January 31


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.
   * 1928 - 3M begins marketing Scotch tape
   * 1929 - The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky.
   * 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.
   * 1958 - The first successful American satellite, Explorer I, is launched
     into orbit.
   * 1958 - James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt
   * 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.
   * 1990 - The first McDonald's opens in Moscow, Russia.
   * 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.
   * 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

   * 1797 - Franz Schubert, composer (+ 1828)
   * 1872 - Zane Grey, writer (+ 1939)
   * 1884 - Theodor Heuss, politician and publicist (+ 1963)
   * 1892 - Eddie Cantor, actor, singer
   * 1901 - Marie Luise Kaschnitz, writer (+ 1974)
   * 1902 - Alva Mydral, politician (+ 1986)
   * 1902 - Tallulah Bankhead, actress (+ 1968)
   * 1905 - John O'Hara, writer (+ 1970)
   * 1914 - Jersey Joe Walcott, boxer (+ 1994)
   * 1919 - Jackie Robinson, baseball player (+ 1972)
   * 1920 - Paul Warnke, diplomat (+ 2001)
   * 1921 - Carol Channing, actress
   * 1921 - Mario Lanza, singer, actor (+ 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 (+ 1994)
   * 1946 - Terry Kath, musician (+ 1978)
   * 1947 - Nolan Ryan, baseball player
   * 1949 - Ken Wilber, philosopher
   * 1956 - Johnny Rotten, musician (The "Sex Pistols")
   * 1970 - Minnie Driver, actress
   * 1981 - Justin Timberlake, musician

Deaths

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

Holidays and observances

   * Catholicism - Feast day of St. John Bosco.