January 31
|
| January 31 in recent years |
| 2016 (Sunday) |
| 2015 (Saturday) |
| 2014 (Friday) |
| 2013 (Thursday) |
| 2012 (Tuesday) |
| 2011 (Monday) |
| 2010 (Sunday) |
| 2009 (Saturday) |
| 2008 (Thursday) |
| 2007 (Wednesday) |
January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 334 days remaining until the end of the year (335 in leap years).
Events
- 314 – Pope Sylvester I succeeds Pope Miltiades.
- 1504 – France cedes Naples to Aragon.
- 1578 – The Battle of Gembloux takes place.
- 1606 – Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is executed for plotting against Parliament and King James.
- 1747 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
- 1801 – John Marshall is appointed the Chief Justice of the United States.
- 1814 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (present-day Argentina).
- 1846 – After the Milwaukee Bridge War, Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify as the City of Milwaukee.
- 1848 – John C. Frémont is court-martialed for mutiny and disobeying orders.
- 1849 – Corn Laws are abolished in the United Kingdom pursuant to legislation in 1846.
- 1862 – Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an 18.5-inch (47 cm) telescope now located at Northwestern University.
- 1865 – American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery and submits it to the states for ratification.
- 1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
- 1867 – Maronite nationalist leader Youssef Bey Karam leaves Lebanon on board a French ship bound for Algeria.
- 1891 – History of Portugal: The first attempt at a Portuguese republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto.
- 1897 – Czechoslav Trade Union Association is founded in Prague.
- 1900 – Datu Muhammad Salleh is assassinated in Kampung Teboh, Tambunan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion.
- 1915 – World War I: Germany is the first to make large-scale use of poison gas in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russia.
- 1917 – World War I: Germany announces that its U-boats will resume unrestricted submarine warfare after a two-year hiatus.
- 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 – The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland.
- 1929 – The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky.
- 1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
- 1942 – World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to the island of Singapore.
- 1943 – World War II: German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad, followed 2 days later by the remainder of his Sixth Army, ending one of the war's fiercest battles.
- 1944 – World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
- 1944 – World War II: During the Anzio campaign the 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby's Rangers) is destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy.
- 1945 – US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War.
- 1945 – World War II: About 3,000 inmates from the Stutthof concentration camp are forcibly marched into the Baltic Sea at Palmnicken (now Yantarny, Russia) and executed.
- 1945 – World War II: The end of fighting in the Battle of Hill 170 during the Burma Campaign, in which the British 3 Commando Brigade repulsed a Japanese counterattack on their positions and precipitated a general retirement from the Arakan Peninsula.
- 1946 – Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling that of the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
- 1946 – The Democratic Republic of Vietnam introduces the đồng to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par.
- 1949 – These Are My Children, the first television daytime soap opera is broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago.
- 1950 – United States President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
- 1953 – A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom
- 1957 – Eight people on the ground in Pacoima, California are killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet.
- 1958 – The first successful American satellite detects the Van Allen radiation belt.
- 1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2: Ham the Chimp travels into outer space.
- 1966 – The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program.
- 1968 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive.
- 1968 – Nauru gains independence from Australia.
- 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14: 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, begins in Detroit.
- 1990 – The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow.
- 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.
- 1996 – Comet Hyakutake is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake.
- 2000 – Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash: An MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 aboard.
- 2001 – In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
- 2003 – The Waterfall rail accident occurs near Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia.
- 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.
- 2009 – In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
- 2010 – Avatar becomes the first film to gross over $2 billion worldwide.
- 2011 – A winter storm hits North America for the second time in the same month, causing $1.8 billion in damage across the United States and Canada and killing 24 people.
- 2013 – An explosion at the Pemex Executive Tower in Mexico City kills at least 33 people and injures more than 100.
