Today in History in 1941 – After 14 years of work, drilling is completed on Mount Rushmore.

The On This Day In History archives at “Simple English Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia” contains over 200,000 events, birthdays and deaths from 6,000 years of history. Here is a roundup of a few of them:

October 31 is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 61 days remaining until the end of the year.

EVENTS

475 – Romulus Augustus is proclaimed Roman Emperor.

1517 – Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther posts his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church.

1587 – Leiden University Library opens its doors after its founding in 1575.

1822 – Emperor Agustín de Iturbide attempts to dissolve the Mexican Empire.

1848 - Vienna's October Revolution ends.

1861 – American Civil War: Citing failing health, Union General Winfield Scott resigns as Commander of the United States Army.

1863 – The Maori Wars resumed as British forces in New Zealand led by General Duncan Cameron began their Invasion of the Waikato.

1864 – Nevada is admitted as the 36th U.S. state.

1876 - A monster cyclone hits India, killing around 200,000 people.

1878 - A massive fire breaks out on Kungsholmen Island, Stockholm.

1892 – Arthur Conan Doyle publishes The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

1912 – The Musketeers of Pig Alley, directed by D.W. Griffith, debuts as the first gangster movie.

1912 – Dominican Republic becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires Convention.

1913 - Dedication of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile highway in the United States.

1917 – World War I: Battle of Beersheba – "last successful cavalry charge in history".

1918 - Hungary withdraws from the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, which dissolves as a result. On the same day, Hungarian Prime Minister Istvan Tisza is shot dead.

1922 – Benito Mussolini becomes the youngest Premier in the history of Italy.

1923 - First of 160 consecutive days when the temperature is at, or over, 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Marble Bar, Western Australia.

1924 – World Savings Day was declared in Milano/Italy, by the Italian Professor Ravizza at the 1st International Savings Bank Congress (World Society of Savings Banks).

1926 – Magician Harry Houdini dies of gangrene and peritonitis that developed after his appendix ruptured.

1936 – The Boy Scouts of the Philippines is formed.

1938 – Great Depression: In an effort to try restore investor confidence, the New York Stock Exchange unveils a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public.

1940 – World War II: Battle of Britain ends – The United Kingdom prevents Germany from invading Great Britain.

1941 – After 14 years of work, drilling is completed on Mount Rushmore.

1941 – World War II: The destroyer USS Reuben James is torpedoed by a German U-boat near Iceland, killing more than 100 United States Navy sailors.

1941 – American photographer Ansel Adams takes a picture of a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico that would become one of the most famous images in the history of photography.

1951 – 2000

1954 – Algerian War of Independence: The Algerian National Liberation Front begins a revolt against French rule.

1956 – Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.

1956 - George Dufek makes the first landing at the Geographical South Pole. It relates to the building of the Amundsen-Scott Research Station.

1961 – In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin's body is removed from Lenin's Tomb.

1961 - Hurricane Hattie destroys Belize City, Belize.

1963 - An explosion occurs at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum in Indianapolis, killing 74 people and injuring over 400, during an ice skating show.

1968 – Vietnam War October surprise:Citing progress with the Paris peace talks, US President Lyndon B. Johnson announces to the nation that he has ordered a complete stop of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam" effective November 1.

1984 – Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two Sikh security guards. Riots soon start in New Delhi and nearly 2,000 innocent Sikhs are killed.

1991 - Zambia holds its first democratic elections, in which Frederick Chiluba is elected President.

1992 - Pope John Paul II removes the Edict of Inquisition on Galileo Galilei.

1994 – An American Eagle ATR-72 crashes in Roselawn, Indiana, after circling in icy weather, killing 64 passengers.

1996 – A Brazilian TAM Fokker-100 crashes into several houses in São Paulo, Brazil killing 98 including 2 on the ground.

1997 - Letsie III is officially crowned King of Lesotho.

1998 – Iraq disarmament crisis begins: Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.

1999 – EgyptAir Flight 990 traveling from New York City to Cairo crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 on board.

1999 – Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran Church leaders sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, ending a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation.

2000 – A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 crashes immediately after takeoff in Taipei, Taiwan killing 81

2000 – A chartered Antonov AN-26 explodes after takeoff in Northern Angola killing 50

2000 – The last Multics machine is shut down.

2002 - A magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits the regions of Molise and Puglia in Italy, killing 28 people; 26 of them are schoolchildren in the town of San Giacomo di Puglia.

2003 – Mahathir Mohamad resigns as Prime Minister of Malaysia after 22 years in power.

2004 - The first round of the Presidential election in Ukraine results in a run-off between Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych on November 21.

2010 – Dilma Rousseff is elected the first female President of Brazil.

2011 – According to UN estimates, the world population reaches 7 billion.

2011 - UNESCO votes to admit Palestine as a member.

2014 - President of Burkina Faso Blaise Compaoré resigns after 27 years in power following violent protests in the capital Ouagadougou against his intention to extend his rule. The military takes over the running of the country.

2014 - Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo crashes in the Mojave Desert in California, killing one person. It is seen as a blow to Richard Branson's ambitions on space tourism.

2015 - Kogalymavia Flight 9268, a Russian airliner, crashes on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula while travelling from Sharm-el-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg, killing all 224 people on board.

2015 - New Zealand win the 2015 Rugby union World Cup in England, defeating Australia 34-17 in the final. They become the first team to win the competition twice in-a-row.

2016 - Michel Aoun becomes President of Lebanon.

2017 - Germany holds a national holiday to mark 500 years since the start of the Protestant Reformation.

2017 - 2017 New York City attack: A vehicle-ramming attack near the southern end of Manhattan, New York City, results in the deaths of 8 people, including 5 friends from Argentina.

2019 - Fire breaks out in the main halls of Shurijo, Okinawa, Japan.

2019 - A train fire on the Karachi to Peshawar railway line in Pakistan kills 74 people.