/year

October 31 in history

224 sourced entries recorded on October 31, from 475 CE to 2023 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 475Romulus Augustus is installed as emperor by his father Orestes, who becomes regent in effect of the Western Roman Empire. Augustus will ultimately rule for 10 months, as the last Western Emperor.source
  • 802Empress Irene is deposed after a 5-year reign, and banished to Lesbos. High-ranking patricians place Nikephoros, the minister of finance (logothetes tou genikou), on the throne. He is crowned in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople, by Patriarch Tarasios, as emperor of the Byzantine Empire.source
  • 1266Dictum of Kenilworth provides terms of peace in the Second Barons' War between supporters of the slain rebel leader Simon de Montfort and Henry III.source
  • 1309In India, Alauddin Khalji, Sultan of Delhi, orders General Malik Kafur to invade the Kakatiya kingdom, ruled by Prataparudra, and to besiege its capital, Warangal (now in India's Telangana state).source
  • 1312Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor abandons his campaign against Florence.source
  • 1321Forces of Edward II of England capture Leeds Castle in Kent after Margaret de Clare, wife of Bartholomew Badlesmere, refuses Queen Isabella admittance in her husband's absence. When the Queen seeks to force an entry, Lady Badlesmere instructs her archers to shoot at Isabella and her party, six of whom are killed. After Edward occupies the castle, Lady Badlesmere becomes the first woman ever to be imprisoned in the Tower of London. She will be freed on November 3, 1322.source
  • 1351Great council occurs in Kilkenny; ordinances to curtail Gaelisization of Anglo-Irish, and the statute of labourers applied to Ireland.source
  • 1378The coronation of Count Onorato Caetani as the antipope Clement VII takes place in Italy at Fondi at the cathedral of San Pietro adjacent to the Caetani palace. Clement operates as a rival leader of the Roman Catholic Church for about a year before he and his cardinals relocate to Avignon.source
  • 1396The widowed Richard II of England (29), and six-year-old Isabella of Valois (daughter of Charles VI of France), are married in Calais, resulting in a temporary peace between the kingdoms of England and France.source
  • 1417On Hallowtide, by order of the Lord May Henry Barton, street lighting is first used in London, with lanterns to be hung out on winter evenings, lasting until the night of Candlemas on February 2.source
  • 1473The Trier Conference breaks up after Charles the Bold fails to persuade the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick to help Charles become King of the Romans or to enter into an alliance against King Loouis XI of France. Frederick II instead proposes an alliance between the Empire, Burgundy, and France. Charles threatens to leave unless he can secure an alliance by a treaty marriage.source
  • 1484The "White Elephant War", which had started in 1479 with the invasion of the Kingdom of Lan Xang (now Laos) by the Dai Viet Empire (now northern Vietnam) with the Vietnamese withdrawing their troops and failing to conquer the Laotians.source
  • 1517Martin Luther publishes his 95 Theses (posting them on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church), and begins the Protestant Reformation. This story is possibly apocryphal.source
  • 1527Spanish conquistador Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón departs from Zihuatanejo in what is now Mexico on a voyage of exploration of the Pacific Ocean, along with three ships, Saavedra's flagship La Florida, and the vessels Espiritu Santo and Santiago.source
  • 1534Halmstad is taken by the Swedish army.source
  • 1545(26th day of 9th month of Tenbun 14) The Siege of Kawagoe Castle begins, as part of an unsuccessful attempt by the Uesugi clan to regain Kawagoe Castle from the Late Hōjō clan in Japan.source
  • 1548At the first sejm of King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland, deputies demand that the king renounce his wife Barbara Radziwiłł.source
  • 1587Leiden University Library opens its doors, after its founding in 1575.source
  • 1589Alleged serial killer and accused werewolf Peter Stumpp 'the Werewolf of Bedburg' is tortured and executed.source
  • 1639Naval Battle of the Downs: A Republic of the United Provinces fleet decisively defeats a Spanish fleet in English waters.source
