This Day in History

Indira Gandhi is assassinated

On 31 October, 1984, India’s prime minister Indira Gandhi, is fatally shot in New Delhi by two of her own bodyguards one of them a longtime and trusted guard. Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, both Sikhs, emptied their guns into Gandhi as she walked to her office from an adjoining bungalow.
Although the two assailants immediately surrendered, they were both shot in a subsequent scuffle, and Beant died.
Indira’s father Jawaharlal Nehru, former first prime minister of India, attempted to forge a unified nation out of the many religious, ethnic, and cultural factions that existed under British rule until 1949. Indira Gandhi (no relation to peace activist and leader Mohandas Gandhi), rose to power in 1966, fighting many of the same problems as her father had.
Her own political career was a roller coaster, from the highs following India’s victory over Pakistan in 1971 to the lows of being thrown out of office in 1977. Two years before, she had declared a state of emergency, during which time she suspended civil liberties and jailed her political opponents. Although many criticized her for being authoritarian, the majority of the population supported her because of her extensive social programs.
In 1980, Indira Gandhi became prime minister again, enjoying fairly widespread popularity. However, in June 1984, she ordered an army raid on a Sikh temple in Punjab to flush out armed Sikh extremists, setting off a series of death threats.
Due to the fear of assassination, Beant Singh, her longtime bodyguard, was to be transferred because he was a Sikh. However, Gandhi personally rescinded the transfer order because she trusted him after his many years of service. Obviously, this was a fatal mistake for both of them.
Satwant Singh, who survived to stand trial, was convicted in 1986 and executed in 1989.
Following Gandhi’s assassination, riots broke out in New Delhi. More than 1,000 innocent Sikhs were killed in indiscriminate attacks over the course of two days. Gandhi’s son, Rajiv, succeeded her as prime minister.He was killed in a suicide bombing on 21 May 1991.

Houdini dies

Also on this day, in 1926, Harry Houdini, born Hungarian and the most celebrated magician and escape artist of the 20th century, dies of peritonitis in a Detroit hospital.
Twelve days before, Houdini had been talking to a group of students after a lecture in Montreal when he commented on the strength of his stomach muscles and their ability to withstand hard blows. Suddenly, one of the students punched Houdini twice in the stomach. The magician hadn’t had time to prepare, and the blows ruptured his appendix. He fell ill on the train to Detroit, and, after performing one last time, was hospitalized. Doctors operated on him, but to no avail. The burst appendix poisoned his system, and on October 31 he died.
Starting in 1883 at age 9, Houdini joined a traveling circus and gained fame with his ability to escape from seemingly impossible situations. In 1900 he performed all over Europe on his first international tour to great acclaim. Houdini relied on strength, dexterity, and concentration – not trickery – to succeed in his escapes and was a great showman turned legend that many tried to imitate.