October 31

475 – Romulus Augustulus is proclaimed Western Roman Emperor. 683 – During the Siege of Mecca, the Kaaba catches fire and is burned down. 802 – Empress Irene is deposed and banished to Lesbos. Conspirators place Nikephoros, the minister of finance, on the Byzantine throne. 932 – Abbasid 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. 1517 – Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. 1587 – Leiden University Library opens its doors after its founding in 1575. 1822 – Emperor Agustín de Iturbide attempts to dissolve the Congress of the Mexican Empire. 1837 – Approximately 300 Muscogee die in the steamboat Monmouth disaster on the Trail of Tears in the United States. 1863 – The New Zealand Wars resume as British forces in New Zealand led by General Duncan Cameron begin their Invasion of the Waikato. 1864 – Nevada is admitted as the 36th U.S. state. 1895 – The strongest earthquake in the Midwestern United States since 1812 strikes near Charleston, Missouri, causing damage and killing at least two. 1903 – The Purdue Wreck, a railroad train collision in Indianapolis, kills 17 people, including 14 players of the Purdue University football team. 1907 – The Parliament of Finland approved the Prohibition Act, but the law was not implemented because it was not ratified by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. 1913 – Dedication of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile highway across United States. 1913 – The Indianapolis Streetcar Strike and subsequent riot begins. 1917 – World War I: Battle of Beersheba: The "last successful cavalry charge in history". 1918 – World War I: The Aster Revolution terminates the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, and Hungary achieves full sovereignty. 1922 – Benito Mussolini is made Prime Minister of Italy 1923 – The first of 160 consecutive days of 100° Fahrenheit at Marble Bar, Western Australia.