On this day

October 31, 1996

Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from October 31, 1996

Lorenzo De Versace

By Christopher Mason

Interview with fashion designer Gianni Versace on expansion of his palatial Manhattan town house; newly published Do Not Disturb offers protional travelogue of his other homes in Milan, Miami Beach and Lake Como; photos (M)

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Casino Granted a License

By Terry Pristin

Sun International Hotels Ltd, company run by Sol Kerzner, South African casino developer, is granted temporary license to run gambling hall at Merv Griffin's Resorts Casino Hotel; NJ State Division of Gaming Enforcement is investigating allegations that in 1986 Kerzner bribed South African official to obtain casino license (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

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INSIDE

By Unknown Author

F.B.I. Official Pleads Guilty A senior executive admitted obstructing justice by destroying a memorandum about an internal review of a siege in Idaho. Page A19. Life for Apartheid Assassin A South African judge sentenced the former head of a notorious police assassination squad to more than 200 years in jail. Page A11. Tiny Glitch, Huge Ripple A dip in electrical power after a fire at a Con Edison substation in Yonkers hampered trains and computers in the New York region. Page B1. New Look in the N.B.A. After a summer of transition, the N.B.A. season opens tomorrow with everyone chasing Michael Jordan and the champion Bulls. Page B17.

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Officer Admits Misconduct

By Terry Pristin

Fair Lawn , NJ, Police Officer Matthew M Talty, accused of holding loaded gun to dispatcher's head in December 1993, pleads guilty to official misconduct in plea bargain agreement (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

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West Point Accuses Cadet of Raping Another Cadet

By James Barron

Army charges Cadet James P Engelbrecht, 22-year-old senior at United States Military Academy at West Point with raping another cadet; West Point officials say it is first time in 20 years since West Point began admitting women as students that cadet has been accused of raping another cadet (M)

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Music on My Birthday

Billboard 200

The Top 50 albums for the chart week of October 30, 1996, covering October 31, 1996.

  1. 1
    Album cover for Recovering The Satellites by Counting Crows

    Recovering The Satellites

    Counting Crows

    Last week
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    1
  2. 2
    Album cover for Falling Into You by Celine Dion

    Falling Into You

    Celine Dion

    Last week
    1
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    32
  3. 3
    Album cover for Life Is Peachy by Korn

    Life Is Peachy

    Korn

    Last week
    Peak
    3
    Weeks
    1
  4. 4
    Album cover for The Moment by Kenny G

    The Moment

    Kenny G

    Last week
    2
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    3
  5. 5
    Album cover for Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette

    Jagged Little Pill

    Alanis Morissette

    Last week
    6
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    71

Notable Deaths

Marcel Carné

1996Marcel Carné, French director and screenwriter (born 1906)[†]

Marcel Albert Carné was a French film director. A key figure in the poetic realism movement, Carné's best known films include Port of Shadows (1938), Le Jour Se Lève (1939), Les Visiteurs du Soir (1942) and Children of Paradise (1945); the latter has been cited as one of the great films of all time.

Historical Events

TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Flight 402

1996TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Flight 402 crashes in São Paulo, Brazil, killing 99 people.[†]

TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Flight 402 was a scheduled domestic flight from Caxias do Sul, Brazil, to Recife International Airport in Recife, via São Paulo–Congonhas International Airport and Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro. On 31 October 1996, at 8:27 (UTC-2), the starboard engine of the Fokker 100 operating the route reversed thrust while the aircraft was climbing away from the runway at Congonhas. The aircraft stalled and rolled beyond control to the right, then struck two buildings and crashed into several houses in a heavily populated area only 25 seconds after takeoff. All 95 people on board were killed, as well as another 4 on the ground. It is the fourth deadliest accident in Brazilian aviation history, the second at the time. It is also the deadliest aviation accident involving a Fokker 100.

Historical Context for October 31, 1996

In 1996, the world population was approximately 5,842,055,734 people[†]