October 31 Holidays, Observances and History

31 October 2026 is the 304th day of the year, with 61 days left, and it falls on a Saturday. It is best known as Halloween, but it is also a UN day, a savings day, and the 100th anniversary of Harry Houdini’s death.

Today’s holidays:
Halloween — grew out of Samhain, the Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest, which became All Hallows’ Eve, then Halloween.
World Cities Day — created by the UN as a legacy of Expo 2010 Shanghai, first held on 31 October 2014 in Shanghai.
World Savings Day / World Thrift Day — established on 31 October 1924 during the 1st International Savings Bank Congress in Milan.
National Magic Day / Houdini Day — Harry Houdini died on 31 October 1926, so 2026 marks 100 years.
Reformation Day — a religious observance on 31 October celebrating the Protestant Reformation.
National Caramel Apple Day — a Halloween treat day, and caramel apples are one of the most popular Halloween treats.
Girl Scout Founder’s Day — honours Juliette Gordon Low, born 31 October 1860.
National Knock Knock Joke Day, Hug a Sheep Day, and National Trick or Treat Day — the fun, last-Saturday observances that fall on Halloween itself in 2026.

How to celebrate today:
Carve a pumpkin, hand out treats, tell a magic trick, start a small savings habit for World Savings Day, and share a photo of your city for World Cities Day.

This day in history:
1517: Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on a church door in Wittenberg, an act widely considered to have sparked the Protestant Reformation.
1864: Nevada became the 36th state in a proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln.
1926: Magician and escape artist Harry Houdini died of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix in Detroit.
1941: Work ended on Mount Rushmore after 14 years, and the USS Reuben James was sunk by a German submarine near Iceland — the first US Navy ship lost to enemy action in World War II.
1984: Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two Sikh security guards.
2008: Satoshi Nakamoto published the paper introducing Bitcoin.
2011: The United Nations marked the symbolic milestone of the world’s population reaching seven billion people.

Famous birthdays today: Vallabhbhai Patel (1875), Chiang Kai-shek (1887), and Peter Jackson (1961).