Births
- 36 BC – Antonia Minor, Greek daughter of Mark Antony (d. 38 AD)
- 877 – Taejo of Goryeo (d. 943)
- 1512 – Henry, King of Portugal (d. 1580)
- 1543 – Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shogun (d. 1616)
- 1550 – Henry I, Duke of Guise (d. 1588)
- 1597 – John Francis Regis, French priest and saint (d. 1640)
- 1624 – Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher and academic (d. 1669)
- 1673 – Louis de Montfort, French priest and saint (d. 1716)
- 1686 – Hans Egede, Norwegian missionary and explorer (d. 1758)
- 1752 – Gouverneur Morris, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (d. 1816)
- 1759 – François Devienne, French flute player and composer (d. 1803)
- 1797 – Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1828)
- 1820 – William B. Washburn, American politician, 28th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1887)
- 1835 – Lunalilo of Hawaii (d. 1874)
- 1854 – David Emmanuel, Romanian mathematician and academic (d. 1941)
- 1865 – Henri Desgrange, French cyclist and journalist (d. 1940)
- 1865 – Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader, founded BAPS (d. 1951)
- 1868 – Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
- 1872 – Zane Grey, American author (d. 1939)
- 1881 – Irving Langmuir, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
- 1884 – Theodor Heuss, German journalist and politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Germany (d. 1963)
- 1884 – Mammad Amin Rasulzade, Azerbaijani scholar and politician, 1st President of The Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (d. 1955)
- 1889 – Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958)
- 1892 – Eddie Cantor, American singer-songwriter, actor, and dancer (d. 1964)
- 1894 – Isham Jones, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1956)
- 1896 – Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician and historian (d. 1966)
- 1902 – Nat Bailey, Canadian businessman, founded White Spot (d. 1978)
- 1902 – Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)
- 1902 – Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
- 1905 – Diana Napier, English actress (d. 1982)
- 1905 – John O'Hara, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1970)
- 1906 – Roosevelt Sykes, American singer and pianist (d. 1983)
- 1909 – Miron Grindea, Romanian-English journalist (d. 1995)
- 1911 – Eddie Byrne, English-Irish actor (d. 1981)
- 1913 – Don Hutson, American football player and coach (d. 1997)
- 1914 – Carey Loftin, American actor and stuntman (d. 1997)
- 1914 – Daya Mata, American religious leader (d. 2010)
- 1914 – Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer and police officer (d. 1994)
- 1915 – Bobby Hackett, American trumpet player and cornet player (d. 1976)
- 1915 – Alan Lomax, American historian, author, and scholar (d. 2002)
- 1915 – Thomas Merton, American monk and author (d. 1968)
- 1915 – Garry Moore, American comedian and game show host (d. 1993)
- 1917 – Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (d. 2013)
- 1919 – Jackie Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1972)
- 1920 – Josef Hauser S. J., Hungarian zoologist and priest (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 2010)
- 1921 – John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Carol Channing, American actress, singer, and dancer
- 1921 – E. Fay Jones, American architect, designed the Thorncrown Chapel (d. 2004)
- 1921 – Mario Lanza, American tenor and actor (d. 1959)
- 1922 – Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)
- 1923 – Norman Mailer, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
- 1925 – Benjamin Hooks, American minister, lawyer, and activist (d. 2010)
- 1926 – Tom Alston, American baseball player (d. 1993)
- 1927 – Norm Prescott, American animator, producer, and composer, co-founded Filmation Studios (d. 2005)
- 1928 – Eric Ash, German-English engineer and academic
- 1928 – Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (d. 1958)
- 1928 – Irma Wyman, American computer scientist and engineer
- 1929 – Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
- 1929 – Jean Simmons, English-American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2010)
- 1930 – Joakim Bonnier, Swedish race car driver (d. 1972)
- 1930 – Al De Lory, American composer, conductor, and producer (d. 2012)
