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Reformation / Houdini / Nevada / Spanish Flu / Bitcoin

On This Day (October 31): Your quick daily trip back in time.

Author

Fatih Taskiran
October 31, 2025

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🌟 Editor's Note

Good morning — it’s Friday, October 31. Today, we're diving into the Protestant Reformation, Houdini's death, the Spanish flu, Bitcoin's birth, and more - quick, sharp, and source-clean.

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— Fatih, Editor

🚀 Time Machine

-1517

The Protestant Reformation started when Martin Luther sent his Ninety-five Theses to Albert of Brandenburg.

-1541

-1826

Harry Houdini, the greatest magician and escape artist, died of peritonitis in a Detroit hospital.

-1864

Nevada was admitted as the 36th state in the Union by the US Congress.

-1918

In just one week, the Spanish flu killed 21,000 Americans.

-1950

Earl Lloyd, 21, becomes the first African American to play in an NBA game for the Washington Capitols.

-1961

Stalin's embalmed body was removed from Lenin's tomb five years after Khrushchev denounced Stalinism at the 20th Party Congress.

-1987

Chris Antley becomes the first rider to win nine races in one day. (Four at Aqueduct, five at Meadowlands)

-1997

Violet Palmer, 33, became the first woman to officiate an NBA game.

-2008

Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious and anonymous inventor, released the Bitcoin white paper, introducing the currency to the world.

-2011

The world population reached 7 billion according to the United Nations.

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📸 Snapshot

Hospitalized soldiers with Spanish flu at Camp Funston in Fort Riley, Kansas, 1918

🗨️ Final Words

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“Music has been my doorway of perception and the house that I live in.”

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