Rugby athlete Josh Hodgson

Events in 1989 and 31-10

Events in the world in the birth year of Josh Hodgson

• US planes shoot down two Libyan fighters over international waters in Mediterranean (Jan. 4).
• Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini declares author Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses offensive and sentences him to death (Feb. 14).
• Tens of thousands of Chinese students take over Beijing's Tiananmen Square in rally for democracy (April 19 et seq.). More than one million in Beijing demonstrate for democracy; chaos spreads across nation (mid-May et seq.). Thousands killed in Tiananmen Square as Chinese leaders take hard line toward demonstrators (June 4 et seq.).
• Mikhail S. Gorbachev named Soviet President (May 25).
• P. W. Botha quits as South Africa's President (Aug. 14).
• Deng Xiaoping resigns from China's leadership (Nov. 9).
• After 28 years, Berlin Wall is open to West (Nov. 11).
• Czech Parliament ends Communists' dominant role (Nov. 30).
• Romanian uprising overthrows Communist government (Dec. 15 et seq.); President Ceausescu and wife executed (Dec. 25).
• US troops invade Panama, seeking capture of General Manuel Noriega (Dec. 20).

Birthday Josh Hodgson (31-10) in history

• Day 31-10 year 1517: To mark the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in Germany, Martin Luther passed the 95 Theses in front of the Wittenberg Palace church.
• Day 31-10 year 1846: Heavy snowfall leaves the Donner Party stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
• Day 31-10 year 1864: Nevada became the 36th state.
• Day 31-10 year 1941: Work on the Mount Rushmore monument was completed.
• Day 31-10 year 1956: Rear Admiral G. J. Dufek became the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole.
• Day 31-10 year 1984: Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated.
• Day 31-10 year 1992: Pope John Paul II admitted that the Roman Catholic Church had erred in convicting Galileo of heresy 350 years earlier.