  • 1648A treaty is signed between the Arabs and the Portuguese. The terms include a provision that the Portuguese should build fortresses at Kuriyat, Dibba Al-Hisn (Sharjah) and Muttrah (Oman).source
  • 1654Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria, is crowned. His absolutist style of leadership becomes a benchmark for the rest of Germany.source
  • 1655Jurisdiction over Herstal transferred from Philip IV to the Prince-Bishopric of Liègesource
  • 1659Dutch troops land at Kerteminde to assist Denmark against the Swedish invaders. Hans Schack, de Reyter and Henrik Bielke forces the Swedes out of the town.source
  • 1661Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha is appointed as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire at the request of his late father, the Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, serving under the Sultan Mehmed IV for 15 years and continuing the Köprülü family dynasty whose members will serve as Viziers until 1711.source
  • 1664Surrounded by a Berber army, the French Navy evacuates the presidio of Jijel, a Mediterranean Sea port in what is now the Republic of Algeria, after having captured it from the Algiers Regency on June 12.source
  • 1665Parliament passes the Five Mile Act preventing non-conformist ministers from coming within five miles of incorporated towns or the place of their former livings.source
  • 1668The English ship HMS Providence is wrecked at Tangier on the North African coast.source
  • 1687The legend of the Charter Oak begins as a successful attempt to hide the 1662 Royal Charter of the British colony (and now a U.S. state) of Connecticut after Edmund Andros, the Governor of the Dominion of New England, makes a mission of attempting to confiscate the founding documents for the seven colonies that make up the new administrative area. After Governor Andros arrives in Hartford and comes to the tavern of Zachariah Sanford to demand the Connecticut Colony charter, Captain Joseph Wadsworth spirits the parchment away from the and hides the Charter in a hollowed out portion of a white oak tree on Wyllys Hyll until Andros is recalled to London.source
  • 1706Peace with Saxony in the Treaty of Altranstädt (1706).source
  • 1712King Philip V of Spain establishes the Biblioteca Nacional de España as the Palace Public Library (Biblioteca Pública de Palacio) in Madrid.source
  • 1718The Mughal Emperor of India, Farrukhsiyar, restores the titles and responsibilities of his chief adviser, Mir Jumla III, almost three years after dismissing him.source
  • 1723Gian Gastone de' Medici becomes the new Grand Duke of Tuscany upon the death of his father Cosimo III de' Medici; he will be the state's last ruler from the House of Medici. During his reign, the state treasury is depleted and Tuscany becomes one of the poorest nations in Europe.source
  • 1724George Frideric Handel's opera Tamerlano is performed for the first time, premiering in London. The opera will be revived as late as 2009.source
  • 1724Handel's opera Tamerlano is premiered in Londonsource
  • 1734Chief Tomochichi of the Yamacraw band of the Muscogee Nation ends a successful four and a half month visit to Great Britain, along with Georgia Governor James Oglethorpe and other Yamacraw Indians, after having signed the cession of the area of modern day Savannah, Georgia to the Georgia Company. On June 16, he and the Muscogee delegation (Senauki, Toonahowi, Hillispilli, Umpichi, Apokutchi, Santachi and Stimaletchi) had been welcomed as guests of King George II. The group departs on HMS Aldborough after completing the visit by the largest delegation of Native Americans since 1616.source
  • 1753Virginia Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie commissions 21-year-old militia Major George Washington to dissuade the French from occupying the Ohio Country.source
  • 1754What will become Columbia University is chartered as "a College in the Province of New York... in the City of New York in America... named King's College", with the charter submitted by New York's colonial governor, James De Lancey.source
  • 1776In his first speech before British Parliament since the Declaration of Independence that summer, King George III acknowledges that all is not going well for Britain in the war with the United States.source
  • 1784December 14 – The Revolt of Horea, Cloșca and Crișan in Transylvania causes Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor to suspend the Hungarian Constitution.source
