Birthdays: Jan Vermeer, John Keats, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Gen. Chiang Kai Shek, John Candy, Dale Evans, Jane Pauley, David Ogden Stiers, Dan Rather, Lee Grant, Ethel Waters, Juliet Low-founder of the American Girl Scouts, Ollie Johnston, Vanilla Ice, Stephen Rea, Rob Schneider, Animator Randy Cartwright, Peter Jackson is 62.
HAPPY ALL HALLOWS EVE- The night before the Feast of All Saints, beginning the Christian season of Advent, was confused in Medieval custom with one of the four Druid fire festivals, All Hallows. In Ireland it was called Samhein. At this time, all hearth fires in the land are extinguished then re-lit from the fire at the Druids sacred grove. Add to this the early Church's attempt to eradicate the pagan custom of giving food to departed spirits -Greek Anthesterion in Feb., Roman Feralia and Lemuria in May- by moving the date to honor the dead to the Feast of All Souls on November 2nd. It was considered a good day for pagans to be baptized. Many cultures had customs of putting food offerings on doorsteps so the spirits would leave you in peace. So today is the last night for the devil and other
1892- Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle gathered all his Holmes mystery stories into its first collection to be published in book form- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It was said to be the only book King Edward VII ever read all the way through.
1926 –The great magician Harry Houdini died. His real name was Eric Weiss but he had seen a French magician named Houdin who had inspired him. Some college boys in Detroit asked the great magician if it was true he could withstand any punch. When he said yes while reading his mail, a large student unexpectedly punched him hard in the abdomen, rupturing his already aggrieved appendix. Peritonitis set in and he died on this day. No antibiotics yet. Houdini was 52. He was buried in a coffin he had used for his escape acts. He promised his wife if there really was an afterlife, he would contact her somehow. She held a seance on every Halloween hoping for a message, but none ever came. She gave up after ten years.
1936- The Disney short The Country Cousin released. Directed by Dave Hand, Art Babbitt’s animation of the country mouse drunk was a standout performance. The Country Cousin won an Oscar at the 9th Academy Awards.
1941-the sculpture group of U.S. Presidents on Mount Rushmore completed. Instead of just their heads artist–designer Judson Borglum wanted the sculpture to go down to the figures waists but he died in early 1941, and with war on the horizon, his son and chief engineer rushed to complete the heads as is.
1945- The "War of Hollywood" Ends. The CSU union strike, the film business's longest and ugliest, falls apart and many of the former members drift into IATSE locals.
1964- Barbara Streisand single “People, People who need People..” goes to number one.
1993- Young movie star River Phoenix (the brother of Joaquin Phoenix) overdosed and died on the street in front of the Viper Room night club in LA after partying with Johnny Depp, his girlfriend Samantha Mathis, and Christina Applegate. The club was owned by Depp. It was once the Melody Room owned by mobster Bugsy Siegel. River Phoenix was 23. Ironically, as Phoenix was thrashing spasmodically, people walked by unconcerned, because it’s a common enough occurrence on The Sunset Strip.
2000- The first working crew blasted off from Kazakhstan to occupy the International Space Station. A NASA spokesman said ‘If all goes well today will mark the first day of Mans permanent colonization of Space. Yesterday was the last day that the cosmos would be completely devoid of human beings.”
2001- The acting Governor of Massachusetts officially overturned the convictions of the last six people executed in the Salem Witch Trials 300 years ago in 1692.
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