TODAY'S HISTORY

Today is Saturday, October 31, the 304th day of 2009. There are 61 days left in the year.

1517..Martin Luther nails 95 theses at Wittenberg Palace church, marking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

1731..Expulsion of Protestants from Salzburg, Austria, begins.

1922..Fascist leader Benito Mussolini becomes prime minister of Italy.

1925..Reza Khanusurps Persian throne;Greek army invades Bulgaria.

1926..Magician Harry Houdini dies in Detroit od gangrene and peritonitis from a ruptured appendix.

1938..The day after his "War of the Worlds" broadcast panicked U.S. listeners, Orson Welles expresses "deep regret" but also bewilderment that anyone had thought the simulated Martian invasion was real.

1953..Floods in Bihar state of India leave two million people homeless.

1956..British and French troops bomb Egyptian airfields in Suez War.

1961..Clouds of radioactive debris moves across central Siberia after Soviets Explode what is called biggest man-made nuclear bomb.

1967..Lieutenant Nguyen Van Thieu takes oath of office as first president of South Vietnam's second republic.

1968..U.S. Preasident Lyndon B. Johnson orders a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, saying he hopes for fruitful peace negotiations.

1979..A concrete and earthen reservoir dam collapses near Indiantown, Florida, sending 12-foot floodwaters over 20 miles, stranding 1,700 persons.