  • 1805Sweden, led by King Gustav IV Adolf, declares war on France.source
  • 1813October 24–November 5 – Persia and Russia sign the Treaty of Gulistan at the end of the Russo-Persian War, by which Persia loses modern-day Georgia, Dagestan and most of Azerbaijan to Russia.source
  • 1817Emperor Ninkō accedes to the throne of Japan.source
  • 1822Emperor Agustín de Iturbide of the First Mexican Empire dissolves the country's Congress of the Union, and replaces it with a military junta.source
  • 1823John Oxley explores the Tweed River.source
  • 1834Solon Robinson settled in the location that would eventually become Crown Point, Indiana.source
  • 1836Provincial Council of Hainaut approves the foundation of the École des Mines de Mons.source
  • 1837In what will become the world's leading consumer goods brand, Procter & Gamble is founded in Ohio in the United States.source
  • 1837The steamboat Monmouth disaster on the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge kills over 300 Muscogee and Black slaves who are being transported to the Indian Territory.source
  • 18451 November: an emergency meeting of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom (summoned on 15 October by Sir Robert Peel, the prime minister of the United Kingdom) votes against Peel on the distribution of relief in Ireland, considering it would call the Corn Laws into question.source
  • 1845Johan Reinhardt, professor in zoology (born 1778)source
  • 184531 October–1 November – An emergency meeting of the Cabinet (summoned on 15 October by Sir Robert Peel, the Prime Minister) votes against Peel on the distribution of famine relief in Ireland, considering it would call the Corn Laws into question.source
  • 1847Theta Delta Chi is founded as a social fraternity at Union College, Schenectady, New York.source
  • 1848Vienna is occupied by the imperial forces led by Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, who crushes the revolution here.source
  • 1851The New South Wales Legislative Council votes unanimously against transportation 'in any form what-so-ever, to any part of Her Majesty's Australian possessions'.source
  • 1852General Joaquin Solares of Guatemala leads an invasion of neighboring Honduras, beginning a war that lasts until February 13, 1856.source
  • 1855October 28–31 – 1855 Fiji expedition: The U.S. Navy dispatches the USS John Adams to Viti Levu, Fiji, to protect American interests. One American sailor is killed and two Marines are wounded.source
  • 1861The Missouri secession bill is signed by Governor Jackson.source
  • 1861American Civil War: Citing failing health, 75-year-old Union General Winfield Scott resigns as Commander of the United States Army.source
  • 1864Nevada is admitted as the 36th U.S. state.source
  • 1872Oliver Mowat becomes Premier of Ontario replaces the retiring Edward Blake.source
  • 1874The Quebra-Quilos Revolt starts in Paraíba, Empire of Brazil.source
  • 1876October 28-November 5 - Hagi Rebellionsource
  • 1876The great 1876 Bengal cyclone strikes the coast of modern-day Bangladesh, killing 200,000.source
  • 1878A fire destroys the Eldkvarn gristmill in Stockholm, Sweden.source
  • 188318 people are drowned when the German barque Alhambra sinks off Holyhead.source
  • 1889Exposition Universelle closes.source
  • 1892The first collection of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories from The Strand Magazine, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, is published in London.source
  • 18951895 Charleston earthquake: A major earthquake occurs near Charleston, Missouri, in the New Madrid Seismic Zone of the midwestern United States. As of 2014, the earthquake risk for the region is being closely monitored.source
  • 1898Count Ōkuma Shigenobu, Japan's Prime Minister, announces his resignation along with that of his cabinet of ministers.source
  • 1898The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem, is dedicated after the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire presents the area, said to be the site of the Virgin Mary's home, to Germany's Roman Catholics.source
  • 1900the United Free Church of Scotland is formed by union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland.source
  • 1904The Kumbakonam Bank Limited, is incorporated as a limited company (later known as the City Union Bank)source
  • 1913The Lincoln Highway, the first automobile road across the United States, is dedicated.source
