July 31
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(Redirected from 31 July)
July 31 is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 153 days remaining until the end of the year.
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Events [change]
- 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781)
- 1009 – Pietro Boccapecora becomes Pope Sergius IV
- 1423 – Hundred Years War: Battle of Cravant – The French army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
- 1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
- 1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
- 1655 – Russo-Polish War of 1654 to 1667: The Russian army enters the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
- 1658 – Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal Emperor of India.
- 1667 – The Treaty of Breda ends the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The Dutch colony of New Amsterdam gets tranferred to British control, being renamed New York. The Dutch get the previously British colony in present-day Suriname.
- 1703 – Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.
- 1763 – The Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War.
- 1790 – First US patent issued; granted to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
- 1856 – Christchurch, New Zealand chartered as a city.
- 1917 – The Third Battle of Ypres starts in Flanders.
- 1919 – German national assembly adopts the Weimar constitution (to enter into force August 14)
- 1930 – The radio mystery program The Shadow airs for the first time.
- 1936 – The International Olympic Committee announces that the 1940 Summer Olympics were to be held in Tokyo. However, the games were given back to the IOC after the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, and were eventually cancelled altogether because of World War II.
- 1941 – Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS general Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question."
- 1945 – Pierre Laval, fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.
- 1948 – At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
- 1951 – Japan Airlines is established.
- 1954 – First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio, also involving Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni. The lack of credit given to Walter Bonatti causes a lot of controversy in the years to come.
- 1956 – Jim Laker sets extraordinary record at Old Trafford in the fourth Test of taking nineteen wickets in a first-class match (the previous best was seventeen.
- 1961 – At Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in major league baseball history occurs when the game is stopped in the 9th inning due to rain.
- 1964 – Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes).
- 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
- 1973 – A Delta Air Lines jetliner crashes while landing in fog at Logan Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89
- 1975 – In Detroit, Michigan, Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing.
- 1976 – NASA releases the famous Face on Mars photo, taken by Viking 1.
- 1976 – Flooding on the Big Thompson River in Colorado kills 143 people.
- 1977 – David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam serial killer, carries out his last murder, shooting Stacey Moskowitz.
- 1981 – A 7-week strike by Major League Baseball players ends.
- 1987 – A rare, class F-4 tornado rips through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and causing $330 million in damage.
- 1988 – 32 people are killed when a bridge collapses in Penang, Malaysia.
- 1991 – The United States and Soviet Union sign the START I arms reduction treaty.
- 1991 – A Soviet OMON attacks a Lithuanian customs post in Medininkai.
- 1992 – China General Aviation Flight 7552 crashes at take-off from Nanking, to Xiamen.
- 1992 – A Thai Airways Airbus A300-310 crashes into mountain south of Kathmandu, Nepal killing 113.
- 1992 – The Republic of Georgia joins the United Nations.
- 1996 – MIL-STD-1750A is declared inactive for use in new designs.
- 1998 – The United Kingdom imposes a total landmines ban.
- 1999 – NASA intentionally crashes the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface.
- 2000 – The Knesset (Israeli parliament) chooses Moshe Katsav as the next President.
- 2003 – WON is shut down.
- 2006 – Fidel Castro transfers power in Cuba to his brother Raul Castro.
- 2008 – Scientists report that the Phoenix spacecraft had confirmed the presence of frozen water on the planet Mars.
Births [change]
- 1143 – Emperor Nijo of Japan (d. 1165)
- 1396 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467)
- 1527 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1576)
- 1598 – Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor and architect (d. 1654)
- 1702 – Jean Denis Attiret, French Jesuit missionary and painter (d. 1768)
- 1704 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (d. 1752)
- 1718 – John Canton, English physicist (d. 1772)
- 1724 – Noel Francois de Wailly, French lexicographer (d. 1801)
- 1737 – Princess Augusta of Great Britain (d. 1813) (sources vary between July 31 and August 31)
- 1777 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentine statesman and priest (d. 1849)
- 1800 – Friedrich Woehler, German chemist (d. 1882)
- 1803 – John Ericsson, Swedish engineer (d. 1889)
- 1804 – George Baxter, English engraver and printer (d. 1867)
- 1812 – Amelie of Leuchtenberg, Empress of Brazil (d. 1873)
- 1813 – Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of the Two Sicilies (d. 1867)
- 1822 – Abram Stevens Hewitt, Mayor of New York City (d. 1903)
