mullen, Jr., Irish founder and drummer of U2
• 1962 – Ayda Aksel, Turkish theater and film actress
• 1963 – Mikkey Dee, Greek-Swedish musician and songwriter
• 1963 – Dunga is a former Brazilian football player.
• 1963 – Dermot Mulroney is an American actor and director.
• 1963 – Rob Schneider, American actor
• 1964 – Darryl Worley, American country music singer
• 1968 Vanilla Ice, American musician
• 1964 – Marco van Basten, retired football player and manager who also played for the Netherlands national team
• 1965 – Ruud Hesp, former Dutch goalkeeper
• 1965 – Denis Irwin, Irish football player
• 1967 – Vanilla Ice is an American rapper, singer, and actor.
• 1967 – Adam Schlesinger, American singer, songwriter, record producer, and guitarist (d. 2020)
• 1973 – Arzum Onan, Turkish TV actress
• 1974 – Muzzy İzzet, Turkish football player
• 1975 – Johnny Whitworth is an American actor.
• 1976 – Guti Hernández, Spanish football player
• 1976 - Piper Perabo, American actress
• 1978 – Inka Grings is a German coach and former football player.
• 1978 – Marek Saganowski, Polish national football player
• 1979 – Simão Sabrosa, Portuguese football player
• 1980 – Samaire Armstrong, Japanese-born American actress and model
• 1980 – Alejandro Rubén Capurro, Argentine football player
• 1981 – Frank Iero, American musician and guitarist of My Chemical Romance
• 1982 – Justin Chatwin, Canadian actor
• 1984 - Hanna Hilton, Americans porn star
• 1985 - Stefani Morgan, American porn star
• 1988 - Cole Aldrich, American professional former basketball player
• 1988 – Sébastien Buemi, Swiss racing driver
• 1994 – Sezgi Sena Akay, Turkish actress
• 1996 – Musa Mohammed, Nigerian football player
• 1997 – Marcus Rashford, English football player
• 2005 – Leonor de Borbón, King of Spain VI. Heir to the throne of Spain as the eldest child of Felipe and Letizia Ortiz

Deaths 

• 644 – Abu Lu'lue, Iranian slave who killed Caliph Omar (b. ca. 600)
• 932 – Powerful, twice caliph during the periods 908-929 and 929-932 (d. 895)
• 1005 – Abe no Seimei was a prominent onmyōji in the Heian period in Japan (b. 921)
• 1320 – Ricoldus de Monte Crucis, Italian Dominican monk (b. 1243)
• 1448 – VIII. John reigned as sole Byzantine Emperor from 1425 to 1448 (b. 1392)
• 1659 – John Bradshaw, English judge (b. 1602)
• 1661 – Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, Ottoman Grand Vizier (b. 1578)
• 1744 – Leonardo Leo, Italian baroque composer (b. 1694)
• 1793 - Jacques Pierre Brissot in the French Assembly of the Girondists sözcüs (b. 1754)
• 1806 – Kitagawa Utamaro, Japanese ukiyo-e master (b. 1753)
• 1879 – Jacob Abbott, American author of children's books (b. 1803)
• 1879 – Joseph Hooker, American general (b. 1814)
• 1884 – Marie Bashkirtseff, Ukrainian-born painter and sculptor (b. 1858)
• 1916 – Charles Taze Russell, American restaurateur, author, and pastor (b. 1852)
• 1918 – Egon Schiele, Austrian painter (b. 1890)
• 1925 – Mikhail Frunze, Soviet military theorist and co-founder of the Red Army (b. 1885)
• 1926 – Harry Houdini, Hungarian-American illusionist (b. 1874)
• 1932 – Ali Rıza Pasha, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1860)
• 1939 – Otto Rank, Austrian psychoanalyst, writer, and philosopher (b. 1884)
• 1943 – Max Reinhardt, German film director (b. 1873)
• 1945 – Henry Ainley, English actor (b. 1879)
• 1963 – Mesut Cemil, Turkish composer (b. 1902)
• 1963 – Henry Daniell, English actor (b. 1894)
• 1965 – Rita Johnson, American actress (b. 1913)
• 1973 – Malik bin Nabi, Algerian writer and intellectual (b. 1905)
• 1983 – George Halas, American football player, coach, team owner (b. 1895)
• 1983 – Sharif Rashidov, Communist Party leader of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (b. 1917)
• 1984 – Indira Gandhi, Indian politician (b. 1917)
• 1985 – Nikos Engonopulos, Greek poet and painter (b. 1910)
• 1986 – Robert S. Mulliken, American physicist, chemist, and Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry (b. 1896)
• 1993 – Federico Fellini, Italian director (b. 1920)
• 1993 – Berna Moran, Turkish writer (b. 1921)
• 1993 – River Phoenix, American actor (b. 1970)
• 1995 – Rosalind Cash, American actress (b. 1938)
• 1996 – Marcel Carné, French film director (b. 1906)
• 2002 – Mihail Stasinopoulos, 1st President of the Greek Republic (b. 1903)
• 2002 – Raf Vallone, Italian film actor (b. 1916)
• 2003 – Fuat Örer, Turkish short story and playwright (b. 1939)
• 2006 – Pieter Willem Botha, first President of South Africa (b. 1916)
• 2007 – Erdal İnönü, Turkish scientist and politician (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Flórián Albert, Hungarian football player (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Ciguli, Turkish musician and accordion virtuoso (b. 1957)
• 2016 – Silvio Gazzaniga, Italian sculptor (b. 1921)
• 2016 – Vladimir Zeldin, Russian theater, film and TV series actor (b. 1915)
• 2017 – Mircea Drăgan, Romanian film director (b. 1932)
• 2017 – Abubakari Yakubu is a Ghanaian football player (b. 1981)
• 2019 – Ebrahim Abadi, Iranian theater and film actor (b. 1934)
• 2019 – Enrico Braggiotti, Monaco banker and politician (b. 1923)
• 2019 – Tarania Clarke, Jamaican international football player (b. 1999)
• 2019 – Ann Crumb, American actress, singer, and animal rights activist (b. 1950)
• 2019 – Geetanjali, Indian actor (b. 1947)
• 2019 – Florence Giorgetti, French theater and film actress (b. 1944)
• 2020 – Sean Connery, Scottish actor and Oscar winner (b. 1930)
• 2020 – Charles Gordon, American filmmaker (b. 1947)
• 2020 – Necmeddin Kerim, Iraqi Kurdish politician, doctor, former governor of Kirkuk (b. 1949)
• 2020 – Arturo Lona Reyes, Mexican bishop (b. 1925)
• 2020 – MF Doom was an English-American rap artist (b. 1971)
• 2020 – Marius Žaliūkas, Lithuanian national football player (b. 1983)

Holidays and special occasions 

• Halloween
• World Savings Day