- 1931 – Ernie Banks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1931 – Christopher Chataway, English runner, journalist, and politician (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Miron Babiak, Polish captain (d. 2013)
- 1933 – Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1997)
- 1933 – Bernardo Provenzano, Italian mob boss
- 1934 – Ernesto Brambilla, Italian motorcycle racer and race car driver
- 1934 – Gene DeWeese, American author (d. 2012)
- 1934 – James Franciscus, American actor and producer (d. 1991)
- 1934 – Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
- 1935 – Kenzaburō Ōe, Japanese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1936 – Can Bartu, Turkish former basketball and football player
- 1937 – Regimantas Adomaitis, Lithuanian actor
- 1937 – Andrée Boucher, Canadian educator and politician, 39th Mayor of Quebec City (d. 2007)
- 1937 – Philip Glass, American composer
- 1937 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (d. 2008)
- 1938 – Beatrix of the Netherlands
- 1938 – Lynn Carlin, American actress
- 1938 – James G. Watt, American lawyer and politician, 43rd United States Secretary of the Interior
- 1939 – Claude Gauthier, Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
- 1940 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (d. 1998)
- 1941 – Dick Gephardt, American lawyer and politician
- 1941 – Gerald McDermott, American author and illustrator (d. 2012)
- 1941 – Jessica Walter, American actress
- 1942 – Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
- 1942 – Derek Jarman, English director, stage designer, and author (d. 1994)
- 1944 – Connie Booth, American-English actress and psychotherapist
- 1944 – John Inverarity, Australian cricketer and coach
- 1944 – Charlie Musselwhite, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
- 1945 – Rynn Berry, American historian and author (d. 2014)
- 1945 – Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, English lawyer, judge, and academic
- 1945 – Joseph Kosuth, American sculptor and theorist
- 1946 – Sylvia Hitchcock, American model, Miss Universe 1967 (d. 2015)
- 1946 – Terry Kath, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Chicago) (d. 1978)
- 1947 – Jonathan Banks, American actor
- 1947 – Nolan Ryan, American baseball player
- 1947 – Matt Minglewood, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1947 – Glynn Turman, American actor, director, and producer
- 1948 – Volkmar Groß, German footballer
- 1948 – Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
- 1949 – Johan Derksen, Dutch footballer and journalist
- 1949 – Norris Church Mailer, American model and educator (d. 2010)
- 1949 – Ken Wilber, American sociologist, philosopher, and author
- 1950 – Denise Fleming, American author and illustrator
- 1950 – Alexander Korzhakov, Russian general and bodyguard
- 1950 – Janice Rebibo, American-Israeli author and poet (d. 2015)
- 1951 – Dave Benton, Aruban-Estonian singer and drummer
- 1951 – Harry Wayne Casey, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (KC and the Sunshine Band)
- 1951 – Phil Manzanera, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Roxy Music, Quiet Sun, and 801)
- 1951 – Won Sei-hoon, South Korean intelligence officer
- 1952 – Nadya Rusheva, Russian painter (d. 1969)
- 1953 – Ovidiu Lipan, Romanian drummer (Transsylvania Phoenix)
- 1954 – Faoud Bacchus, Guyanese cricketer
- 1954 – Mark Slavin, Israeli wrestler (d. 1972)
- 1954 – Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch guitarist and sngwriter (Whitesnake, Vandenberg, and Manic Eden)
- 1955 – Virginia Ruzici, Romanian tennis player and manager
- 1956 – John Lydon, English singer-songwriter (Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd)
- 1956 – Stefan Majewski, Polish footballer and coach
- 1957 – Shirley Babashoff, American swimmer
- 1958 – Armin Reichel, German footballer and manager
- 1959 – Anthony LaPaglia, Australian footballer, actor, and producer
- 1959 – Kelly Lynch, American model and actress
- 1959 – Mickey Simmonds, English keyboard player and songwriter (Renaissance and Camel)
- 1960 – Akbar Ganji, Iranian journalist and author
- 1960 – Grant Morrison, Scottish author and screenwriter
- 1960 – Željko Šturanović, Montenegrin politician, 31st Prime Minister of Montenegro (d. 2014)
- 1961 – Elizabeth Barker, Baroness Barker, English politician
- 1961 – Fatou Bensouda, Gambian lawyer and judge
- 1961 – Lloyd Cole, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Lloyd Cole and the Commotions)
