November 1, 1897: The Library of Congress Opens

The Thomas Jefferson Building

November 1, 1897: The current Library of Congress building opens in Washington, D.C., across First Street from the U.S. Capitol Building. There is a dispute as to whether it or the British Library is the largest in the world, based on total number of volumes contained therein. Both have over 170 million volumes.

Once the national capital moved to Washington in 1800, the Library of Congress was housed in the Capitol. Much of its original collection was burned by the British troops in the War of 1812, along with the rest of the Capitol, and the White House, on August 24, 1814. That remains the worst attack on the Capitol. During the Trump Insurrection of January 6, 2021, the Library of Congress was safe: Most of those people wouldn't intentionally go anywhere near a library.

After the fire, Congress purchased former President Thomas Jefferson's entire personal collection of 6,487 books, to restore its own collection -- and also to help him pay off his debts. Over the next few years, its collection slowly grew. But on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1851, another fire broke out in the Capitol chambers. This destroyed a large amount of the collection, including many of Jefferson's books.

After the American Civil War, the importance of the Library of Congress for legislative research increased, and there was a campaign to purchase replacement copies for volumes for its lost books. The library received the right of transference of all copyrighted works, and deposit of two copies of books, maps, illustrations, and diagrams printed in the United States. The Library also built its collections through acquisitions and donations.

Between 1888 and 1894, Congress constructed and moved the collection to a large adjacent library building, across the street from the Capitol. On April 13, 1976, on the anniversary of Jefferson's birth, and in connection with the nation's Bicentennial, the main Library was renamed the Thomas Jefferson Building, 

Two more adjacent library buildings, the John Adams Building, opening in 1939, and the James Madison Memorial Building, opening in 1980, hold expanded parts of the collection and provide space for additional library services.

The Jefferson Building's Main Reading Room

The library's primary mission is to research inquiries made by members of Congress, which is carried out through the Congressional Research Service. It also houses and oversees the United States Copyright Office. The library is open to the public for research, although only high-ranking government officials and library employees may borrow -- i.e., temporarily take custody of -- books and materials.

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November 1, 1897 was a Monday. There were no games on this historic day: Baseball season was over, football was in midweek, and basketball and hockey were both still all-amateur.

November 1, 1884: The Gaelic Athletic Association Is Founded

November 1, 1884: The Gaelic Athletic Association is founded at Hayes's Hotel in Thurles, County Tipperary, in what's now the Republic of Ireland. The GAA governs the traditional Irish sports such as hurling and Gaelic football -- but not Irish soccer, which is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The Northern Ireland equivalent is the Irish Football Association (IFA).

For decades, Irish athletes resisted the sports that England were first to organize: Association football (soccer), rugby, and cricket. So they developed their own version of football, and rounders (a baseball-like game then less popular in England than cricket), and hurling. For girls, the game of canogie was invented, sort of a cross between field hockey and lacrosse.

By the 1960s, the growth of television allowed Irish people to see English sports more easily, and they decided to try to, literally, beat the English at their own games. An Ireland rugby team, made up of both Republic of Ireland players and Norther Ireland players, has been very successful. In soccer, though the Republic team (run by the Football Association of Ireland, or FAI) and the Northern Ireland team (run by the Irish Football Association, or IFA) remain separate, and tend not to do well.

The GAA also promotes Irish music and dance, as well as the Irish language, and it also promotes environmental stewardship through its Green Clubs initiative. Today, it is headquartered at Croke Park, the 82,300-seat national stadium, in Dublin. A GAA museum is at the stadium.

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November 1, 1884 was a Saturday. In America, baseball was the most popular sport, especially among its many Irish immigrants, but the season was over. But some Irish turned to American-style football, due to its closer to resemblance to the Gaelic version and rugby than to English soccer. These were still the early days of college football, and only 4 games were played that day:

* Wesleyan University, of Middletown, Connecticut, beat Harvard, 16-0 at the Hartford Ball Club Grounds in Hartford, Connecticut.

* Rutgers beat Lehigh, 61-0 at College Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

* The College of New Jersey, renamed Princeton University in 1896, beat Stevens Institute of Technology, of Hoboken, New Jersey, at University Field in Princeton, New Jersey.

* And the University of Pennsylvania beat Lafayette, 21-0 at the University Athletic Grounds in Philadelphia.

October 31, 2015: Horse Racing's 1st "Grand Slam"

October 31, 2015: American Pharoah wins the Breeders' Cup Classic, the highlight of the annual Breeders' Cup meet, held this year at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky.

On May 2, 2015, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, at 3-1 odds, American Pharoah won the Kentucky Derby, in 2 minutes, 3.02 seconds, by 1 length over Firing Line. Two weeks later, on May 16, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, at 9-10 odds, he won the Preakness Stakes, in 1 minute, 58.46 seconds, by 7 lengths over Tale of Verve.

Since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978, there had been several near-misses, horses winning the Derby and the Preakness, but not the Belmont Stakes, the mile-and-a-half "True Test of Champions." Spectacular Bid had failed in 1979, Pleasant Colony in 1981, Alysheba in 1987, Sunday Silence in 1989, Silver Charm by 3/4 of a length in 1997, Real Quiet in a photo finish in 1998, Charismatic due to an in-race injury in 1999, War Emblem in 2002, Funny Cide in 2003, Smarty Jones by 1 length in 2004, Big Brown due to an in-race injury in 2008, I'll Have Another scratched from the Belmont due to an injury in 2012, and California Chrome due to an in-race injury in 2014. Racing fans were wondering if they would ever see another winner.