  • 1917WWI: Battle of Beersheba – The British XX Corps and Desert Mounted Corps (Egyptian Expeditionary Force) attack and capture Beersheba from Ottoman forces, ending the stalemate in Southern Palestine. The battle includes a rare (by this date) mounted charge, by Australian mounted infantry.source
  • 1918Revolution overthrows the pro-Habsburg government in Hungary, effectively dissolving the Austro-Hungarian Empire.source
  • 1920Dr. Frederick Banting of Ontario first records his insight on how to isolate insulin for the treatment of diabetes; the first successful human trial of insulin will occur 15 months later.source
  • 1923The Marble Bar heat wave begins, which by 7 April 1924 will hold the world record for the longest number of consecutive days (160) in which a temperature above 100 °F was recorded.source
  • 1934October 20–November 3 – Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first eastward crossing of the Pacific Ocean, from his native Brisbane, Australia, to San Francisco, in the Lockheed Altair Lady Southern Cross. The November 3 Hawaii–San Francisco leg is the first eastward flight from Hawaii to North America.source
  • 1941The last day of carving on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.source
  • 1941WWII: Destroyer USS Reuben James, on convoy escort, is accidentally torpedoed by a German U-boat near Iceland, killing more than 100 United States Navy sailors.source
  • 1944Refugees from Eastern Poland, 800 including 734 orphaned children, arrive in New Zealand via Siberia and Iran.source
  • 1944Brazilian pilots begin operations, as individual elements of flights attached to 350th FG squadrons.source
  • 1944Serial killer Dr Marcel Petiot is apprehended at a Paris Métro station after 7 months on the run.source
  • 1945A news agency, Dōmei, officially disbanded, on following day, the news agency operation in nationwide, which separated into Kyōdō News Service and Jiji Press.source
  • 1948Establishment of the Protestant Church in West Indonesiasource
  • 1949The date, which has been set by the national government, as the deadline for the evacuation of persons in an International Refugee Organization (IRO) refugee camp in Sturbabao Island off Samar, which has been established in February and houses more than 5,000 people. By late November, there are still 3,800, mostly white Russians, in the said resettlement camp.source
  • 1954Algerian War of Independence: The Algerian National Liberation Front begins a revolt against French rule.source
  • 1956Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.source
  • 1956A United States Navy team becomes the third group to reach the South Pole (arriving by air), and commences construction of the first permanent Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station.source
  • 1959Riots break out in the Belgian Congo.source
  • 1959Ulster Television, the ITV franchise for Northern Ireland, goes on air.source
  • 1961Joseph Stalin's body is removed from the Lenin Mausoleum in Moscow.source
  • 1961Hurricane Hattie devastates Belize City, Belize killing over 270. After the hurricane, the capital moves to the inland city of Belmopan.source
  • 1961The establishment of Republic of China Armed Forces Museum in Zhongzheng District, Taipei.source
  • 19631963 Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion: 81 die in a gas explosion during a Holiday on Ice show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis, United States.source
  • 1964Malaysia Dairy Industries new factory is officially opened to produce condensed milk locally. It has since branched into fruit juices and other dairy products.source
  • 1967Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş was arrested by the Greek Cypriotssource
  • 1968Great Drought of 1968: Amidst a collapse of hydropower President of Chile Eduardo Frei Montalva decrees the establishment of daylight saving time.source
  • 1975Tun Mustapha resigns as Chief Minister of Sabah, a state in Malaysia, bringing to an end speculation that he would attempt to lead secession for Sabah to become an independent nation.source
  • 1975The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 takes effect in Australia.source
  • 1978General Augusto Pinochet asks the Council of State to study the draft of the new Political Constitution of the Republic proposed by the study commission led by Enrique Ortúzar, minister of state of the former president Jorge Alessandrisource
  • 1978The South African Railways sets a still unbeaten world rail speed record on Cape gauge.source