- 1961 – Mako Ishino, Japanese singer and actress
- 1961 – Fatih Kısaparmak, Turkish singer-songwriter
- 1963 – John Dye, American actor (d. 2011)
- 1963 – Madis Eek, Estonian architect
- 1963 – Gwen Graham, American lawyer and politician
- 1964 – Sylvie Bernier, Canadian diver
- 1964 – Jeff Hanneman, American guitarist and songwriter (Slayer) (d. 2013)
- 1964 – Martha MacCallum, American journalist
- 1964 – Dawn Prince-Hughes, American anthropologist and ethologist
- 1964 – Billey Shamrock, Swedish singer-songwriter and actor
- 1965 – Giorgos Gasparis, Greek basketball player and coach
- 1965 – Ofra Harnoy, Israeli-Canadian cellist
- 1966 – Umar Alisha, Indian journalist and philanthropist
- 1966 – Dexter Fletcher, English actor and director
- 1966 – Jorge González, Argentinian basketball player and wrestler (d. 2010)
- 1967 – Chad Channing, American singer and drummer (Nirvana and Child's Play)
- 1967 – Jason Cooper, English drummer (The Cure and My Life Story)
- 1967 – Fat Mike, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (NOFX, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and False Alarm)
- 1967 – Michelle Ruff, American voice actress
- 1967 – Joey Wong, Taiwanese-Hong Kong actress
- 1968 – Matt King, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 – Ulrica Messing, Swedish politician, 2nd Swedish Minister for Infrastructure
- 1968 – Patrick Stevens, Belgian sprinter
- 1969 – Dov Charney, Canadian-American fashion designer and businessman, founded American Apparel
- 1970 – Minnie Driver, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1970 – Danny Michel, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1971 – Patrick Kielty, Northern Irish comedian and television host
- 1971 – Patricia Velásquez, Venezuelan model, actress, and producer
- 1971 – Lee Young-ae, South Korean actress
- 1973 – Portia de Rossi, Australian-American actress
- 1974 – Wil Anderson, Australian comedian and radio host
- 1974 – Othella Harrington, American basketball player and coach
- 1974 – Ariel Pestano, Cuban baseball player
- 1975 – Fred Coleman, American football player and coach
- 1975 – Jackie O, Australian radio and television host
- 1976 – Traianos Dellas, Greek footballer and manager
- 1976 – Buddy Rice, American race car driver
- 1976 – Paul Scheer, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1977 – Shingo Katori, Japanese singer and actor (SMAP)
- 1977 – Jim Kleinsasser, American football player
- 1977 – Bobby Moynihan, American actor
- 1977 – Sergei Pareiko, Estonian footballer
- 1977 – Anthony Rosano, American porn actor
- 1977 – Katherine Shindle, American actress, singer, and dancer
- 1977 – Kerry Washington, American actress
- 1978 – Fabián Caballero, Argentinian footballer and manager
- 1978 – Brad Rutter, American game show contestant on Jeopardy!
- 1978 – Ellen Stagg, American photographer
- 1978 – Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Douro
- 1979 – Daniel Tammet, English author and educator
- 1979 – Emmett J. Scanlan, Irish actor and producer
- 1980 – James Adomian, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1981 – Julio Arca, Argentinian footballer
- 1981 – Justin Timberlake, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor (*NSYNC)
- 1982 – Maret Ani, Estonian tennis player
- 1982 – Yuniesky Betancourt, Cuban baseball player
- 1982 – Andreas Görlitz, German footballer
- 1982 – Salvatore Masiello, Italian footballer
- 1982 – Allan McGregor, Scottish footballer
- 1982 – Bruno Nogueira, Portuguese comedian and actor
- 1982 – Elena Paparizou, Swedish-Greek singer-songwriter (Antique)
- 1982 – Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Yukimi Nagano, Swedish singer-songwriter (Little Dragon)
- 1982 – Brad Thompson, American baseball player
- 1982 – Zulmir Bečević, Swedish author
- 1983 – James Sutton, English actor
- 1983 – Fabio Quagliarella, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Vernon Davis, American football player
- 1984 – Josh Johnson, Canadian-American baseball player
- 1984 – Jeremy Wariner, American runner
- 1984 – Alessandro Zanni, Italian rugby player
- 1985 – Adam Federici, Australian footballer
- 1985 – Mario Williams, American football player
- 1986 – Megan Ellison, American film producer, founded Annapurna Pictures
- 1986 – George Elokobi, Cameroonian footballer
- 1986 – Yves Ma-Kalambay, Belgian footballer