On June 6, American Pharoah was loaded into the paddock at Belmont Park in Elmont, Long Island, New York, just over the City Line from Queens, at odds of 3-4. There was no injury, no fade, and not even any drama: He won by 5 1/2 lengths over Frosted, in a time of 2 minutes, 26.65 seconds.

The idea for the Breeders' Cup was proposed at the 1982 awards luncheon for the Kentucky Derby Festival by pet food heir John R. Gaines, a leading Thoroughbred owner and breeder who wanted to clean up the sport's image.

The event was created as a year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing, and also attracts top horses from other parts of the world, especially Europe. The Cup was initially faced with much skepticism in the racing community, but with the vocal support of legendary trainer John Nerud and others, the event was carried out for the 1st time in 1984, and subsequently experienced tremendous popularity domestically and abroad.

The feature race is the Breeders' Cup Classic, a mile and a quarter like the Kentucky Derby. Usually, it is won by a horse that has won at least 1 of the Triple Crown races, although the 1st winner, Wild Again, didn't even enter any of those races, but held off 1983 Three-Year-Old Male Champion Slew o' Gold and 1984 Preakness winner Gate Dancer at Hollywood Park outside Los Angeles.

American Pharoah was the 1st Triple Crown winner to whom the Classic was available. On Halloween, October 31, 2015, at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky -- practically home soil -- he won by 5 1/2 lengths, in 2 minutes, 0.07 seconds, by 6 1/2 lengths over Effinex. Thus, he became the 1st winner of an American thoroughbred racing "Grand Slam." Through the 2021 Classic, he remains the only one.

It was his last race. Unlike many 3-year-old champions, he did not have a money-making 4-year-old season, and was immediately retired to stud. As of October 31, 2022, American Pharoah stands at Ashford Stud farm in Kentucky. Most of his descendants who have gone on to race have done so outside the United States, winning races in Britain, Europe and Australia.

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October 31, 2015 was a Saturday. This was also the day that the University of Miami's football team beat Duke University, then ranked Number 22 in the country, 30-27 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, on a controversial final play. It became known as "The Debacle at Durham." I have a separate entry for that vent.

Among the other college football games played that day:

* Number 1 Ohio State had the week off. They blew the Big Ten and National Championships by losing to Michigan State.

* Number 2 Louisiana State also had the week off. LSU blew the Southeastern Conference and National Championships by losing their next 3 games, to Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.

* Number 3 Clemson beat North Carolina State, 56-41 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. Clemson went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

* Number 4 Alabama had the week off. They won the SEC West Division title, and moved on to the SEC Championship Game.

* Number 5 Texas Christian had played 2 nights before. TCU beat West Virginia, 40-10 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. Losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State cost them shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They did win the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

* Number 7 Michigan State had the week off. The won the Big Ten title, but lost the Cotton Bowl to Alabama.

* Number 8 Stanford beat Washington State, 30-28 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. Stanford won the Pacific-Twelve title.

* Number 9 Notre Dame beat Number 21 Temple, 24-20 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Notre Dame went on to beat Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 10 Iowa beat Maryland, 31-15 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Iowa finished 2nd in the Big Ten, but since Champions Michigan State qualified for the National Championship Playoff, Iowa got the league's Rose Bowl bid, losing "The Granddaddy of Them All" to Stanford.

* In the rivalry known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," Number 11 Florida beat Georgia, 27-3 at EverBank Field (now TIAA Bank Field) in Jacksonville. Florida won the SEC East Division, but lost the SEC Championship Game to Alabama.

* Number 12 Oklahoma State beat Texas Tech in a wild one, 70-53 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Yes, that's a football game, not a basketball game. Losses to Oklahoma and Baylor cost TCU shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They went on to beat Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl. Texas Tech went to the Texas Bowl in Houston, but lost to LSU.

* Number 14 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 62-7 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Oklahoma won the Big Twelve Conference title, but lost to Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Clemson then lost the National Championship Playoff to Alabama.

* In a rivalry for the Little Brown Jug, Number 15 Michigan beat Minnesota, 29-26 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis.

* Among the service academies, Navy beat South Florida, 29-17 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; Air Force beat Hawaii, 58-7 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu; and Army had the week off.

* In a rivalry for the Old Bourbon Barrel, Tennessee beat Kentucky, 52-21 at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky.

* And Rutgers lost to Wisconsin, 48-10 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Who's the money-grubber -- or the masochist -- who thought that RU joining the Big Ten was a good idea?

Game 4 of the World Series was played at Citi Field in Queens. Tim McGraw, country music superstar and son of New York Mets (and Philadelphia Phillies) legend Tug McGraw, both sang the National Anthem and threw out the ceremonial first ball. As far as I know, no other person has ever been given both honors at a major league game.

Michael Conforto's home run gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning, and another Conforto homer in the 5th made it 3-1. He is the only Met ever to hit 2 home runs in a World Series game. As late as the top of the 8th, they led the Kansas City Royals 3-2.

But for the 4th straight game -- actually, the 5th, since they did it in Game 5 back in 2000 -- the Mets blew a lead in a World Series game. Tyler Clippard walked the 1st 2 Royals in the 8th. With Jeurys Familia brought in to pitch, Daniel Murphy, the Mets' biggest postseason hero thus far, made a key error that allowed the tying run to score. Mike Moustakas singled home the go-ahead run, and the Royals tacked on another. Yoenis Céspedes, the other big Met hero of the season, got doubled off 1st base following a soft line drive to end it, in a 5-3 Royals win.

The Mets had thrilled the baseball world the last 3 months. Now, they were clowning their way to an ignominious defeat.

There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards, 117-110 at the Capital One Arena in Washington. Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points for the Knickerbockers, and that wasn't even close to making him tops in the league for the night.

* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 101-91 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 134-120 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Steph Curry scored 53 points for the Dubs.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers, 97-76 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Sacramento Kings, 114-109 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Blake Griffin scored 37 for the Clips.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 101-90 at the Moda Center in Portland.

And there were 10 games in the NHL: 

* The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders, 3-2 in a shootout at the Prudential Center.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the BB&T Center (now the FLA Live Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the winning goal with 1:16 left in overtime.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-3 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-2 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. David Backes scored the winning goal with 34 seconds left in overtime.

* The Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* In the Battle of Alberta, the Calgary Flames beat their arch-rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4 at Rexall Place (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators, 4-3 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena, which hosted the Clippers later that night). Jeff Carter scored the winning goal with 18 seconds left in overtime.

And in England's Premier League, North London team Arsenal went to Wales, and beat Swansea City, 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium (now Swansea.com Stadium).

October 31, 2015: The Debacle at Durham

Mark Walton is tackled by Jake Kite... or is he?

October 31, 2015: Duke University hosts the University of Miami in an Atlantic Coast Conference Game at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. After scoring a touchdown and a 2-point conversion, Duke led 27-24 with 6 seconds left on the clock. All the Blue Devils had to do was not allow a touchdown on the kickoff return, and they would beat the Hurricanes.

Duke squibbed the kickoff, thinking that the clock would run out during Miami's return. But the ball only got to the Miami 25-yard line, and the 'Canes tried to copy "The Play," the lateral-filled play that allowed the University of California to beat arch-rival Stanford in 1982.

After 3 laterals, the ball was held on the Miami 3-yard line. Mark Walton tried a 4th lateral. Photos showed that his knee hit the turf before he let the ball go. But no official whistled the play dead. Eventually, Miami made 8 laterals. The last got to Corn Elder, who got 2 key blocks, and had a clear path to the Duke end zone.

When he got to the Duke 16, his teammate Artie Burns threw a block that caused the line judge to throw his penalty flag. Elder got into the end zone, but the officials decided to check the instant replay. They declared that all 8 laterals were legal, no Miami ballcarrier had been legally tackled, and the illegal block made by Burns was actually a legal one. So Elder's touchdown stood, and the final score was Miami 30, Duke 27.

This became known as "The Debacle In Durham." The ACC later ruled that Walton was down, and that the illegal block was, in fact, illegal. They refused to overturn the game's result, but they suspended the entire officiating crew for 2 games.

Now, if it was Duke basketball, a lot of people wouldn't have minded seeing them get screwed. But Duke football has been far less successful, and has offended far fewer people.

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October 31, 2015 was a Saturday. This was also the day that American Pharoah became the 1st horse to win the "Grand Slam" of American thoroughbred racing, adding the Breeders' Cup Classic to the "Triple Crown" of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. I have a separate entry for that vent.

Among the other college football games played that day:

* Number 1 Ohio State had the week off. They blew the Big Ten and National Championships by losing to Michigan State.

* Number 2 Louisiana State also had the week off. LSU blew the Southeastern Conference and National Championships by losing their next 3 games, to Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.

* Number 3 Clemson beat North Carolina State, 56-41 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. Clemson went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

* Number 4 Alabama had the week off. They won the SEC West Division title, and moved on to the SEC Championship Game.

* Number 5 Texas Christian had played 2 nights before. TCU beat West Virginia, 40-10 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. Losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State cost them shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They did win the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

* Number 7 Michigan State had the week off. The won the Big Ten title, but lost the Cotton Bowl to Alabama.

* Number 8 Stanford beat Washington State, 30-28 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. Stanford won the Pacific-Twelve title.

* Number 9 Notre Dame beat Number 21 Temple, 24-20 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Notre Dame went on to beat Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 10 Iowa beat Maryland, 31-15 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Iowa finished 2nd in the Big Ten, but since Champions Michigan State qualified for the National Championship Playoff, Iowa got the league's Rose Bowl bid, losing "The Granddaddy of Them All" to Stanford.

* In the rivalry known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," Number 11 Florida beat Georgia, 27-3 at EverBank Field (now TIAA Bank Field) in Jacksonville. Florida won the SEC East Division, but lost the SEC Championship Game to Alabama.

* Number 12 Oklahoma State beat Texas Tech in a wild one, 70-53 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Yes, that's a football game, not a basketball game. Losses to Oklahoma and Baylor cost TCU shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They went on to beat Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl. Texas Tech went to the Texas Bowl in Houston, but lost to LSU.

* Number 14 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 62-7 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Oklahoma won the Big Twelve Conference title, but lost to Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Clemson then lost the National Championship Playoff to Alabama.

* In a rivalry for the Little Brown Jug, Number 15 Michigan beat Minnesota, 29-26 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis.

* Among the service academies, Navy beat South Florida, 29-17 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; Air Force beat Hawaii, 58-7 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu; and Army had the week off.

* In a rivalry for the Old Bourbon Barrel, Tennessee beat Kentucky, 52-21 at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky.

* And Rutgers lost to Wisconsin, 48-10 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Who's the money-grubber -- or the masochist -- who thought that RU joining the Big Ten was a good idea?

Game 4 of the World Series was played at Citi Field in Queens. Tim McGraw, country music superstar and son of New York Mets (and Philadelphia Phillies) legend Tug McGraw, both sang the National Anthem and threw out the ceremonial first ball. As far as I know, no other person has ever been given both honors at a major league game.

Michael Conforto's home run gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning, and another Conforto homer in the 5th made it 3-1. He is the only Met ever to hit 2 home runs in a World Series game. As late as the top of the 8th, they led the Kansas City Royals 3-2.

