What happened today in history
July
What happened on July 31
On July 31 history recorded 55 notable events. 160 people who left a mark were born on this day, and 93 died. Here is the full almanac.
- 55events
- 160births
- 93deaths
- 16observances
Highlights
Highlights
1009
Sergius IV became the 142nd pope, succeeding John XVIII.
Pope Sergius IV was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from 31 July 1009 to his death. His temporal power was eclipsed by the patrician John Crescentius. Sergius IV may have called for the expulsion of Muslims from the Holy Land, but this
1667The Second Anglo-Dutch War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Breda.
The Second Anglo-Dutch War began on 4 March 1665 and concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Breda on 31 July 1667. It was the second in a series of naval wars fought between England and the Dutch Republic and it was driven largely by commercial rivalry, c
1777The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution commissioning the Marquis de Lafayette (pictured) as a major general in the American revolutionary forces.
The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and Revolutionary War, which established American independence from Great Britain. The Congress constituted a
July 31
On this day
IV century
- 398
398End of the Gildonic rebellion after Gildo's forces are defeated by forces loyal to Western Roman Emperor Honorius under Gildo's brother Mascezel and Gildo's subsequent death.
V century
VIII century
XI century
XIII century
XV century
- 1423
1423Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant: A Franco-Scottish army is defeated by the Anglo-Burgundians at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne. - 1451
1451Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France. - 1492
1492All remaining Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect. - 1498
1498On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
XVII century
- 1618
1618Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions. - 1655
1655Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years. - 1658
1658Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal emperor of India. - 1667
1667The treaty of Breda ends the second Anglo-Dutch War and grants England in possession of New Amsterdam.
XVIII century
- 1703
1703Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers. - 1715
1715Seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks. - 1741
1741Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia. - 1763
1763Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War. - 1777
1777The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States." - 1790
1790The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
XIX century
- 1856
1856Christchurch, New Zealand, is chartered as a city. - 1865
1865The first narrow-gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia. - 1874
1874Patrick Francis Healy becomes the first African-American inaugurated as president of a predominantly white university, Georgetown University.
XX century
- 1904
1904Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeat units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation. - 1917
1917World War I: The Battle of Passchendaele begins near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium. - 1932
1932The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections. - 1938
1938Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia). - 1938
1938Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis. - 1941
1941The 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." - 1941
1941World War II: The Battle of Smolensk concludes with Germany capturing about 300,000 Soviet Red Army prisoners. - 1945
1945Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria. - 1948
1948At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated. - 1948
1948USS Nevada is sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships. - 1964
1964Ranger 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. - 1966
1966The pleasure cruiser MV Darlwyne disappears off the Cornwall coast with the loss of all 31 aboard. - 1970
1970Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy. - 1971
1971Apollo program: The Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover. - 1972
1972The Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-takes the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It is the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians are killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy. - 1973
1973A Delta Air Lines jetliner, flight DL 723, crashes while landing in fog at Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts, killing 89. - 1975
1975The Troubles: Three members of a popular cabaret band and two gunmen are killed during a botched paramilitary attack in Northern Ireland. - 1987
1987A tornado occurs in Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people. - 1988
1988Thirty-two people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia. - 1991
1991The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries' stockpiles. - 1992
1992The nation of Georgia joins the United Nations. - 1992
1992Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal, killing all 113 people on board. - 1992
1992China General Aviation Flight 7552 crashes during takeoff from Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport, killing 108. - 1992
1992Space Shuttle program: Atlantis is launched on STS-46 to deploy the European Retrievable Carrier and the Tethered Satellite System. - 1997
1997FedEx Express Flight 14 crashes at Newark International Airport, injuring five. - 1999
1999Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector: NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the Moon's surface.
XXI century
- 2006
2006Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother, Raúl. - 2007
2007Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end. - 2008
2008East Coast Jets Flight 81 crashes near Owatonna Degner Regional Airport in Owatonna, Minnesota, killing all eight people on board. - 2012
2012Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics. - 2014
2014Gas explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung kill at least 20 people and injure more than 270. - 2020
2020A De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver and Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser collide over Soldotna, Alaska, killing all seven people on board both aircraft, including state representative Gary Knopp.
Best known
Born on July 31
Best known
Died on July 31
450Peter Chrysologus
Bishop of Ravenna
1358Étienne Marcel
French politician (d. 1358)
1396William Courtenay (bishop)
Archbishop of Canterbury from 1381 to 1396
1556Ignatius of Loyola
Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian
1616Roger Wilbraham
English lawyer and Solicitor-General for Ireland
1693Willem Kalf
Dutch still-life painter
Holidays and observances
- Christian feast day: Abanoub
- Christian feast day: Blessed Cecília Schelingová
- Christian feast day: Blessed Solanus Casey
- Christian feast day: Fabius
- Christian feast day: Germanus of Auxerre
- Christian feast day: Giustino de Jacobis
- Christian feast day: Helena of Skövde
- Christian feast day: Ignatius of Loyola
- Christian feast day: Neot
- Christian feast day: July 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which the Feast of Kamál (Perfection) can fall, while August 1 is the latest; observed on the first day of the eighth month of the Baháʼí calendar. (Baháʼí Faith)
- End of the Trinity term (sitting of the High Court of Justice of England)
- Lā Hae Hawaiʻi Day (Hawaii, United States), and its related observance: Sovereignty Restoration Day (Hawaiian sovereignty movement)
- Martyrdom Day of Shahid Udham Singh (Haryana and Punjab, India)
Frequently asked questions
What happened on July 31?
55 documented historical events happened on July 31, from antiquity to the present day. The best known is this: Sergius IV became the 142nd pope, succeeding John XVIII. On the same day, in another year: The Second Anglo-Dutch War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Breda. On Almanaccolo every event is listed in chronological order, grouped by century, and links to the Wikipedia article it comes from, so you can always read further or check the source. Alongside the events you find who was born and who died on this date, and which observances are celebrated around the world.
Who was born on July 31?
160 people with a Wikipedia article were born on July 31, including Billy Hitchcock, Bill Todman, Paul D. Boyer. The list spans every era and every field — art, science, politics, sport, entertainment — ordered by year of birth, from the earliest to the most recent. The six featured people are those most has been written about: the ordering uses the length of their Wikipedia article as an indicator of prominence. For each one you find their occupation, year of birth and a link to the full biography.
Who died on July 31?
93 people with a Wikipedia article died on July 31, including Peter Chrysologus, Étienne Marcel, William Courtenay (bishop). The list is in chronological order by year of death and spans all of documented history, from antiquity to the present day. For each person you find their occupation, the year and a link to the Wikipedia biography, where the full story and its sources can be read.
What is celebrated on July 31?
16 observances are celebrated on July 31 around the world: Christian feast day: Abanoub, Christian feast day: Blessed Cecília Schelingová, Christian feast day: Blessed Solanus Casey, Christian feast day: Fabius, Christian feast day: Germanus of Auxerre, Christian feast day: Giustino de Jacobis. The list gathers national holidays, international days and religious or civil observances falling on this date in different countries, as recorded on Wikipedia. Some are fixed and recur on the same day every year; others depend on the local calendar. Each links to the article explaining its origin and meaning.
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Source: Wikipedia · Calendar