  • 1979Western Airlines Flight 2605 crashes upon landing at Mexico City International Airport, killing 72 occupants plus one on the ground; 16 people on board survive.source
  • 1979Western Airlines Flight 2605source
  • 1980The Polish government recognizes Solidarity.source
  • 1980Reza Pahlavi, eldest son of the Shah of Iran, proclaims himself the rightful successor to the Peacock Throne.source
  • 1982Marguerite Bourgeoys becomes Canada's first female saint.source
  • 1983The opening of Guandu Bridge which links Taipei and New Taipei.source
  • 1984Creative Technology launches a made-in-Singapore computer called the Cubic 99.source
  • 1991October 28–November 4 – The 1991 Perfect Storm strikes the northeastern U.S. coast and Atlantic Canada, causing over US$200 million of damage and resulting in 12 direct fatalities.source
  • 1991October 31–November 3 – The Halloween blizzard hits the U.S. Upper Midwest, killing 22 people and causing US$100 million in damage.source
  • 1992October 30 - November 1: Halloween Massacre, also known as the Three Day War.source
  • 1992Pope John Paul II issues an apology and lifts the 1633 edict of the Inquisition against Galileo Galilei.source
  • 1992the Catholic Church rehabilitates the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei, convicted in 1633.source
  • 1993October 27–31 – The Southland Firestorm, formed of more than fourteen separate fires in Southern California burning simultaneously, burns more than 700 homes and 160,000 acres. Two of these fire are the Laguna Fire which burned more than 16,000 acres (6,500 hectares), destroyed hundreds of homes and caused $528 million in damage in Orange County, California, and the Kinneloa Fire in Los Angeles County, California which caused a fatality.source
  • 1999The first round of presidential elections were held in the country, with a second round held on 14 November. The result was a victory for Leonid Kuchma, who defeated Petro Symonenko in the run-off.source
  • 1999The Catholic Church and several Lutheran Church leaders sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, attempting to resolve a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation.source
  • 1999EgyptAir Flight 990, travelling from New York City to Cairo, crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts killing all 217 on board.source
  • 2000the Serdika Metro Station opens in Sofiasource
  • 2000Soyuz TM-31 is launched, carrying the first resident crew to the International Space Station. The ISS has been continuously crewed since.source
  • 2000Singapore Airlines Flight 006 collides with construction equipment in the Chiang Kai Shek International Airport, resulting in 83 deaths.source
  • 2000Singapore Airlines Flight 006 crashes during take-off in Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, killing 83 people.source
  • 2002Belarus restricts religious activity outside of the Belarusian Orthodox Church with a new law.source
  • 2005Campaigning in the run-off Liberian election has begun.source
  • 2007Buddhist monks return to the streets of Burma for the first time since a crackdown on protests last month.source
  • 2008October 30–November 4 – Floods affected Northern and Central Vietnam.source
  • 2010Expo 2010 concludes in Shanghai, China.source
  • 2010A number of terrorists storm the Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral and hold worshippers as hostages. The Siege lasted few hours until security forces broke into the church, the confrontation led to at least 58 dead and around 100 injured.source
  • 2011UNESCO admits Palestine as a member, following a vote which 107 member states support and 14 oppose.source
  • 2011Date selected by the UN as the symbolic date when global population reached seven billion.source
  • 2012October 22 – November 2 – Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record (as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spanning 900 miles (1,400 km)), wreaks havoc, resulting in 233 total deaths and $68.7 billion (2012 USD) damage.source
  • 2014Longtime Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré resigns after widespread protests in response to his attempts to abolish presidential term limits.source
  • 2015Metrojet Flight 9268, an Airbus A321 airliner en route to Saint Petersburg from Sharm el-Sheikh, crashes near Al-Hasana in Sinai, killing all 217 passengers and 7 crew members on board. Later investigations revealed a bomb was likely responsible for the crash with Islamic State being the primary suspect. *source