But for the 4th straight game -- actually, the 5th, since they did it in Game 5 back in 2000 -- the Mets blew a lead in a World Series game. Tyler Clippard walked the 1st 2 Royals in the 8th. With Jeurys Familia brought in to pitch, Daniel Murphy, the Mets' biggest postseason hero thus far, made a key error that allowed the tying run to score. Mike Moustakas singled home the go-ahead run, and the Royals tacked on another. Yoenis Céspedes, the other big Met hero of the season, got doubled off 1st base following a soft line drive to end it, in a 5-3 Royals win.

The Mets had thrilled the baseball world the last 3 months. Now, they were clowning their way to an ignominious defeat.

There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards, 117-110 at the Capital One Arena in Washington. Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points for the Knickerbockers, and that wasn't even close to making him tops in the league for the night.

* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 101-91 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 134-120 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Steph Curry scored 53 points for the Dubs.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers, 97-76 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Sacramento Kings, 114-109 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Blake Griffin scored 37 for the Clips.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 101-90 at the Moda Center in Portland.

And there were 10 games in the NHL: 

* The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders, 3-2 in a shootout at the Prudential Center.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the BB&T Center (now the FLA Live Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the winning goal with 1:16 left in overtime.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-3 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-2 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. David Backes scored the winning goal with 34 seconds left in overtime.

* The Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* In the Battle of Alberta, the Calgary Flames beat their arch-rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4 at Rexall Place (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators, 4-3 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena, which hosted the Clippers later that night). Jeff Carter scored the winning goal with 18 seconds left in overtime.

And in England's Premier League, North London team Arsenal went to Wales, and beat Swansea City, 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium (now Swansea.com Stadium).

October 31, 2010: "The Walking Dead" Premieres

October 31, 2010: The Walking Dead premieres on AMC -- appropriately enough, on Halloween Night. It is based on the graphic novel series of the same title, created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore in 2003, and published by Image Comics until 2019.

English actor Andrew Lincoln played Rick Grimes, a Sheriff in Cynthiana, Georgia, who falls into a coma after being wounded in a shootout. Some time later, he awakens to discover that, in his absence, a zombie apocalypse has taken place. He is told his wife Lori and son Carl had been taken to Atlanta for their protection. Rick becomes the leader of a group of survivors, trying to fend off both zombies (known as "walkers") and rival survivor groups, the more evil enemy: Unlike the walkers, who are acting solely on instinct, the other survivors have made choices.

Lincoln left the series during its 9th season, succeeded as group leader by Norman Reedus as hunter Daryl Dixon. But many viewers had already given up on the show by then, saying that the stories had become repetitive. It's inspired several spinoffs featuring individual characters; Fear the Walking Dead, which shows how it all began, but with a separate group of characters; and Talking Dead, a post-show fan-discussion show. The original show's final episode, concluding its 11th season, will air on November 20, 2022.

(UPDATE: The series finale left the fates of both Rick and Michonne Hawthorne, played by Danai Gurira, unclear. On June 18, 2023, another spinoff series began: The Walking Dead: Dead City follows the characters of Maggie Greene, played by Lauren Cohan; and Negan Smith, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, in what remains of New York City. On February 25, 2024, a new series, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, picked up the story of Rick and Michonne.)

In a 2014 episode of Epic Rap Battles of History, "Nice" Peter Shukoff played Rick, against "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist, who played Walter White of Breaking Bad.

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October 31, 2010 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that Halloween:

* The New York Jets lost to the Green Bay Packers, 9-0 at the New Meadowlands Stadium (now MetLife Stadium). Yes, that's a football score, not baseball.

* The New England Patriots beat the Minnesota Vikings, 28-18 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 20-10 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 22-14 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Washington Redskins, 37-25 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the Carolina Panthers, 20-10 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills, 13-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Ryan Succop kicked a 35-yard field goal as time ran out in overtime.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Dallas Cowboys, 35-17 at the new Cowboys Stadium (now AT&T Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 38-35 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Tennessee Titans, 33-25 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Seattle Seahawks, 33-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Denver Broncos, 24-16 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The next night, on Monday Night Football, the Indianapolis Colts beat the Houston Texans, 30-17 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

* And the Atlanta Falcons, the Baltimore Ravens, the Chicago Bears, the Cleveland Browns, the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles had a bye week.

Game 4 of the World Series was played at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium), practically next-door to the new Cowboys Stadium. The San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers, 4-0. Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey hit home runs for the Giants. Madison Bumgarner pitched 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball. He and Posey were the 1st rookie battery to start a World Series game since 1947, when Frank "Spec" Shea and Yogi Berra did it for the New York Yankees. The Giants took a 3-1 lead in the Series, and won it the next day.

There were no games played in the NHL, but 4 were in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Miami Heat, 101-78 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 120-99 at the Ford Center (now the Paycom Center) in Oklahoma City.

* And in a doubleheader at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors, 107-83; and the Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Dallas Mavericks, 99-83.

October 31, 2009: The Spectrum Closes

October 31, 2009: The "grunge rock" band Pearl Jam sell out The Spectrum, in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. It is the last event at the 42-year-old arena.

The Spectrum, a new sports arena, opened in South Philadelphia on September 30, 1967, with the Quaker City Jazz Festival. It was home to the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers until 1996; hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 1970 and 1976; the NHL All-Star Game in 1976 and 1992; the NCAA Final Four in 1976 and 1981; the Stanley Cup Finals in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1985 and 1987; the NBA Finals in 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983; and concerts by Elvis Presley in 1971, 1974, 1976 and 1977.

