JANUARY 31

Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

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 Lock Hospital.

★ 1814 - Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of Argentina.

★ 1849 - Corn Laws abolished in the United Kingdom (following legislation in 1846).

★ 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.

★ 1867 - Maronite nationalist leader Youssef Karam leaves Lebanon on board of a French ship for Algeria

★ 1876 - The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations.

★ 1900 - Datu Muhammad Salleh is shot dead in Kampung Teboh, Tambuan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion

★ 1910 - The Portuguese republican revolution broke out in the northern city of Porto.

★ 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.

★ 1919 - 1919 Battle of George Square

★ 1929 - The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky.

★ 1930 - 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.

★ 1936 - ''The Green Hornet'' radio show debuts.

★ 1941 - Layforce set sail.

★ 1944 - World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.

★ 1944 - World War II: Anzio campaign. (Darby's Rangers) 1st Ranger Battalion The entire 6615th Ranger Force (Provisional) was destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Cisterna, Italy.

★ 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 - The North Sea flood of 1953 causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands.

★ 1956 - Guy Mollet becomes Prime Minister of France.

★ 1957 - Three students on a junior high school playground in Pacoima, California are among the eight persons killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet above the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles.

★ 1958 - Explorer program: ''Explorer I'' - The first successful launch of an American satellite into orbit.

★ 1958 - James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt.

★ 1961 - Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2 - Ham the Chimp travels into outer space.

★ 1968 - Viet Cong attack the United States embassy in Saigon.

★ 1968 - Nauru declares independence from Australia.

★ 1969 - A Saskatchewan Court convicts 17-year-old hippie David Milgaard of murder; he is sentenced to life in prison. He spent 23 years in jail until April 14, 1992 when DNA evidence proves him innocent of all charges.

★ 1971 - Apollo program: Apollo 14 Mission - Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on 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.

★ 1980 - Thirty-nine people burn to death in the occupation of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala.

★ 1990 - The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow, USSR.

★ 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 of Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400.

★ 2000 - An Alaska Airlines MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 persons 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.

★ 2002 - A large section of the Antarctic Larsen Ice Shelf begins disintegrating, eventually consuming about 3,250 km² (1,254 miles²) over a 35-day period.

★ 2003 - Waterfall train disaster, NSW, Australia.

★ 2006 - Samuel A. Alito Jr. assumes office as the 110th Supreme Court justice of the United States.

★ 2007 - Suspects are arrested in Birmingham in the UK, accused of plotting the kidnap, holding and eventual beheading of a serving Muslim British soldier in Iraq.

Births

★ 1512 - King Henry of Portugal (d. 1580)

★ 1543 - Tokugawa Ieyasu, Shogun of Japan (d. 1616)

★ 1550 - Henry I, Duke of Guise, French Catholic leader (d. 1588)

★ 1597 - John Francis Regis, French saint (d. 1640)

★ 1624 - Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher (d. 1669)

★ 1673 - Louis de Montfort, French catholic priest and saint (d. 1716)

★ 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)

★ 1865 - Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader (d. 1951)

★ 1866 - Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)

★ 1868 - Theodore William Richards, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1928)

★ 1872 - Zane Grey, American Western writer (d. 1939)

★ 1881 - Irving Langmuir, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1957)

★ 1884 - Theodor Heuss, 1st President of Germany (Bundespräsident) (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)

★ 1896 - Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician (d. 1966)

★ 1902 - Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)

★ 1902 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician, Nobel laureate (d. 1986)

★ 1905 - John O'Hara, American writer (d. 1970)

★ 1911 - Eddie Byrne, British actor (d. 1981)

★ 1913 - Don Hutson, American football player (d. 1997)

★ 1914 - Carey Loftin, American actor and stuntman (d. 1997)

★ 1914 - Sri Daya Mata, Hindu religious figure

★ 1914 - Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer (d. 1994)

★ 1915 - Alan Lomax, American musicologist (d. 2002)

★ 1915 - Thomas Merton, American author and monk (d. 1968)

★ 1915 - Garry Moore, American comedian (d. 1993)

★ 1919 - Jackie Robinson, American baseball player (d. 1972)

★ 1921 - John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)

★ 1921 - Carol Channing, American actress and singer

★ 1921 - E. Fay Jones, American architect (d. 2004)

★ 1921 - Mario Lanza, American singer (d. 1959)

