31 October

1926-Today Ehrich Weiss, better known as Harry Houdini, died. Houdini was an amazing escape artist and would have himself locked inside coffins or boxes and even lowered underwater, and astonishingly, managed to free himself. He died in a freak accident on this day, 1926. He boasted to some students that his stomach muscles could withstand heavy blows, but did not have time to prepare himself before a student hit him, rupturing his appendix. Despite the pain, he performed in Detroit that night. He was hospitalized after the show and died from peritonitis.
1950- John Candy was born in Toronto, Canada.
1899- Australian troops left for the Boer War in South Africa. It had broken out on 11 October.
1517- Martin Luther posts his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
1941- Mount Rushmore is completed after 14 years of work.
1923- The start of 160 days of 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) at Marble Bar, WA, Australia.
2003- Bethany Hamilton is attacked by a tiger shark and losses her left arm and 3 litres of blood.

If we keep an open mind, too much is likely to fall into it.

Natalie Clifford Barney (31 Oct 1876-2 Feb 1972)