Unlike most arenas, The Spectrum was not replaced due to it being technologically outdated, or in poor condition, or being in a bad neighborhood (it was an island in a sea of parking, therefore it was in no neighborhood). It was because Spectator, the company owned by the Snider family to operate the arena and the Flyers, was booking more events than it could handle.

So in 1992, JFK Stadium was torn down, and what was originally named Spectrum II was built on the site. The idea was that the new arena would host the headline events -- the 76ers, the Flyers, and the major concerts -- while the original Spectrum would host smaller events.

The 76ers' last game at The Spectrum was on April 19, 1996. They lost to the Orlando Magic, 112-92. The Flyers' last game there was in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, on May 12. They were eliminated from the Eastern Conference Semifinals by the Florida Panthers, 2-1. Mike Hough scored the winning, and last, goal at 8:05 of the 2nd overtime.

The Spectrum continued to hold public events until a series of Pearl Jam concerts from October 27 to 31, 2009. The building was torn down the following year. Xfinity Live! Philadelphia, a dining and entertainment complex, opened on the site in 2012.

*

October 31, 2009 was a Saturday. It was also Halloween. At the same time as the concert, Game 3 of the World Series was also held at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-5 at Citizens Bank Park. Andy Pettitte outpitched Cole Hamels. Home runs were hit by Yankees Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher and Hideki Matsui; while Jayson Werth hit 2 for the Phillies, and Carlos Ruiz added one.

It figured that A-Rod's 1st World Series home run would be controversial. But it was only a slight controversy: At first, his drive appeared to be a double off the wall. Even he thought so, and he stopped at 2nd base. But, for the 1st time, instant replay was used in a World Series game, and it showed that the ball deflected off a TV camera above the wall. According to the ground rules, that made it a home run.

The Yankees took a 2-games-to-1 lead in the Series, retaking home-field advantage after the Phillies won Game 1. The Yankees went on to win the Series in 6 games.

These notable college football games were played:

* Rivalry: Number 1 Florida beat Georgia, 41-17 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (now EverBank Stadium).

* Number 3 Texas beat Number 13 Oklahoma State, 41-14 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

* Number 4 University of Southern California (USC) were upset by Number 10 Oregon, 47-20 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.

* Number 5 University of Cincinnati beat Syracuse, 28-7 at the Carrier Dome (now the JMA Wireless Dome) in Syracuse, New York.

* Number 6 Boise State beat San Jose State, 45-7 at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. As an undefeated team and Champions of the Western Athletic Conference, the Broncos got invited to the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 7 Iowa beat Indiana, 42-24 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.

* Number 8 Texas Christian University (TCU) beat the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), 41-0 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. As an undefeated team and Champions of the Mountain West Conference, the Horned Frogs got invited to the Fiesta Bowl. They came in at Number 6, while Boise State were Number 8. Since neither the WAC nor the MWC, which grew out of the WAC, is a "Power Five" conference, this was a consolation prize: Whoever won was still going to be undefeated, but wouldn't get to be called National Champions. It was, essentially, college football's version of the NIT. Boise State won, 17-10. Despite remaining undefeated, they only rose to Number 4 in the polls.

* Rivalry: Number 9 Louisiana State University (LSU) beat Tulane, 42-0 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Number 21 South Carolina were upset by Tennessee, 31-13 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* Number 24 Mississippi lost to  Auburn, 33-20 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.

* Number 25 Notre Dame beat Washington State, 40-14 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. I don't know why the game was played there, but it was part of "the Shamrock Series," where Notre Dame plays "home away from home games."

* Illinois beat Michigan, 38-13 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

* Among the service academies, Army had the week off; Navy lost to Temple, 27-24 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; and Air Force beat Colorado State, 34-16 at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado.

* And Rutgers beat Connecticut (a.k.a. UConn), 28-24 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.

There were 7 games played in the NBA. Appropriately, 1 was a win by the 76ers, beating the New York Knicks, 141-127 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Othella Harrington scored 42 points for the Knicks, while Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 32. The other games:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Washington Wizards, 123-104 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Charlotte Hornets, 90-79 at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Detroit Pistons, 96-85 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 111-107 at the Toyota Center in Houston. Brandon Roy scored 42 for the Blazers, while Trevor Ariza led the Rockets with 43.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings, 113-94 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Arena) in San Antonio.

* And the Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 93-84 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

There were 11 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-0 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* In the opener of Hockey Night In Canada's Saturday night doubleheader, there was an Original Six matchup: The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-4 in a shootout at the Bell Centre.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-0 at the TD Garden Boston.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-1 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-1 at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1 at the Mellon Arena (as the Civic Arena was then known) in Pittsburgh.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Dallas Stars, 4-2 at the Sommet Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Florida Panthers beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-0 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Anaheim Ducks, 3-2 in a shootout at the Jobing.com Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 3-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the New York Rangers, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Los Angeles Kings, the Vancouver Canucks, the Washington Capitals, the Colorado Avalanche, the San Jose Sharks and the Columbus Blue Jackets were not scheduled.

And in English soccer, a North London Derby was held at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur, 3-1.

October 31, 2004: The NFL's Longest Winning Streak Ends

Ben Roethlisberger (left) and Tom Brady

October 31, 2004: The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New England Patriots, 34-20 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh. This ends the longest winning streak in NFL history.

Coached by Bill Belichick, the Patriots surprised the football world in the 2001 season, losing starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe to injury early, and then replacing him with Tom Brady, and going on a run that ended with victory over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. After missing the Playoffs in the 2002 season, they won it all again for 2003.

On September 28, they lost away to the Washington Redskins, and ran the table the rest of the way, starting on October 5, home to the Tennessee Titans. They won their last 12 of the season, beat the Titans again in the AFC Divisional Playoff, beat the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game, and beat the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl XXXVIII. That made 15 straight wins.