★ 1922 - Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)

★ 1923 - Norman Mailer, American writer and journalist

★ 1925 - Benjamin Hooks, American civil rights leader

★ 1926 - Tom Alston, American baseball player (d. 1993)

★ 1928 - Chuck Willis, American singer and songwriter (d. 1958)

★ 1929 - Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist, Nobel laureate

★ 1929 - Jean Simmons, English actress

★ 1930 - Lynn Carlin, American actress

★ 1931 - Ernie Banks, American baseball player

★ 1931 - Christopher Chataway, English athlete, newscaster and politician

★ 1933 - Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1997)

★ 1934 - James Franciscus, American actor (d. 1991)

★ 1934 - Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)

★ 1935 - Kenzaburo Oe, Japanese writer, Nobel laureate

★ 1937 - Regimantas Adomaitis, Lithuanian actor

★ 1937 - Philip Glass, American composer

★ 1937 - Suzanne Pleshette, American actress

★ 1938 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

★ 1938 - James G. Watt, American politician

★ 1939 - Claude Gauthier, Canadian singer and songwriter

★ 1940 - Kitch Christie, South African rugby union coach (d. 1998)

★ 1941 - Richard A. Gephardt, American politician

★ 1941 - Jessica Walter, American actress

★ 1942 - Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress

★ 1942 - Derek Jarman, British director and writer (d. 1994)

★ 1944 - Charlie Musselwhite, American musician

★ 1945 - Joseph Kosuth, American conceptual artist

★ 1946 - Terry Kath, American musician (Chicago) (d. 1978)

★ 1947 - Jonathan Banks, American actor

★ 1947 - Nolan Ryan, American baseball player

★ 1948 - Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician

★ 1949 - Ken Wilber, American philosopher

★ 1950 - Alexander Korzhakov, Boris Yeltsin's bodyguard

★ 1951 - Dave Benton, Aruban-born singer

★ 1951 - Harry Wayne Casey, American singer and musician (KC and the Sunshine Band)

★ 1951 - Phil Manzanera, English guitarist (Roxy Music)

★ 1952 - Nadya Rusheva, Russian painter (d. 1969)

★ 1954 - Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch musician (Whitesnake)

★ 1956 - John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten, English singer (Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd.)

★ 1959 - Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor

★ 1959 - Kelly Lynch, American actress

★ 1959 - Kelly Moore, American stock car driver

★ 1960 - Grant Morrison, British comic book author

★ 1961 - Lloyd Cole, British singer

★ 1964 - Sylvie Bernier, Canadian diver

★ 1964 - Jeff Hanneman, American musician (Slayer)

★ 1964 - Billey Shamrock, Swedish singer

★ 1967 - Fat Mike, American musician

★ 1967 - Irene Wan, Hong Kong actress

★ 1967 - Joey Wong, Taiwanese actress

★ 1970 - Minnie Driver, British actress

★ 1971 - Lee Young Ae, South Korean actress

★ 1971 - Patrick Kielty, Northern Irish comedian

★ 1971 - Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer

★ 1973 - Portia de Rossi, Australian actress

★ 1974 - Wil Anderson, Australian comedian

★ 1974 - Ariel Pestano, Cuban baseball player

★ 1975 - Jackie O, Australian radio host

★ 1975 - Preity Zinta, Indian actress

★ 1976 - Traianos Dellas, Greek footballer

★ 1976 - Buddy Rice, American race car driver

★ 1977 - Mark Dutiaume, Canadian ice hockey player

★ 1977 - Shingo Katori, Japanese actor and singer (SMAP)

★ 1977 - Jim Kleinsasser, American football player

★ 1977 - Kerry Washington, American actress

★ 1978 - Ray Shah, Irish DJ, TV, radio presenter

★ 1978 - Brad Rutter, ''Jeopardy!'' champion

★ 1979 - Daniel Tammet, British autistic savant

★ 1980 - Tiffany Limos, American actress

★ 1981 - Julio Arca, Argentinian footballer

★ 1981 - Justin Timberlake, American singer

★ 1982 - Yuniesky Betancourt, Cuban baseball player

★ 1982 - Andreas Görlitz, German footballer

★ 1982 - Bruno Nogueira, Portuguese actor, comedian and TV host

★ 1982 - Helena Paparizou, Greek singer

★ 1982 - Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player

★ 1982 - Brad Thompson, American baseball player

★ 1984 - Jeremy Wariner, American 400m runner

Deaths

★ 743 - Muhammad al-Baqir, Shia Imam (b. 676)

