Today in History: October 31, Indira Gandhi assassinated

Today is Saturday, Oct. 31, the 304th day of 2026. There are 61 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi, India’s Prime Minister for more than 15 years, was assassinated by two of her own security guards.

Also on this date:

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation making Nevada the 36th state, eight days before the presidential election.

In 1913, the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile highway across the United States, was dedicated.

In 1941, work was completed on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, begun in 1927.

In 1950, Earl Lloyd of the Washington Capitols became the first African American to play in an NBA game; Lloyd would go on to play for nine seasons, winning an NBA championship in 1955 with the Syracuse Nationals.

In 1961, the body of Josef Stalin was removed from Lenin’s Tomb as part of the Soviet Union’s “de-Stalinization” drive.

In 1999, EgyptAir Flight 990, bound from New York to Cairo, crashed off the Massachusetts coast, killing all 217 people aboard.

In 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.

In 2011, the United Nations estimated that world population had reached 7 billion people (world population is greater than 8 billion today).

In 2015, a Russian airliner bound for St. Petersburg was blown up shortly after takeoff from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group. All 226 people aboard were killed.

In 2017, a man in a rented pickup truck mowed down pedestrians and cyclists along a busy bike path near the World Trade Center memorial in New York City, killing eight people and seriously injuring 11 others. (Sayfullo Saipov, an Islamic extremist and Uzbekistan citizen who lived in New Jersey, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)

Today’s Birthdays: Former CBS anchorman Dan Rather is 95. Actor Stephen Rea is 80. Olympic gold medal marathoner Frank Shorter is 79. Retired football coach Nick Saban is 75. Film director Peter Jackson is 65. Rock drummer Larry Mullen Jr. (U2) is 65. Rock musician Johnny Marr is 63. Baseball Hall of Famer Fred McGriff is 63. Actor Rob Schneider is 63. Actor Dermot Mulroney is 63. Country singer Darryl Worley is 62. Actor-comedian Mike O’Malley is 60. Rapper and guitarist Adam Horovitz (Beastie Boys) is 60. Rapper Vanilla Ice is 59. Actor Letitia Wright is 33. Singer Willow Smith is 26.