They won their 1st preseason exhibition game, then lost their next 3, but that didn't break the official streak. They jumped out to a 6-0 start in 2004, for a total of 21 straight wins. The previous longest winning streak belonged to the 1972 and '73 Miami Dolphins: After losing Super Bowl VI, they went 14-0 in the '72 regular season, won the Super Bowl to complete the NFL's only undefeated full season to this day, and won their '73 opener before losing their 2nd game, for a total of 18 straight. The Patriots' 19th straight was their October 10, 2004 home win over, perhaps appropriately, the Dolphins.

Two Sundays later, on October 24, a concurrent streak, the longest unbeaten run in the history of top-flight English soccer, came to an end, as Arsenal, who had gone 49 Premier League games without a loss, were defeated by Manchester United. The Patriots won that day, beating the New York Jets, 13-7 at home, for 21 straight.

But on the afternoon of Halloween, they went into Pittsburgh for a tough one. Patriots vs. Steelers is not one of the NFL's bigger rivalries, but the Pats had eliminated the Steelers from the Playoffs in 1996 (when the quarterbacks were still Bledsoe for New England and Kordell Stewart for Pittsburgh) and 2001, with the Steelers beating the Patriots in 1997. Now, with Ben Roethlisberger as their quarterback, the Black & Gold were ready to take the defending Champions down.

Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal to give the Pats an early lead, but a season-ending injury to Ty Law was a green light for Roethlisberger, as he exploited the new weakness for 2 touchdown passes. Deshea Townsend intercepted Brady and returned it for a touchdown, giving the Steelers a 21-3 lead before the 1st quarter ran out.

The Steelers then pounded the Pats with the running game, with Duce Staley gaining 125 yards and Jerome Bettis 65 plus a 3rd-quarter touchdown. The Steelers won, 34-20, and looked ready to take over as the leading team in the AFC.

It didn't happen: The Steelers hosted the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, and got lit up, 41-27. The Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX, beating the Philadelphia Eagles. The Steelers won 3 of the next 5 AFC Championships, but, each time, the Patriots got knocked out before the Steelers had to face them. The Patriots beat the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game again in the 2016 season.

Did the Patriots cheat in their streak? Did they cheat in Super Bowl XXXIX? There has never been a serious accusation of it. But think of it this way: We have more proven instances of Belichick and/or Brady cheating, and the other benefiting from that cheating, than we have proven instances of them not cheating. So which is more likely: That these were the only times they cheated, or that they cheated in many more games?

*

October 31, 2004 was a Sunday. The baseball season ended 4 days earlier, with the Boston Red Sox ending their 86-year World Series drought by completing a 4-game sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals. The NBA season started 2 days later. And the NHL team owners had locked the players out, eventually leading to the cancellation of the entire season.

These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Minnesota Vikings, 34-13 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Baltimore Ravens, 15-10 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Washington Redskins, 28-14 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-20 at The Coliseum (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.

* The Houston Oilers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-6 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Detroit Lions, 31-21 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Arizona Cardinals, 38-14 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Chicago Bears beat the San Francisco 49ers, 23-13 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Indianapolis Colts, 45-35 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Denver Broncos, 41-28 at Invesco Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.

* The San Diego Chargers beat their arch-rivals, the Oakland Raiders, 42-14 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Carolina Panthers, 23-17 at Qwest Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins, 41-14 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* And the Cleveland Browns, the New Orleans Saints, the St. Louis Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a bye week.

October 31, 2001: Derek Jeter Becomes Mr. November

October 31, 2001: Game 4 of the World Series. It's not just Halloween -- the 1st time a Major League Baseball game has been played on the day, due to the postponement of a week of games following the 9/11 attacks -- it's also a night of a Full Moon.

During batting practice at Yankee Stadium, Arizona Diamondbacks 1st baseman Mark Grace, who so long played for the Chicago Cubs without winning a Pennant and is enjoying his 1st World Series, could be seen on the official Series highlight film looking up, and saying, "Full Moon! You know what that means: Strange things happen!"

The Yankees trailed the Diamondbacks 3-1 in the bottom of the 9th, and were about to fall behind in the World Series by the same margin of games. This was due in large part to the fine pitching of Curt Schilling, who was asked about the "mystique" of Yankee Stadium. He said, "Mystique, Aura, those are dancers in a nightclub." Schilling had outpitched the Yankees' Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez. Grace had homered for the Snakes, Shane Spencer for the Yankees.

(Three years later, pitching for Boston, he would prove he was still not intimidated by Yankee Stadium, saying, "I can't think of anything better than making 55,000 Yankee fans shut up.") 

Byung-Hyun Kim, a "submarine" style pitcher from Korea, tried to close the Yankees out. But Paul O'Neill singled, and, after Bernie Williams struck out, Tino Martinez came to the plate as the Yankees' final hope. Tino electrified the crowd by slamming a drive toward the right-center-field Bleachers. The home run tied the game, and sent it into extra innings.

On the video, a fan in the front row of the Bleachers tried to catch the ball, but it bounced off his hand. Now, imagine you are that fan: Are you excited that the Yankees have come back in this World Series game, or are you mad that you were unable to catch this historic homer (and probably hurt your hand in the process)?

As the clock struck midnight, for the 1st time ever, a Major League Baseball game was played in the month of November. It was the bottom of the 10th, and Derek Jeter stepped to the plate against Kim. A fan held up a sign saying, "Mr. November."

Michael Kay, broadcasting this game for the Yankees on radio station WABC, later asked, "How did he know to hold up that sign for Jeter?" The answer is easy: He didn't hold it up specifically for Jeter. Jeter was just the batter when the clock struck 12, making him the first batter for whom it could be held up.