- 1986 – Pauline Parmentier, French tennis player
- 1987 – Tyler Hubbard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Florida Georgia Line)
- 1987 – Marcus Mumford, American-English singer-songwriter (Mumford & Sons and The New Basement Tapes)
- 1988 – Justine Ozga, German tennis player
- 1988 – Brett Pitman, English footballer
- 1988 – Taijo Teniste, Estonian footballer
- 1990 – Jacopo Fortunato, Italian footballer
- 1990 – Kati Ojaloo, Estonian hammer thrower
- 1990 – Kota Yabu, Japanese singer and actor (Hey! Say! JUMP)
- 1992 – Christopher, Danish singer
- 1992 – Tyler Seguin, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1994 – Kenneth Zohore, Danish footballer
- 1995 – Sten Olmre, Estonian basketball player
- 1996 – Joel Courtney, American actor
Deaths
- 632 – Máedóc of Ferns, Irish bishop and saint (b. 550)
- 1216 – Theodore II of Constantinople
- 1398 – Emperor Sukō of Japan (b. 1334)
- 1418 – Mircea I of Wallachia (b. 1355)
- 1435 – Xuande Emperor of China (b. 1398)
- 1561 – Bairam Khan, Mughalan general (b. 1501)
- 1561 – Menno Simons, Dutch minister and theologian (b. 1496)
- 1580 – Henry, King of Portugal (b. 1512)
- 1606 – Guy Fawkes, English conspirator, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (b. 1570)
- 1606 – Ambrose Rookwood, English criminal (b. 1578)
- 1606 – Thomas Wintour, English criminal (b. 1571)
- 1615 – Claudio Acquaviva, Italian priest, 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1543)
- 1632 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (b. 1552)
- 1665 – Johannes Clauberg, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1622)
- 1686 – Jean Mairet, French playwright (b. 1604)
- 1720 – Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1654)
- 1729 – Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (b. 1659)
- 1736 – Filippo Juvarra, Italian architect and set designer, designed the Basilica of Superga (b. 1678)
- 1788 – Charles Edward Stuart, Italian husband of Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern (b. 1720)
- 1790 – Thomas Lewis, Irish-American lawyer and surveyor (b. 1718)
- 1794 – Mariot Arbuthnot, English admiral and politician, 12th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (b. 1711)
- 1811 – Manuel Alberti, Argentinian priest and journalist (b. 1763)
- 1815 – José Félix Ribas, Venezuelan soldier (b. 1775)
- 1828 – Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek general (b. 1792)
- 1836 – John Cheyne, English physician and author (b. 1777)
- 1844 – Henri Gatien Bertrand, French general (b. 1773)
- 1856 – 11th Dalai Lama (b. 1838)
- 1870 – Cilibi Moise, Moldavian-Romanian journalist and author (b. 1812)
- 1888 – John Bosco, Italian priest and educator, founded the Salesian Society (b. 1815)
- 1892 – Charles Spurgeon, English pastor and author (b. 1834)
- 1907 – Timothy Eaton, Canadian businessman, founded Eaton's (b. 1834)
- 1923 – Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Polish painter and critic (b. 1869)
- 1933 – John Galsworthy, English author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
- 1942 – Henry Larkin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1860)
- 1942 – Rolf Wenkhaus, German actor (b. 1917)
- 1944 – Jean Giraudoux, French author and playwright (b. 1882)
- 1945 – Eddie Slovik, American soldier (b. 1920)
- 1954 – Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (b. 1890)
- 1954 – Vivian Woodward, English captain and footballer (b. 1879)
- 1955 – John Mott, American activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- 1956 – A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright, created Winnie-the-Pooh (b. 1882)
- 1958 – Karl Selter, Estonian politician, 14th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1898)
- 1961 – Krishna Singh, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1887)
- 1966 – Arthur Percival, English general (b. 1887)
- 1967 – Eddie Tolan, American sprinter and educator (b. 1908)
- 1969 – Meher Baba, Indian guru and mystic (b. 1894)
- 1970 – Slim Harpo, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1924)
- 1971 – Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian historian and linguist (b. 1891)
- 1973 – Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
- 1974 – Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-American film producer, co-founded Goldwyn Pictures (b. 1882)
- 1974 – Glenn Morris, American decathlete and actor (b. 1912)
