October 31: Wolseley Elm attacked; R.B. Russell School opens; AGB Bannatyne.

October 31, 1979 - The Winnipeg Jets win their first NHL road game against the Quebec Nordiques.

October 31, 1982 - An 18 year-old Dean Gunnarson is straight-jacketed and suspended by his ankles 300 feet above the Free Press building parking lot to recreate an escaped that Harry Houdini performed at the same spot in 1923. Gunnarson beat Houdini’s time by twenty seconds.

October 31, 1829 - Andrew G. B. Bannatyne (1829-1889) is born in the Orkney Islands.

October 31, 1958 - At around 4 a.m. Wolseley residents awake to the sound of explosions. Someone had blown up the Wolseley Elm.

Residents fought for decades to save the century-old tree located in the intersection of Wolseley Ave and Greenwood Place. The tree would not recover from the wounds and in 1960 was removed. The vandal was never caught.

Related:

Remembering the Wolseley Elm West End Dumplings
Wolseley Elm Photo Gallery Wpg Tribune Archives

October 31, 1967 - R.B. Russell Vocational School opens. It is named after a local labour leader who was jailed during the Winnipeg General Strike.