  • 2019A fire destroys much of the 500-year-old Japanese Shuri Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.source
  • 2019A train catches fire near Rahim Yar Khan in Pakistan. The blaze, sparked by gas used by passengers cooking on board, kills at least 74 people.source
  • 2019Heavy rain and flooding leave 3 dead and 200,000 people are homeless in Beledweyne, Somalia. Meanwhile, 29 are dead and 29,000 homeless due to flooding in nearby Kenya.source
  • 2020Typhoon Goni makes landfall in the Philippines, becoming the strongest landfalling tropical cyclone in history, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and killing dozens of people in the region.source
  • 2021The 2021 Japanese general election is held, with Fumio Kishida and the Liberal Democratic Party along with its coalition partner Komeito retaining a majority government.source
  • 2021October 31–November 13 – The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference is held in Glasgow, after being postponed in 2020 due to COVID-19. A deal is agreed by world leaders, which includes a "phasedown" of unabated coal power, a 30% cut in methane emissions by 2030, plans for a halt to deforestation by 2030, and increased financial support for developing countries.source
  • 2023Israel intercepted a Yemeni Houthi ballistic missile with its Arrow 2 missile defense system. The interception occurred above Earth's atmosphere above the Negev Desert, making it the first instance of space combat in history.source

Births

  • 1173Kujō Ninshi, Japanese empress (died 1239)source
  • 1291Philippe de Vitry, French musician and poet (died 1361)source
  • 1291Philippe de Vitry, French composer and poet (died 1361)source
  • 1345King Fernando I of Portugal (died 1383)source
  • 1391Edward, King of Portugal (died 1438)source
  • 1424King Władysław III of Poland (died 1444)source
  • 1445Hedwig, Abbess of Quedlinburg, Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg (died 1511)source
  • 1448Władysław II of Płock, Polish noble (died 1462)source
  • 1472Wang Yangming, Chinese Neo-Confucian scholar (died 1529)source
  • 1542Henriette of Cleves, Duchess of Nevers, Countess of Rethel (died 1601)source
  • 1589Muhammad Parviz, Mughal emperor (died 1626)source
  • 1599Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, English statesman and writer (died 1680)source
  • 1618Mariana de Jesús de Paredes, Catholic saint, the first person to be canonized from Ecuador (died 1645)source
  • 1620John Evelyn, English diarist and writer (died 1706)source
  • 1632October 31 (bapt.) – Johannes Vermeer, Dutch painter (died 1675)source
  • 1636Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria, Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and an elector of the Holy Roman Empire (died 1679)source
  • 1638Meindert Hobbema, Dutch painter (died 1709)source
  • 1688Jacob Benzon, nobleman and Governor-general of Norway (died 1775)source
  • 1692Anne Claude de Caylus, French antiquarian (died 1765)source
  • 1705Pope Clement XIV (died 1774)source
  • 1711Laura Bassi, Italian physicist and academic (died 1778)source
  • 1714Hedvig Taube, Swedish courtier (died 1744)source
  • 1740Philip James de Loutherbourg, English artist (died 1812)source
  • 1750Leonor de Almeida Portugal, 4th Marquise of Alorna, Portuguese painter and poet (died 1839)source
  • 1757Ignaz Spangler was a singer and composer, born in Vienna, Austria.source
  • 1760October 31? – Hokusai, born Katsushika Tokitarō, Japanese Edo period artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker (died 1849)source
  • 1788David R. Porter, American politician (died 1867)source
  • 1795John Keats, English poet (died 1821)source
  • 1828Sir Joseph Swan, English physicist, chemist (died 1914)source
  • 1838Luís I of Portugal, king (died 1889)source
  • 1864Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1945)source
  • 1875Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian political leader ("Iron Man of India") (died 1950)source
  • 1887Chiang Kai-shek, 1st president of the Republic of China (died 1975)source
  • 1890Sava Caracaș, general (died 1945).source
  • 1892Alexander Alekhine, Russian chess champion (died 1946)source
  • 1922Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia (died 2012)source
  • 1926Saima Karimova, Russian geologist (died 2013)source
