January 31

Events

• 314 - Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
• 1208 - The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the throne as King Eric X of Sweden.
• 1504 - The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples.
• 1578 - Eighty Years' War and Anglo-Spanish War: The Battle of Gembloux is a victory for Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria over a rebel army of Dutch, Flemish, English, Scottish, German, French and Walloons.
• 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Four of the conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by hanging, drawing and quartering, for plotting against Parliament and King James.
• 1747 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
• 1814 - Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata.
• 1846 - After the Milwaukee Bridge War, the United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee.
• 1848 - John C. Frémont is court-martialed for mutiny and disobeying orders.
• 1862 - Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an 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.
• 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 killed 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, during a campaign for shorter working hours.
• 1928 - Leon Trotsky is exiled to Alma-Ata.
• 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 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 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 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 - Cold War: Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling that of the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics.
• 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 - Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
• 1951 - United Nations Security Council Resolution 90 relating to Korean War is adopted.
• 1953 - A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom.
• 1957 - Eight people 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 - Cold War: Space Race: 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 guerrillas 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.
• 1978 - The Crown of St. Stephen goes on public display after being returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.
• 1996 - An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, killing at least 86 people and injuring 1,400.
• 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.
• 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.
• 2018 - Both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occur.
• 2019 - Abdullah of Pahang is sworn in as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
• 2020 - The United Kingdom's membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state.

