31 October

1981: On 31 October 2000, International Space Station Expedition 1 was launched on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Expedition Commander William Shepherd, Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev docked to the ISS two days later to begin a pioneering four-month mission to prepare the facility for future scientific research.