Major Mike | Today in History 10/31 (Indira Gandhi)

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1982 (© AP)

(1984) India’s first female prime minister is shot and killed

On a morning walk through her garden, India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is shot multiple times by two of her own Sikh bodyguards. The daughter of India’s previous prime minister, Nehru, and the country’s first female leader, her assassination will spark deadly riots.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated at 9:20 a.m. on 31 October 1984 at her residence in Safdarjung Road, New Delhi. She was killed by her bodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, the Indian Army’s June 1984 assault on the Golden Temple in Amritsar which left the Sikh temple heavily damaged.

Date: Oct 31, 1984

Memorial at the place of assassination, Safdarjung Road, New Delhi
wiki/Assassination_of_Indira_Gandhi

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(1984) India’s first female prime minister is shot and killed.
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Today in History ^10/31/17

NBA player Earl Lloyd, circa 1950 (© The Stevenson Collection/ NBAE/ Getty Images)

(1950) Sports pioneer Earl Lloyd integrates the NBA

Just three years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color line, Earl Lloyd does the same for the sport of basketball as he takes the court with the Washington Capitols. The first African American NBA player scores 6 points in his opening game against the Rochester Royals.

Earl Francis Lloyd was an American professional basketball player. He was the first black person to play in the National Basketball Association, in the 1950–51 NBA season. Three other African Americans played in the same season: Chuck Cooper, Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton, and Hank DeZonie.

Born: Apr 03, 1928 · Alexandria, VA
Died: Feb 26, 2015 · Crossville, TN
Height: 6' 5" (1.96 m)
Spouse: Charlita Lloyd
Education: West Virginia State University
Upcoming movies: The First To Do It

Major General Walter E. Gaskin, left, greets with basketball hall of famer, Earl "The Pearl" Lloyd during the CIAA Hall of Fame brunch, March 3, 2006. Lloyd was the first African-American to play in an NBA game.
Highlights
1948: Lloyd led West Virginia State to two CIAA Conference and Tournament Championships in 1948 and 1949.

1951: Lloyd played in only seven games for the Washington Capitols before the team folded on January 9, 1951.

1965: According to Detroit News sportswriter Jerry Green, in 1965 Detroit Pistons General Manager Don Wattrick wanted to hire Lloyd as the team's head coach.

2007: On December 1, 2007, the newly constructed basketball court at T. C. Williams High School in Lloyd's home town of Alexandria, Virginia, was named in his honor.

2015: In 2015 Lloyd, along with fellow basketball player Alonzo Mourning, was one of eight Virginians honored in the Library of Virginia's "Strong Men & Women in Virginia History" because of his contributions to the sport of basketball.

2015: Earl resided in Fairfield Glade, Tennessee, just outside Crossville, until his death in February 2015.