January 31

This date in recent years

January 31, 2003

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

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 External links

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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.
1814 - Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of Argentina.
1849 - Corn Laws abolished in the United Kingdom.
1865 - American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
1867 - Maronite nationalist leader Karam leaves Lebanon on board of a French ship for Algeria
1876 - The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations.
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.
1918 - A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
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 - US Army private 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.
1953 - A flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands.
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.
1971 - The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begin in Detroit, Michigan.
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. After the game, the TV show Family Guy airs its pilot episode.
2000 - An Alaska Airlines MD-83 crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Malibu, California killing all 88 aboard.
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 crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
2003 - Waterfall Train Disaster, NSW, Australia
2004 - Mystery Science Theater 3000 ends its run on the Sci-Fi Channel.
2005 - The child molestation trial of superstar Michael Jackson begins in California.
2006 - Incapacitated Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon officially exited politics after three decades when his Kadima party submitted its list of candidates for the upcoming election.

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Births

1338 - King Charles V of France (d. 1380)
1512 - King Henry of Portugal (d. 1580)
1543 - Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (d. 1616)
1550 - Henry I, Duke of Guise, French Catholic leader (d. 1588)
1597 - John Regis, French saint (d. 1640)
1624 - Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher (d. 1669)
1686 - Hans Egede, Norwegian Lutheran missionary (d. 1758)
1752 - Gouverneur Morris, American lawmaker and diplomat (d. 1816)
1759 - François Devienne, French composer (d. 1803)
1797 - Franz Schubert, Austrian composer (d. 1828)
1866 - Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)
1868 - Theodore William Richards, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
1872 - Zane Grey, American Western writer (d. 1939)
1881 - Irving Langmuir, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
1884 - Theodor Heuss, German politician and publicist (d. 1963)
1889 - Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958)
1892 - Eddie Cantor, American actor and singer (d. 1964)
1894 - Isham Jones, American musician (d. 1956)
1902 - Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)
1902 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician, diplomat, and writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1986)
1905 - John O'Hara, American writer (d. 1970)
1914 - Sri Daya Mata, Hindu religious figure
1914 - Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer (d. 1994)
1915 - Alan Lomax, American singer and musicologist (d. 2002)
1915 - Thomas Merton, American monk and author (d. 1968)
1915 - Garry Moore, American comedian and game show host (d. 1993)
1919 - Jackie Robinson, baseball player (d. 1972)
1921 - John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)
1921 - Carol Channing, American actress
1921 - E. Fay Jones, American architect
1921 - Mario Lanza, American singer and actor (d. 1959)
1922 - Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)
1923 - Norman Mailer, American writer and journalist
1925 - Benjamin Hooks, American head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
1929 - Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
1929 - Jean Simmons, English actress
1931 - Ernie Banks, baseball player
1935 - Kenzaburo Oe, Japanese writer, Nobel Prize laureate
1937 - Philip Glass, American composer
1937 - Suzanne Pleshette, American actress
1938 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
1938 - James G. Watt, American politician
1940 - Jessica Walter, American actress
1941 - Richard A. "Dick" Gephardt, American politician
1942 - Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
1942 - Derek Jarman, American director and writer (d. 1994)
1944 - Charlie Musselwhite, American musician
1945 - Joseph Kosuth, American conceptual artist
1946 - Terry Kath, American musician (d. 1978)
1947 - Jonathan Banks, American actor
1947 - Nolan Ryan, baseball player
1948 - Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
1949 - Ken Wilber, American philosopher
1951 - Dave Benton, Aruban-born singer
1952 - Nadya Rusheva, Russian painter (d. 1969)
1956 - Johnny Rotten, British singer (Sex Pistols)
1959 - Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor
1959 - Kelly Lynch, American actress
1960 - Grant Morrison, British comic book author and chaos magician
1961 - Lloyd Cole, British singer and songwriter
1964 - Jeff Hanneman, American guitarist (Slayer)
1964 - Billey Shamrock, Swedish singer and songwriter
1970 - Minnie Driver, British actress
1971 - Patrick Kielty, Northern Irish comedian and television presenter
1973 - Portia de Rossi, Australian actress
1976 - Buddy Rice, American race car driver
1980 - Tiffany Limos, American actress
1981 - Justin Timberlake, American Pop singer
1982 - Helena Paparizou, Greek singer
1982 - Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player