Wikipedia: January 31

January 31
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 334 days remaining, (335 in leap years).

Events

1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon.
1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is executed for his plotting against Parliament and James I of England.
1747 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Dock Hospital.
1849 - Corn Laws abolished in the United Kingdom.
1865 - American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
1876 - The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations.
1814 - Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of Argentina.
1915 - World War I: Germany uses poison gas against Russians.
1917 - World War I: Germany announces its U-boats will engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.
1929 - The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky.
1930 - 3M Markets Scotch Tape.
1936 - The Green Hornet radio show debuts.
1944 - World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
1945 - Eddie Slovik is executed, the first American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion.
1946 - Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
1950 - President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
1956 - Guy Mollet becomes Prime Minister of France
1958 - The first successful American satellite, Explorer I, is launched into orbit.
1958 - James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt.
1961 - Ham the Chimp travels into outer space
1968 - Viet Cong attack the United States embassy in Saigon.
1968 - Nauru declares independence from Australia.
1971 - Apollo program: Astronauts aboard Apollo 14 lift off for a mission to the moon.
1988 - Super Bowl XXII: The Washington Redskins win their second championship of the 1980s, 42-10.
1990 - The first McDonald's opens in Moscow, Russia.
1993 - Super Bowl XXVII: The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Buffalo Bills, 52-17.
1995 - President Bill Clinton authorizes a $20 billion loan to Mexico to stabilize its economy.
1996 - An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400.
1999 - Super Bowl XXXIII: The Denver Broncos defeat the Atlanta Falcons, 34-19.
2000 - An Alaska Airlines MD-83 crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Malibu, California killing 131
2001 - In the Netherlands a Scottish court convicts a Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crash into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
2003- Man in Miami steals US Mail truck, taking hostages with him. Later, he releases the hostages and surrenders to police.

Births

1752 - Gouverneur Morris, lawmaker and diplomat, (d. 1816)
1797 - Franz Schubert, composer, (d. 1828)
1872 - Zane Grey, writer, (d. 1939)
1884 - Theodor Heuss, politician and publicist, (d. 1963)
1892 - Eddie Cantor, actor, singer, (d. 1964)
1901 - Marie Luise Kaschnitz, writer, (d. 1974)
1902 - Alva Mydral, politician, (d. 1986)
1902 - Tallulah Bankhead, actress, (d. 1968)
1905 - Christian Dior, couturier, (d. 1957)
1905 - John O'Hara, writer, (d. 1970)
1914 - Jersey Joe Walcott, boxer, (d. 1994)
1919 - Jackie Robinson, baseball player, (d. 1972)
1920 - Paul Warnke, diplomat, (d. 2001)
1921 - Carol Channing, actress
1921 - Mario Lanza, singer, actor, (d. 1959)
1923 - Norman Mailer, writer and journalist
1925 - Benjamin Hooks, head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
1929 - Jean Simmons, actress
1931 - Ernie Banks, Baseball Hall of Famer
1937 - Suzanne Pleshette, actress
1937 - Philip Glass, composer
1938 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
1941 - Richard Gephardt, American politician
1942 - Derek Jarman, director, writer, (d. 1994)
1946 - Terry Kath, musician, (d. 1978)
1947 - Nolan Ryan, baseball player
1949 - Ken Wilber, philosopher
1956 - Johnny Rotten, musician (The "Sex Pistols")
1970 - Minnie Driver, actress
1974 - Ian Huntley, responsible for the Soham murders
1981 - Justin Timberlake, musician

Deaths

1606 - Guy Fawkes, executed for his part in the Gunpowder Plot, (b. 1570)
1907 - Timothy Eaton, department store founder, (b. 1834)
1933 - John Galsworthy, writer, (b. 1867)
1945 - Eddie Slovik, American soldier, (b. 1920)
1956 - A. A. Milne, author (Winnie the Pooh), (b. 1882)
1970 - Slim Harpo, blues singer, (b. 1924)
1974 - Samuel Goldwyn, film studio executive, (b. 1882)
1992 - Willie Dixon, blues musician, (b. 1915)
1995 - George Abbott, director and producer on Broadway, dies at 107, (b. 1887)
2000 - Gil Kane, comic book writer
2001 - Gordon R. Dickson, science fiction writer, (b. 1923)
2004 - Eleanor Holm - American swimmer

Holidays and observances

Catholicism - Feast day of St. John Bosco.

See Also:

January 30 - February 1 - December 31 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December