Born on October 31, 2000

Singapore Airlines Flight 006, a Boeing 747-400 carrying 159 passengers and 20 crew members, attempted to take off from the wrong runway at Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport during Typhoon Xangsane on October 31, 2000, and collided with construction equipment parked on the closed runway. The aircraft broke apart and burst into flames, killing 83 of the 179 people on board in the deadliest accident in Singapore Airlines' history. The flight was bound for Los Angeles with a scheduled stop in Taipei. Heavy rain and poor visibility from the typhoon reduced visibility to less than 600 meters at the time of departure. The crew was cleared to take off from Runway 05L but instead taxied onto Runway 05R, which was closed for construction and partially blocked by concrete barriers, excavation equipment, and other obstacles. The captain, a veteran with more than 11,000 flying hours, apparently confused the two parallel runways. Runway markings were partially obscured by standing water, and the airport's ground radar was not functioning. When the aircraft reached rotation speed and lifted off, its landing gear and engines struck the construction equipment. The impact tore open the fuselage, and the aircraft disintegrated in a fireball that scattered wreckage across the runway. Survivors described a scene of chaos: the cabin filled with smoke and flames within seconds of impact, and passengers scrambled to escape through holes torn in the fuselage. Rescue operations were hampered by the typhoon conditions, with heavy rain and wind complicating firefighting and evacuation. Of the 96 survivors, dozens suffered severe burns and injuries. Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council investigation determined that the probable cause was the flight crew's failure to use the correct runway, combined with the lack of adequate safeguards to prevent runway incursions. The report noted that neither the tower controllers nor the cockpit crew recognized the error before it was too late. The accident prompted a global reassessment of runway safety procedures, including improved signage, enhanced ground radar requirements, and stricter protocols for operations during reduced visibility. Singapore Airlines retired the flight number permanently.

The Soyuz TM-31 rocket vaulted into orbit, delivering the first resident crew to the International Space Station. This mission ended the era of intermittent visits and initiated a streak of continuous human presence in space that has persisted for over two decades, transforming the station into a permanent laboratory for long-term orbital research.

An Antonov An-26 disintegrated mid-air shortly after departing Luanda, killing all 50 people on board. The crash exposed the extreme dangers of Angola’s unregulated aviation sector, where aging Soviet-era aircraft frequently operated without basic safety oversight during the final years of the country’s protracted civil war.

Singapore Airlines Flight 006 attempted to take off from a closed runway at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, colliding with construction equipment in heavy rain. The disaster claimed 83 lives and forced the aviation industry to overhaul runway lighting standards and pilot taxiing protocols during low-visibility conditions.

Kazuki Watanabe, the charismatic frontman of the visual kei band Raphael, died at nineteen from an accidental drug overdose. His sudden passing dissolved one of Japan's most promising rock acts, leaving behind a devoted fanbase and a catalog that defined the late nineties' underground music scene.

Kazuki Watanabe played guitar for Melt-Banana, a Japanese noise-rock band that sounded like a video game being murdered. Songs lasted 90 seconds. He played thousands of notes per minute. The band toured constantly. He died in a car accident in 2000 at 19. The band kept going without him for 20 more years.

Ring Lardner Jr. went to prison for contempt of Congress in 1950 — one of the Hollywood Ten who refused to testify about communism. Blacklisted for fifteen years. He wrote scripts under pseudonyms for $500 each. Then he co-wrote "M*A*S*H" in 1970 and won an Oscar. He was 55. He'd already won one in 1942 for "Woman of the Year." Prison was the intermission.