- 1825 – William S. Clark, American senator and scholar (d. 1885)
- 1835 – Henri Brisson, French politician (d. 1912)
- 1843 – Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet (d. 1918)
- 1847 – Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1905)
- 1858 – Richard Dixon Oldham, English geologist (d. 1936)
- 1875 – Jacques Villon, French painter and printmaker (d. 1963)
- 1880 – Munshi Premchand, Indian writer (d. 1936)
- 1886 – Fred Quimby, American movie producer (d. 1965)
- 1901 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)
- 1907 – Roy Milton, American jump blues singer, drummer and bandleader (d. 1983)
- 1911 – George Liberace, American musician (d. 1983)
- 1912 – Milton Friedman, American economist (d. 2006)
- 1913 – Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)
- 1914 – Louis de Funes, French actor and comedian (d. 1983)
- 1914 – Raymond Aubrac, French Resistance activist (d. 2012)
- 1918 – Paul D. Boyer, American chemist
- 1918 – Hank Jones, American pianist (d. 2010)
- 1919 – Primo Levi, Italian author and chemist (d. 1987)
- 1921 – Peter Benenson, British founder of Amnesty International (d. 2005)
- 1923 – Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-born record company executive (d. 2006)
- 1926 – Hilary Putnam, American philosopher
- 1929 – Don Murray, American actor
- 1929 – Jose Santamaria, Uruguayan footballer
- 1931 – Ivan Rebroff, German singer (d. 2008)
- 1932 – Ted Cassidy, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1932 – John Searle, American philosopher
- 1941 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician (d. 2004)
- 1943 – William Bennett, American politician
- 1944 – Jonathan Dimbleby, British journalist and TV presenter
- 1945 – William Weld, 68th Governor of Massachusetts
- 1946 – Bob Welch, American musician (d. 2012)
- 1947 - Richard Griffiths, British actor (d. 2013)
- 1951 – Evonne Goolagong, Australian tennis player
- 1952 – Helmuts Balderis, Latvian ice hockey player
- 1953 – Ted Baillieu, Australian politician
- 1956 – Deval Patrick, American politician, Governor of Massachusetts
- 1956 – Michael Biehn, American actor and movie producer
- 1958 – Bill Berry, American musician
- 1959 – Andrew Marr, British broadcast journalist
- 1959 – Stanley Jordan, American jazz guitarist
- 1962 – Wesley Snipes, American actor
- 1963 – Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1964 – Wendell Alexis, American basketball player
- 1964 – Jim Corr, Irish musician
- 1965 – J.K. Rowling, British author (Harry Potter)
- 1966 – Dean Cain, American actor
- 1966 – Valdas Ivanauskas, Lithuanian footballer and football manager
- 1967 – Minako Honda, Japanese singer and musical actress (d. 2005)
- 1973 – Abdulaziz Khathron, Saudi Arabian footballer
- 1973 – Wail al-Shehri, Saudi Arabian terrorist (d. 2001)
- 1974 – Emilia Fox, British actress
- 1975 – Ruben Patterson, American basketball player
- 1976 – Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer
- 1978 – Will Champion, British musician (Coldplay)
- 1978 – Zac Brown, American country music singer
- 1979 – Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer
- 1980 – Mils Muliaina, New Zealand rugby player
- 1981 – Titus Bramble, English footballer
- 1982 – Michael Jung, German equestrian
- 1982 – DeMarcus Ware, American football player
- 1987 – Michael Bradley, American footballer
- 1987 – Brittany Byrnes, American actress
- 1989 – Victoria Azarenka, Belarussian tennis player
Deaths [change]
- 1099 – El Cid, Spanish warrior (b. 1044)
- 1396 – William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1508 – Na'od, Emperor of Ethiopia (killed in battle)
- 1556 – Ignatius Loyola, Spanish priest, founder of the Jesuits (b. 1491)
- 1726 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1695)
- 1750 – King John V of Portugal (b. 1689)
- 1784 – Denis Diderot, French philosopher and encyclopedist (b. 1713)
- 1875 – Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)
- 1884 – Kien Phuc, Vietnamese Emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty (b. 1869)
- 1886 – Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer (b. 1811)
- 1914 – Jean Jaurès, French politician (b. 1859)
- 1917 – Francis Ledwidge, Irish poet (b. 1881)
- 1920 – Ion Dragoumis, Greek diplomat, writer and revolutionary (b. 1878)
- 1940 – Udham Singh, Indian revolutionary (b. 1899)
- 1944 – Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French pilot and writer (disappeared on this date) (b. 1900)
- 1953 – Robert Taft, U.S. Senator from Ohio and Presidential candidate (b. 1889)
- 1972 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)
- 1980 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924)
- 1980 – Pascual Jordan, German physicist (b. 1902)
- 1981 – Omar Torrijos, military leader of Panama (b. 1929)
- 1986 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)
- 1990 – Albert Leduc, French-Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
- 1993 – King Baudouin I of Belgium (b. 1930)
- 2001 – Poul Anderson, science fiction author (b. 1926)
- 2001 – Francisco da Costa Gomes, 16th President of Portugal (b. 1914)
- 2003 – Guido Crepax, Italian comics artist (b. 1933)
- 2004 – Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1907)
- 2005 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch banker and economist (b. 1935)
- 2009 – Bobby Robson, English footballer and manager (b. 1933)
- 2010 – Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Italian screenwriter (b. 1914)
- 2011 – Eliseo Alberto, Cuban-Mexican writer (b. 1951)
- 2012 – Gore Vidal, American writer (b. 1925)
Observances [change]
- Throne Day (Morocco)