At 12:03 came a typical Jeter hit, an inside-out swing to right-center, and it just... barely... got over the fence for a game-winning home run. Kay yells out, "See ya! See ya! See ya!" Yankees 4, Diamondbacks 3. The Series was tied. The old ballyard was shaking. The "Yankee Mystique" had struck again. It was hits like this that got Jeter the nickname "Captain Clutch."

The next night, the 1st game to officially be played in the month of November, a fan made up a sign that said, "BASEBALL HISTORY MADE HERE" on what looked like an ancient scroll. Another fan made up a sign that said, "MYSTIQUE AND AURA APPEARING NIGHTLY." (Two years later, in what became known as the Aaron Boone Game, that same fan made up one that said, "MYSTIQUE DON’T FAIL ME NOW." It didn't.)

In 2022, Major League Baseball ranked its Top 20 Games of all time -- and by "all time," they meant games for which they had a complete record, so they could broadcast it in full. In other words, from about 1975 onward. This game ranked 12th.

*

October 31, 2001 was a Wednesday. French skier Régine Cavagnoud died, 2 days after a training accident in Pitztal, Austria. Although she had competed in 3 Winter Olympics, she had never won a medal. However, just 7 months before her death, she won the World Championship in the women's super giant slalom, or Super-G, in St. Anton, Austria. She was 31.

Football was in midweek. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Boston Celtics, 95-92 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston. Paul Pierce scored 36 in defeat for the Celtics.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 100-94 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Miami Heat beat the Toronto Raptors, 97-92 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Chicago Bulls, 98-73 at the United Center in Chicago.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Golden State Warriors, 92-87 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

And there were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Florida Panthers, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat their cross-State rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-0 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Minnesota Wild, 6-4 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Dallas Stars, 4-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Brett Hull scored the winning goal, 48 seconds into overtime.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Colorado Avalanche, 1-0 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4-2 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center) in Anaheim.

October 31, 1993: River Phoenix Dies

October 31, 1993: Actor River Phoenix dies of a drug overdose on a street in Los Angeles. He was only 23 years old.

River Jude Bottom was born on August 23, 1970 in Madras, Oregon. His parents were hippies, and also had son Joaquin and daughters Rain, Liberty and Summer. They ended up in a cult, but left it, and celebrated their rise from the cult by changing their family name to "Phoenix."

By the age of 10, River was an expert guitar player and tapdancer, and had begun appearing in TV commercials. He became a star in 1986 with Stand By Me and The Mosquito Coast. In 1988, he appeared in Running On Empty, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was 18.

In 1989, he played a 13-year-old Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In 1991, he starred in My Own Private Idaho, and won an Independent Spirit Award. In 1992, he filmed The Thing Called Love, and began a relationship with co-star Samantha Mathis. He was already becoming known as an activist for the environment and veganism. And he was scheduled to begin filming Interview with the Vampire in November 1993, where he was to play the interviewer, Daniel Molloy.

But had begun using drugs in 1989, causing Martha Plimpton, his girlfriend and Mosquito Coast co-star, to break up with him. In October 1993, he went on a drug binge with John Frusciante, who had recently quit as the guitarist for Red Hot Chili Peppers.

On October 30, Phoenix, his brother Joaquin, his sister Rain, and Mathis showed up at The Viper Room, a Los Angeles nightclub co-owned by actor Johnny Depp. River, Frusciante, Depp, Red Hot Chili Peppers bass guitarist Michael "Flea" Balzary, Butthole Surfers lead singer Gibby Haynes, and Ministry singer Al Jourgensen were going to perform together as a band named simply "P."

After the performance, the Phoenixes left, and River collapsed on the sidewalk outside the front door. Joaquin called 911. Rain gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Flea rode in the ambulance with him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. It was no use: He was pronounced dead at 1:51 AM Pacific Time (4:51 AM Eastern) on October 31.

Depp closed the club for a week, and closed it every October 31 until he sold his share in 2004. The front entrance became a makeshift shrine, with graffiti staining the building's walls.

Phoenix's father John blamed Frusciante, and threatened to kill him, but no charges were every pressed against anyone in connection with River's death. He was posthumously compared with James Dean, but was even younger when he died. (Dean was 24.) His final resting place is not open to the public: He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered at the family ranch in Micanopy, in northern Florida.

Interview with the Vampire was dedicated to his memory, and Christian Slater, an actor of similar style and talent, was cast in the role. He had also agreed to appear in Safe Passage, a role that went to Sean Astin; Broken Dreams, a role that went to Caleb Landry Jones; The Basketball Diaries as the book's author, Jim Carroll, a role that went to Leonardo DiCaprio, whose early career led to him being compared to Phoenix; and as Arthur Rimbaud in Total Eclipse, another role that went to DiCaprio.

Gus Van Sant, who had directed Phoenix in My Own Private Idaho, wanted to make a film about Harvey Milk, with Phoenix as San Francisco-based AIDS activist Cleve Jones. Van Sant put the film on hold, finally making Milk with Sean Penn in the title role and Emile Hirsch as Jones, releasing it in 2008. Van Sant had also considered casting Phoenix in a movie about Andy Warhol, but he dropped that project after Phoenix's death.

Phoenix appeared in 2 films that were released after his death. Silent Tongue was released on schedule in 1994. Dark Blood was held back, and not released until 2012.

The Viper Room is still in business, at 8852 Sunset Boulevard, but it might be cursed. In 1995, Australian singer-actor Jason Donovan suffered a drug overdose there, although he survived. In 1997, another Australian, INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence, played his last performance there, and committed suicide a week later.