  • 2005Leonor, Princess of Asturias, daughter of Felipe VI of Spain and his wife Queen Letizia of Spainsource

Deaths

  • 932Al-Muqtadir, Abbasid caliph (born 895)source
  • 932Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir is killed while fighting against the forces of general Mu'nis al-Muzaffar. Al-Muqtadir's brother al-Qahir is chosen to succeed him.source
  • 994Wolfgang, bishop of Regensburgsource
  • 1005Abe no Seimei, Japanese astrologer (born 921)source
  • 1007Heriger, abbot of Lobbes (Belgium)source
  • 1034Deokjong, ruler of Goryeo (Korea) (born 1016)source
  • 1147Robert FitzRoy, English noblemansource
  • 1214Eleanor of England, queen of Castile (born 1161)source
  • 1221Ulrich II, Bishop of Passau, German abbot and prince-bishopsource
  • 1228Eustace of Fauconberg, bishop of Londonsource
  • 1320Ricold of Monte Croce, Italian missionary and writersource
  • 1335Marie of Évreux, French noblewoman (born 1303)source
  • 1448John VIII Palaeologus, Byzantine Emperor (born 1390)source
  • 1449Elisabeth of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brzeg-Legnica and Cieszyn, German princess (born 1403)source
  • 1498An-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qaitbay, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, is assassinated, and is succeeded by his uncle, the Vizier Abu Sa'id Qansuh.source
  • 1512Anna of Saxony, Electress of Brandenburg (born 1437)source
  • 1517Fra Bartolomeo, Italian artist (born 1472)source
  • 1534Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (born 1476)source
  • 1567Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, Princess of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and by marriage Electress Palatine (born 1519)source
  • 1589Peter Stumpp, German alleged serial killer "the Werewolf of Bedburg" (born 1535)source
  • 1602Dominic Collins, Irish Jesuit lay brother and martyr (born 1566)source
  • 1607Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki, Polish philosopher (born 1530)source
  • 1659John Bradshaw, English judge (born 1602)source
  • 1664William Frederick, Prince of Nassau-Dietz, Dutch stadtholder (born 1613)source
  • 1686Anglurah Agung, the virtual leader of the island of Bali as king of the paramount state of Gelgel, is killed in battle fighting Batu Lepang (who also dies in the fighting), ending the unification of the island (now part of Indonesia) and causing Bali to split into several principalities.source
  • 1708Nathaniel Higginson, English politician (born 1652)source
  • 1709Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, English nobleman (born 1638)source
  • 1723Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (born 1642)source
  • 1732Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia (born 1666)source
  • 1757News of the massacre of Muslim pilgrims first reaches Damascus; the Ottoman officials who had been in charge of protecting the pilgrimage are executed by beheading.source
  • 1765Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, English military leader (born 1721)source
  • 1768Francesco Maria Veracini, Italian composer (born 1690)source
  • 1786Princess Amelia of Great Britain, Second daughter of George II of Great Britain (born 1711)source
  • 1793Jacques Pierre Brissot, French revolutionary leader (executed) (born 1754)source
  • 1830Petar I Petrović-Njegoš, ruler of Montenegro (born 1747)source
  • 1851Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, Montenegrin statesman, religious leader and poet (born 1813)source
  • 1860Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, British admiral (born 1775)source
  • 1869Charles A. Wickliffe, American politician, 14th Governor of Kentucky (born 1788)source
  • 1879Joseph Hooker, American general (born 1814)source
  • 1911John Joseph Montgomery, American glider pioneer (born 1858)source
  • 1918István Tisza, 2-time Prime Minister of Hungary (assassinated) (born 1861)source
  • 1926Magician Harry Houdini dies of gangrene and peritonitis that has developed after his appendix ruptured.source
  • 1926Harry Houdini, Hungarian-born American escapologist (born 1874)source
  • 1969Shamsuddin Ahmed, politician (born 1889)source
  • 1984Assassination of Indira Gandhi: Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her two Sikh security guards in New Delhi. Anti-Sikh riots break out, leaving 10,000 to 20,000 Sikhs dead in Delhi and surrounding areas with the majority populations of Hindus. Rajiv Gandhi becomes Prime Minister of India.source