- 1974 – Emil Väre, Finnish wrestler, referee, and coach (b. 1885)
- 1976 – Ernesto Miranda, American criminal, inspired the Miranda rights (b. 1941)
- 1976 – Evert Taube, Swedish author and composer (b. 1890)
- 1985 – Reginald Baker, English-Australian film producer (b. 1896)
- 1985 – Tatsuzō Ishikawa, Japanese author (b. 1905)
- 1987 – Yves Allégret, French director and screenwriter (b. 1907)
- 1989 – William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy (b. 1896)
- 1990 – Eveline Du Bois-Reymond Marcus, German zoologist and academic (b. 1901)
- 1990 – Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-American biochemist and academic (b. 1935)
- 1991 – Kostas Mountakis, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1926)
- 1995 – George Abbott, American director and producer (b. 1887)
- 1997 – John Joseph Scanlan, Irish-American bishop (b. 1930)
- 1998 – Leho Laurine, Estonian chess player (b. 1904)
- 1999 – Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and trainer, co-founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (b. 1938)
- 1999 – Barış Manço, Turkish singer-songwriter (Moğollar and Kurtalan Ekspres) (b. 1943)
- 1999 – Norm Zauchin, American baseball player (b. 1929)
- 2000 – Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator (b. 1926)
- 2001 – Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian-American author (b. 1923)
- 2002 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (b. 1919)
- 2004 – Eleanor Holm, American swimmer and actress (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and ballerina (b. 1926)
- 2007 – Molly Ivins, American journalist and author (b. 1944)
- 2007 – Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Saudi Arabian businessman (b. 1957)
- 2007 – Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and politician (b. 1929)
- 2011 – Bartolomeu Anania, Romanian bishop and poet (b. 1921)
- 2011 – Mark Ryan, English guitarist and playwright (Adam and the Ants) (b. 1959)
- 2012 – Mani Ram Bagri, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Anthony Bevilacqua, American cardinal (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Leslie Carter, American singer-songwriter (b. 1986)
- 2012 – Tristram Potter Coffin, American author, scholar, and academic (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Ayelet Galena, American child born with Dyskeratosis congenita (b. 2009)
- 2012 – Dorothea Tanning, American painter and sculptor (b. 1910)
- 2013 – Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, Mexican poet and scholar (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Hassan Habibi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 1st Vice President of Iran (b. 1937)
- 2013 – Caleb Moore, American snowmobile racer (b. 1987)
- 2013 – Ingo Swann, American psychic and author (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Francis M. Fesmire, American cardiologist and physician (b. 1959)
- 2014 – Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Abdirizak Haji Hussein, Somalian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Somalia (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Miklós Jancsó, Hungarian director and screenwriter (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Joseph Willcox Jenkins, American composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Christopher Jones, American actor (b. 1941)
- 2015 – Tomás Bulat, Argentinian economist, journalist, and academic (b. 1964)
- 2015 – Don Covay, American singer-songwriter (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Vic Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
- 2015 – Udo Lattek, German footballer, coach, and journalist (b. 1935)
- 2015 – Lizabeth Scott, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German captain and politician, 6th President of Germany (b. 1920)
- 2016 – Gil Carmichael, American businessman and politician (b. 1927)
- 2016 – Benoît Violier, French-Swiss chef (b. 1971)
- 2016 – Terry Wogan, Irish-English radio and television host (b. 1938)
Holidays and observances
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to January 31. |
Months and days of the year |
|---|
| | | | January | |
|---|
| | February | |
|---|
| | March | |
|---|
| | April | |
|---|
| | May | |
|---|
| | June | |
|---|
| | July | |
|---|
| | August | |
|---|
| | September | |
|---|
| | October | |
|---|
| | November | |
|---|
| | December | |
|---|
| |
|