Joaquin Phoenix became an Oscar-winning actor. He and partner Rooney Mara named their son River.

*

October 31, 1993 was a Sunday. Actress Letitia Wright was born, so maybe, just maybe, Hollywood broke even on the day.

Baseball season was over. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Jets beat the New York Giants, 10-6 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. The Giants were the official home team this time, although that isn't always the case when these teams play each other, which is every year in preseason and every 3 years in the regular season.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-10 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 31-24 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 30-10 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the New England Patriots, 9-6 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 17-3 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The next year, they would play on Halloween again, at Soldier Field on Monday Night Football, and the Packers would win in miserable weather: Cold, rain and wind.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings, 30-27 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Seattle Seahawks, 28-17 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Phoenix Cardinals, 20-17 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Raiders, 30-23 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, 40-17 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Buffalo Bills beat the Washington Redskins, 24-10 at Rich Stadium (now Highmark Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* And the entire AFC Central -- the Cincinnati Bengals, the Cleveland Browns, the Houston Oilers and the Pittsburgh Steelers -- had a bye week.

The NBA season didn't start for another 5 days. But there were 4 NHL games played:

* The New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-1 -- but not at Madison Square Garden, or at the Meadowlands. This was during the NHL's early 1990s experiment with neutral-site games, and this game was at the Metro Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The arena is now known as the Scotiabank Centre.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 9-6 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the expansion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 2-1 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. Tom Pederson scored the winning goal with 3:13 left in overtime.

October 31, 1992: Rutgers' Halloween Homecoming Thriller

October 31, 1992: Rutgers University plays Virginia Tech in a Halloween Homecoming thriller, in the next-to-last game at the old Rutgers Stadium. The stars of this game, all from New Jersey, were quarterback Bryan Fortay of East Brunswick, running back Bruce Presley of Highland Park, tight end Jim Guarantano of Lodi, and receiver Chris Brantley of Teaneck.

RU fell behind 42-23 in the 3rd quarter, before launching a comeback. With 1:32 left, and Tech leading 49-44, the Scarlet Knights got the ball on their own 22. Among the plays on this drive was a 46-yard pass from Fortay to Mario Henry with 7 seconds left. RU won on the final play, the 4th Fortay-to-Brantley touchdown pass of the game, 50-49. Yes, that score is in football, not basketball.

The shootout featured a combined 1,164 yards of total offense, on 167 plays, with 54 first downs, 10 interceptions and 14 touchdowns.

Rutgers played in the 1st college football game, in 1869. So they have, literally, been playing football longer than anybody in America. This may not be their greatest game in their history, and it certainly isn't the most important (or even the most important one since 1869). But it is the wildest.

RU advanced to 5-3 on the season, and had a shot at winning the Big East Conference title, having already beaten then-Number 15 Syracuse 3 weeks earlier.

But the next week, they lost away to the University of Cincinnati, 26-24, before closing the old Rutgers Stadium the following week with a 13-9 win over West Virginia. The closed the season by beating Temple at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. After playing all their home games at the Meadowlands in 1993, the old stadium was demolished, and the new Rutgers Stadium, now named SHI Stadium, opened on the site in 1994.

RU finished 7-4, and were not invited to go to a bowl game. After they lost their season opener, to Boston College, their quarterback, Glenn Foley -- a New Jersey native they let get away, from the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill -- told the media, "The only bowl Rutgers is going to is the one I just got off of." Big talk from a guy whose biggest achievement as a pro was starting 8 games at quarterback for the New York Jets.

*

October 31, 1992 was a Saturday. Among the other college football games played on that Halloween were these:

* Number 1 Miami beat West Virginia, 35-23 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Miami won the Big East Conference title.

* Number 2 Washington beat Number 15 Stanford, 41-7 at Husky Stadium in Seattle. Washington won the Pacific-Ten title.

* Number 3 Michigan beat Purdue, 24-17 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. Michigan won the Big Ten title, but lost the Rose Bowl to Washington.

* Number 4 Alabama had the week off. They went on to win the Southeastern Conference title, rising to Number 2, then beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl for the National Championship.

* Number 5 Texas A&M beat Southern Methodist (SMU), 41-7 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. A&M won the Southwest Conference title.

* Number 6 Florida State beat Number 23 Virginia, 13-3 at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia. Florida State won the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

* Number 7 Georgia were upset by Number 20 Florida, 26-24 at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. Florida won the SEC Eastern Division title, but lost the SEC Championship Game to Alabama. They returned to the Gator Bowl stadium to play the game of the same name, and beat North Carolina State. Georgia beat Ohio State in the Florida Citrus Bowl.

* Number 8 Nebraska beat Number 9 Colorado, 52-7 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska won the Big Eight Conference title, but lost the Orange Bowl to Florida State. Colorado went to the Fiesta Bowl, where they lost to Syracuse.

* Number 10 Notre Dame beat Navy, 38-7 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. Notre Dame went to the Cotton Bowl, and beat Texas A&M.

* Number 14 Penn State were upset by Brigham Young University (BYU), 30-17 at Cougar Stadium (now LaVell Edwards Stadium) in Provo, Utah.

* Number 16 Tennessee were upset by South Carolina, 24-23 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.

* Number 19 Washington State were upset by Oregon, 34-17 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington.

* Army beat Eastern Michigan, 57-17 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

Baseball season was over. The NBA season started 6 days later. There were 10 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders, 5-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at the Colisée de Québec.

* In another "Original Six" matchup, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Hartford Whalers, 7-1 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators played to a tie, 2-2 at the Ottawa Civic Centre (now the TD Place Arena).

* The 2 remaining "Original Six" teams also played each other, as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-4 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Washington Capitals, 4-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.