What happened on October 31 ?

1147 - Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, English politician

1214 - Leonora of England, wife of Alfonso VIII of Castile (b. 1162)

1448 - John VIII Palaeologus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1390)

1517 - Fra Bartolommeo, Italian artist (b. 1472)

1659 - John Bradshaw, English judge (b. 1602)

1723 - Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1642)

1732 - Victor Amadeus II of Savoy (b. 1666)

1733 - Eberhard IV Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1676)

1744 - Leonardo Leo, Italian composer (b. 1694)

1765 - Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, English military leader (b. 1721)

1768 - Francesco Maria Veracini, Italian composer (b. 1690)

1860 - Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, British admiral (b. 1775)

1879 - Jacob Abbott, American author (b. 1803)

1884 - Marie Bashkirtseff, Russian painter (b. 1858)

1916 - Charles Taze Russell, American founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses (b. 1852)

1918 - Egon Schiele, Austrian painter (b. 1890)

1926 - Harry Houdini, Hungarian-born magician (b. 1874)

1939 - Otto Rank, Austrian psychologist (b. 1884)

1943 - Max Reinhardt, German film director (b. 1873)

1959 - Jean Cabannes, French physicist (b. 1885)

1983 - George Halas, American football player, coach, and team owner (b. 1895)

1984 - Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (b. 1917)

1985 - Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor (b. 1913)

1986 - Robert S. Mulliken, American physicist and chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1896)

1987 - Joseph Campbell, American author and expert on mythology (b. 1904)

1988 - John Houseman, Romanian-born actor and director (b. 1902)

1991 - Joseph Papp, American theatrical producer (b. 1921)

1993 - Federico Fellini, Italian director (b. 1920)

1993 - River Phoenix, American actor (drug overdose) (b. 1970)

1995 - Rosalind Cash, American actress (b. 1938)

1999 - Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (b. 1975)

2000 - Watanabe Kazuki (founder and guitarrist of Raphael), Japanese musician (b. 1981)

2000 - Ring Lardner, Jr., American screenwriter (b. 1915)

2002 - Lionel Poilâne, French baker and entrepreneur (b. 1945)

2003 - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Indian singer (b. 1908)

2003 - Dharmsamrat Paramhans Swami Madhavananda, Indian guru (b. 1923)

2003 - Richard Neustadt, American political historian (b. 1919)

2005 - Mary Wimbush, English actress (b. 1924)

2005 - John "Beatz" Holohan, American drummer (Bayside) (b. 1974)