Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Today is Oct. 31. On this date in 2001, in a hint of things to come, Enron, the large energy trading company, announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission had opened a formal investigation into parts of its accounting practices. Advertisement This is Reformation Day. On this date in 1517, Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation in Germany by nailing his 95 theses to the door of Wittenburg's Palace church. Among other things, he denounced the selling of papal indulgences. India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh guards on this date in 1984. Her funeral three days later in New Delhi drew heads of state from around the world. Gandhi's son, Rajiv, a former airline pilot, succeeded her. He, too, was assassinated in May 1991 while campaigning for re-election. It was on this date in 1926 that magician, illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini died of peritonitis in a Detroit hospital following a blow to the abdomen. To this day, people hold séances on Halloween, the anniversary of his death, in hopes of contacting Houdini on "the other side." Advertisement President Johnson announced a halt to the bombing of North Vietnam on this date in 1968. And after 14 years of work, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial --- consisting of the sculpted heads of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt -- was completed on this date in 1941. The monument had been suggested by the South Dakota State Historical Society. The 60-foot-tall sculptures represent the nation's founding, political philosophy, preservation, expansion and conservation. In 2001, a group of reports released in the journal Science suggest dreaming might be more than just a weird hodgepodge of images and memories. While what the brain is doing during sleep has been debated for decades, these latest reports indicate a good night's snooze could actually enhance learning and memory. We now return you to the present, already in progress.
