Today: Halloween is celebrated across the country. The name comes from All Hallows' Eve, the night before the Christian feast of All Saints' Day on November 1. Many of its customs trace back to Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest, and it is now largely a secular night of costumes and trick-or-treating, though some Christians still observe it religiously.
2020: Actor Sean Connery dies at 90. The Scottish-born star was the first actor to play James Bond on film, beginning with Dr. No in 1962 and returning to the role seven times in all. He also won an Academy Award for The Untouchables and died in the Bahamas.
2008: Author and oral historian Studs Terkel dies in Chicago. He was 96. Through books built on interviews with ordinary Americans, including Hard Times, Working, and the Pulitzer Prize winning The Good War, he recorded American life from the Great Depression into the 21st century.
1984: Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated. She was shot by two of her own bodyguards at her home in New Delhi, months after ordering the army into the Golden Temple at Amritsar. The daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru and India's first woman prime minister, she was succeeded by her son Rajiv.
1968: President Lyndon Johnson orders a halt to U.S. bombing of North Vietnam. Johnson announced the end of the air campaign in a televised address, hoping to move the Paris peace talks forward. The decision came just days before the presidential election, which Richard Nixon went on to win.
1962:What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? opens in U.S. theaters. The psychological thriller, directed by Robert Aldrich, starred Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as two aging sisters and former stars locked in a bitter rivalry. It was a box office hit and earned Davis an Oscar nomination.
1941: Work on Mount Rushmore National Memorial is completed. Carving in the Black Hills of South Dakota began in 1927 and depicts George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum died months before the end, and his son Lincoln Borglum oversaw the final work.
1926: Magician and escape artist Harry Houdini dies. The 52-year-old died in Detroit of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix, days after taking unexpected punches to the stomach backstage in Montreal. He remains the most famous escape artist in history.
1922: Benito Mussolini becomes prime minister of Italy. King Victor Emmanuel III appointed the 39-year-old Fascist leader after the March on Rome. Mussolini went on to become the first fascist dictator in 20th-century Europe and later allied Italy with Nazi Germany.
1864: Nevada becomes the 36th U.S. state. It was admitted in the middle of the Civil War, just ahead of that year's presidential election, which is why it is nicknamed the Battle Born State. Its silver mines had helped support the Union cause.
1517: Martin Luther posts his Ninety-five Theses in Wittenberg. The German monk's list of arguments, traditionally said to have been nailed to the door of the Castle Church, attacked the Church's sale of indulgences. It sparked the Protestant Reformation, and the date is still observed by many Protestants as Reformation Day.
Born on This Day
2000: Willow Smith, American singer and actress Turns 26. Broke through as a child with the hit “Whip My Hair” and is the daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith.
1993: Letitia Wright, British actress Turns 33. Plays Shuri, the sister of the title hero, in the Black Panther films.
1981: Frank Iero, American rock guitarist Turns 45. Guitarist for the band My Chemical Romance.
1976: Piper Perabo, American actress Starred in Coyote Ugly and the TV spy series Covert Affairs.
1967: Vanilla Ice, American rapper Turns 59. Scored the first hip hop single to top the Billboard Hot 100 with “Ice Ice Baby” in 1990.
1966: Ad-Rock, American rapper and actor Adam Horovitz, a founding member of the Beastie Boys.
1963: Rob Schneider, American comedian and actor Turns 63. Saturday Night Live alum and star of Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.
1963: Johnny Marr, English rock guitarist Turns 63. Guitarist and co-songwriter for The Smiths.
1963: Dermot Mulroney, American actor Turns 63. Known for My Best Friend's Wedding and Young Guns.
1961: Larry Mullen Jr., Irish rock drummer Founded U2, whose first rehearsal was held in his family's kitchen.
1961: Peter Jackson, New Zealand filmmaker Directed The Lord of the Rings trilogy and won the Oscar for The Return of the King.
1951: Nick Saban, American football coach Turns 75. Won seven college national championships, six at Alabama and one at LSU.
1950: Jane Pauley, American TV journalist Longtime co-host of NBC's Today and later host of CBS Sunday Morning.
1950: John Candy, Canadian comedian and actor Beloved star of SCTV, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and Uncle Buck.
1947: Deidre Hall, American actress Has played Dr. Marlena Evans on Days of Our Lives for decades.
1945: Brian Doyle-Murray, American actor and comedian Turns 81. Co-wrote Caddyshack and is the older brother of Bill Murray.
1942: David Ogden Stiers, American actor Played Major Charles Winchester on M*A*S*H and voiced Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast.
1936: Michael Landon, American actor and director Played Little Joe on Bonanza and Charles Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie, set in Walnut Grove, Minnesota.
1931: Dan Rather, American TV newsman Anchored the CBS Evening News from 1981 to 2005.
1930: Michael Collins, American astronaut Piloted the Apollo 11 command module in lunar orbit while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon.