★ 1398 - Emperor Sukō (b. 1334)

★ 1435 - Xuande, Emperor of China (b. 1398)

★ 1561 - Bairam Khan, Great Mughal General, regent for Akbar

★ 1561 - Menno Simons, Dutch Mennonite leader (b. 1496)

★ 1580 - Henry of Portugal (b. 1512)

★ 1606 - Gunpowder Plot conspirators:

★
★ Guy Fawkes (b. 1570)

★
★ Ambrose Rokewood (b. c. 1578)

★
★ Thomas Wintour (b. 1571)

★ 1615 - Claudio Aquaviva, Italian Jesuit (b. 1543)

★ 1632 - Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (b. 1552)

★ 1665 - Johannes Clauberg, German theologian and philosopher (b. 1622)

★ 1686 - Jean Mairet, French dramatist (b. 1604)

★ 1720 - Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English privy councillor (c. 1654)

★ 1729 - Jakob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (b. 1659)

★ 1736 - Filippo Juvara, Italian architect (b. 1678)

★ 1788 - Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (b. 1720)

★ 1790 - Thomas Lewis, Irish-born Virginia settler (b. 1718)

★ 1794 - Marriott Arbuthnot, British admiral (b. 1711)

★ 1815 - José Félix Ribas, Venezuelan independentist leader (b. 1775)

★ 1844 - Henri Gratien, Comte Bertrand, French general (b. 1773)

★ 1888 - John Bosco, Italian priest, youth worker, educator, founder of the Salesian Society (b. 1815)

★ 1892 - Charles Spurgeon, English preacher and evangelist (b. 1834)

★ 1907 - Timothy Eaton, Canadian department store founder (b. 1834)

★ 1923 - Eligiusz Niewiadomski, assassin of Gabriel Narutowicz (b. 1869)

★ 1933 - John Galsworthy, English writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1867)

★ 1942 - Henry Larkin, Baseball player (b. 1860)

★ 1944 - Jean Giraudoux, French writer (b. 1882)

★ 1945 - Eddie Slovik, American soldier (b. 1920)

★ 1954 - Edwin Howard Armstrong, American electrical engineer and inventor of the FM radio (b. 1890)

★ 1955 - John Mott, American YMCA leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1865)

★ 1956 - A. A. Milne, English author (b. 1882)

★ 1966 - General Arthur Ernest Percival, British Army Officer (b. 1887)

★ 1967 - Eddie Tolan, American athlete (b. 1908)

★ 1969 - Meher Baba, Indian guru (b. 1894)

★ 1970 - Slim Harpo, American singer (b. 1924)

★ 1971 - Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky, Russian literary historian, linguist (b. 1891)

★ 1973 - Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch, Norwegian economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1895)

★ 1974 - Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-born film studio executive (b. 1882)

★ 1976 - Ernesto Miranda, American litigant (b. 1941)

★ 1981 - Cozy Cole, American jazz drummer (b. 1909)

★ 1987 - Yves Allégret, French film director (b. 1907)

★ 1990 - Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-born imam (b. 1935)

★ 1995 - George Abbott, American stage director and producer (b. 1887)

★ 1997 - John Joseph Scanlan, Irish Catholic prelate (b. 1930)

★ 1999 - Norm Zauchin, American baseball player (b. 1929)

★ 2000 - Gil Kane, Latvian-born comic book writer (b. 1926)

★ 2001 - Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian writer (b. 1923)

★ 2004 - Eleanor Holm, American swimmer (b. 1913)

★ 2006 - Moira Shearer, Scottish actress (The Red Shoes) and ballerina (b. 1926)

★ 2007 - Kirka Babitzin, Finnish singer (b. 1950)

★ 2007 - Molly Ivins, American political columnist and author (b. 1944)

★ 2007 - Lee Bergere, American actor (b. 1924)

★ 2007 - Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Saudi brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden (b. 1957)

★ 2007 - Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and wife of Oliver Tambo (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances

★ Catholicism - Feast day of St. John Bosco, patron saint of Christian apprentices, editors, and publishers

★ Saint Pedro Nolasco

★ Saint Marcella

★ Saint Geminianus

★ Blessed Ludovica

★ January 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On this day in Canada
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