On October 31:
1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
1795 John Keats, British poet, was born.
1960 Juliette Low American founder of the Girl Scouts was born.
1863 British forces in New Zealand led by General Duncan Cameron began their Invasion of the Waikato.
1887 Chiang Kai-shek, Nationalist Chinese leader, former Republic of China president, was born.
1908 – Muriel Duckworth, Canadian activist, was born.
1913 Dedication of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile road across United States.
1917 The Battle of Beersheba took place, the “last successful cavalry charge in history”.
A photograph of a re-enactment of the Charge on Beersheba taken in early February 1918.
1920 Dick Francis, Welsh born jockey & author, was born.
1923 The first of 160 consecutive days of 100 degrees (37.6 C) at Marble Bar, Australia.
1931 Dan Rather, American television journalist, was born.
1984 Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two Sikh security guards.
1985 Keri Hulme’s book The Bone People won the Booker Prize.
1999 Yachtsman Jesse Martin returns to Melbourne after 11 months of circumnavigatingthe world, solo, non-stop and unassisted.
Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.