Today is Thursday, Oct. 31, the 304th day of 2002. There are 61 days left in the year. This is

Today is Thursday, Oct. 31, the 304th day of 2002. There are 61 days left in the year. This is Halloween. On this date in 1517, Martin Luther posts the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.
In 1795, English poet John Keats is born in London. In 1864, Nevada becomes the 36th state. In 1926, magician Harry Houdini dies in Detroit of gangrene and peritonitis resulting from a ruptured appendix. In 1941, the U.S. Navy destroyer Reuben James is torpedoed by a German U-boat off Iceland with the loss of 115 lives, even though the United States had not yet entered WWII. In 1956, Rear Admiral G.J. Dufek becomes the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole. In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson orders a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, saying he hopes for fruitful peace negotiations. In 1980, Reza Pahlavi, eldest son of the late shah, proclaims himself the rightful successor to the Peacock Throne. In 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two Sikh security guards. In 1994, a Chicago-bound American Eagle ATR-72 crashes in northern Indiana, killing all 68 people aboard. In 1999, EgyptAir Flight 990 crashes off the Massachusetts coast, killing all 217 people aboard.
October 31, 1977: The newly formed Youngstown Religious coalition, working with economic and public policy specialists in a two-day steel crisis conference at First Presbyterian Church, develops a four-point program to alleviate the effects of the cutbacks at Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube.
The Vindicator adopts a new Associated Press stylebook. Among the changes readers will see, "kidnapped" will have two Ps, "per cent" becomes "percent" and "Ms." will be permitted in references to women if they state a preference for that title over Miss or Mrs.
Two baby bulls dodge New Castle city police and Pennsylvania state police, motorists and other well intentioned would-be captors for seven hours. The animals, weighing between 400 and 500, escaped from the Bill Dess compound, a mile west of the city.
October 31, 1962: The Youngstown-Akron University football game scheduled for Rayen Stadium has been called off and Youngstown is claiming a forfeit. Akron had insisted on applying substitution rules different from NCAA regulations. YU coach Dike Beede says Akron, 6-0, is bent on protecting its perfect record.
One of the worst cases of pre-Halloween vandalism in Austintown Township history occurs when the windows of 15 cars are shattered in the Wedgewood area.
Two Mahoning County deputies are given seven day suspensions by Sheriff Ray T. Davis for laxity and a third deputy is given two days off for failing to notify the sheriff of the escape of a 27-year-old Western Reserve Road man. He escaped after talking deputies into removing his handcuffs and allowing him to go to his bedroom for a change of clothes. He fled through a window.
October 31, 1952: Westminster College students at New Wilmington, Pa., are busy getting ready for a mock election and an election night party to watch national results.
Youngstown police reopen their file on Donald J. "Moosey" Caputo, 50, former Youngstown gambler, who says he is back in Youngstown to stay after two years in Hollywood, Fla.
Advertisement: Bargain Port raises the curtain on its mammoth toyland. Buck Rogers "Sonic Ray" Gun, a $2.29 value, $1.79; Three-wheel riding tractor, push-action pedals and rubber tires, $27.39; Little Miss stove and utensils, $1.96.
October 31, 1927: More than the entire population of Youngstown and more than the entire number of cars registered in Youngstown pass over the nine crossings of the Erie Railroad from Watt St. to Westlake's Crossing each 18 hours of the day. Some 51,212 persons walk over the tracks and 53,432 automobiles drive across.
Fire in the bisque kiln department of Taylor, Smith and Taylor Pottery Co.'s plant in Chester, W.Va., causes $25,00 in damage and throws 200 men out of work.