  Births

• 1512 - Henry, King of Portugal
• 1543 - Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shōgun
• 1583 - Peter Bulkley, English and later American Puritan
• 1597 - John Francis Regis, French priest and saint
• 1607 - James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby
• 1624 - Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher and academic
• 1673 - Louis de Montfort, French priest and saint
• 1686 - Hans Egede, Norwegian missionary and explorer
• 1752 - Gouverneur Morris, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France
• 1759 - François Devienne, French flute player and composer
• 1769 - André-Jacques Garnerin, French balloonist and the inventor of the frameless parachute
• 1785 - Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová, Czech cook book author
• 1797 - Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer
• 1799 - Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist
• 1820 - William B. Washburn, American politician, 28th Governor of Massachusetts
• 1835 - Lunalilo of Hawaii
• 1854 - David Emmanuel, Romanian mathematician and academic
• 1865 - Henri Desgrange, French cyclist and journalist
• 1865 - Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader, founded BAPS
• 1868 - Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1872 - Zane Grey, American author
• 1881 - Irving Langmuir, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1884 - Theodor Heuss, German journalist and politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1884 - Mammad Amin Rasulzade, Azerbaijani scholar and politician, 1st President of The Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan
• 1889 - Frank Foster, English cricketer
• 1892 - Eddie Cantor, American singer-songwriter, actor, and dancer
• 1894 - Isham Jones, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader
• 1896 - Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician and historian
• 1900 - Betty Parsons, American artist, art dealer and collector
• 1902 - Nat Bailey, Canadian businessman, founded White Spot
• 1902 - Tallulah Bankhead, American actress
• 1902 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1902 - Julian Steward, American anthropologist
• 1905 - John O'Hara, American author, playwright, and screenwriter
• 1909 - Miron Grindea, Romanian-English journalist
• 1913 - Don Hutson, American football player and coach
• 1914 - Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer and police officer
• 1915 - Bobby Hackett, American trumpet player and cornet player
• 1915 - Alan Lomax, American historian, author, and scholar
• 1915 - Thomas Merton, American monk and author
• 1915 - Garry Moore, American comedian and game show host
• 1916 - Frank Parker, American tennis player
• 1917 - Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects
• 1919 - Jackie Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1920 - Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior
• 1920 - Bert Williams, English footballer
• 1921 - John Agar, American actor
• 1921 - Carol Channing, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1921 - E. Fay Jones, American architect, designed the Thorncrown Chapel
• 1921 - Mario Lanza, American tenor and actor
• 1922 - Joanne Dru, American actress
• 1923 - Norman Mailer, American journalist and author
• 1925 - Benjamin Hooks, American minister, lawyer, and activist
• 1926 - Tom Alston, American baseball player
• 1926 - Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter
• 1927 - Norm Prescott, American animator, producer, and composer, co-founded Filmation Studios
• 1928 - Irma Wyman, American computer scientist and engineer
• 1929 - Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1929 - Jean Simmons, English-American actress
• 1930 - Joakim Bonnier, Swedish race car driver
• 1930 - Al De Lory, American composer, conductor, and producer
• 1931 - Ernie Banks, American baseball player and coach
• 1931 - Christopher Chataway, English runner, journalist, and politician
• 1932 - Miron Babiak, Polish sea captain
• 1933 - Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1933 - Morton Mower, American cardiologist and inventor
• 1934 - Ernesto Brambilla, Italian motorcycle racer and race car driver
• 1934 - Gene DeWeese, American author
• 1934 - James Franciscus, American actor and producer
• 1934 - Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 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
• 1937 - Philip Glass, American composer
• 1937 - Suzanne Pleshette, American actress
• 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
• 1940 - Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach
• 1940 - Stuart Margolin, American actor and director
• 1941 - Dick Gephardt, American lawyer and politician
• 1941 - Gerald McDermott, American author and illustrator
• 1941 - Jessica Walter, American actress
• 1942 - Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
• 1942 - Derek Jarman, English director, stage designer, and author
• 1944 - John Inverarity, Australian cricketer and coach
• 1945 - Rynn Berry, American historian and author
• 1945 - Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, English lawyer, judge, and academic
• 1945 - Joseph Kosuth, American sculptor and theorist
• 1946 - Terry Kath, American guitarist and singer-songwriter
• 1946 - Medin Zhega, Albanian footballer and manager
• 1947 - Nolan Ryan, American baseball player
• 1947 - Matt Minglewood, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1947 - Glynn Turman, American actor
• 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
• 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
• 1951 - Harry Wayne Casey, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
• 1954 - Faoud Bacchus, Guyanese cricketer
• 1954 - Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch guitarist and songwriter
• 1955 - Virginia Ruzici, Romanian tennis player and manager
• 1956 - Guido van Rossum, Dutch programmer, creator of the Python programming language
• 1956 - John Lydon, English singer-songwriter
• 1957 - Shirley Babashoff, American swimmer
• 1958 - Armin Reichel, German footballer and manager
• 1959 - Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor and producer
• 1959 - Kelly Lynch, American model and actress
• 1960 - Akbar Ganji, Iranian journalist and author
• 1960 - Grant Morrison, Scottish author and screenwriter
• 1960 - Željko Šturanović, Montenegrin politician, 31st Prime Minister of Montenegro
• 1961 - Elizabeth Barker, Baroness Barker, English politician
• 1961 - Fatou Bensouda, Gambian lawyer and judge
• 1961 - Lloyd Cole, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1963 - Craig Coleman, Australian rugby league player and coach
• 1963 - Gwen Graham, American lawyer and politician
• 1964 - Martha MacCallum, American journalist
• 1964 - Dawn Prince-Hughes, American scientist
• 1965 - Giorgos Gasparis, Greek basketball player and coach
• 1965 - Ofra Harnoy, Israeli-Canadian cellist
• 1965 - Peter Sagal, American author and radio host
• 1966 - Umar Alisha, Indian journalist and philanthropist
• 1966 - Thant Myint-U, Myanmar historian, diplomat, conservationist, and former presidential advisor.
• 1966 - Dexter Fletcher, English actor and director
• 1967 - Fat Mike, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
• 1968 - John Collins, Scottish footballer, midfielder and manager
• 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
• 1969 - Daniel Moder, American cinematographer
• 1970 - Minnie Driver, English singer-songwriter and actress
• 1970 - Danny Michel, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
• 1971 - Patricia Velásquez, Venezuelan model and actress
• 1973 - Portia de Rossi, Australian-American actress
• 1974 - Othella Harrington, American basketball player and coach
• 1974 - Ariel Pestano, Cuban baseball player
• 1975 - Fred Coleman, American football player and coach
• 1975 - Preity Zinta, Indian actress, producer, 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 - Suchitra Singh, Indian cricketer
• 1977 - Kerry Washington, American actress
• 1978 - Fabián Caballero, Argentinian footballer and manager
• 1979 - Daniel Tammet, English author and educator
• 1980 - James Adomian, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
• 1980 - Gary Doherty, Irish footballer, centre forward
• 1980 - Shim Yi-young, South Korean actress
• 1981 - Julio Arca, Argentinian footballer
• 1981 - Mark Cameron, Australian cricketer
• 1981 - Justin Timberlake, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
• 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 - Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player
• 1982 - Yukimi Nagano, Swedish singer-songwriter
• 1982 - Brad Thompson, American baseball player
• 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 - Walter Dix, American sprinter
• 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 - Marcus Mumford, American-English singer-songwriter
• 1988 - Brett Pitman, English footballer
• 1988 - Taijo Teniste, Estonian footballer
• 1990 - Jacopo Fortunato, Italian footballer
• 1990 - Jacob Markström, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1990 - Kota Yabu, Japanese idol, singer-songwriter, model, actor
• 1994 - Kenneth Zohore, Danish footballer

  Deaths

• 632 - Máedóc of Ferns, Irish bishop and saint
• 876 - Hemma of Altdorf, Frankish queen
• 985 - Ryōgen, Japanese monk and abbot
• 1030 - William V, duke of Aquitaine
• 1216 - Theodore II, patriarch of Constantinople
• 1398 - Sukō, emperor of Japan
• 1418 - Mircea I, prince of Wallachia
• 1435 - Xuande, emperor of China
• 1561 - Bairam Khan, Mughalan general
• 1561 - Menno Simons, Dutch minister and theologian
• 1580 - Henry, king of Portugal
• 1606 - Guy Fawkes, English conspirator, leader of the Gunpowder Plot
• 1606 - Ambrose Rookwood, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator
• 1606 - Thomas Wintour, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator
• 1615 - Claudio Acquaviva, Italian priest, 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus
• 1632 - Jost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician
• 1665 - Johannes Clauberg, German philosopher and theologian
• 1686 - Jean Mairet, French playwright
• 1720 - Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• 1729 - Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer
• 1736 - Filippo Juvarra, Italian architect and set designer, designed the Basilica of Superga
• 1790 - Thomas Lewis, Irish-born American lawyer and surveyor
• 1794 - Mariot Arbuthnot, English admiral and politician, 12th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
• 1811 - Manuel Alberti, Argentinian priest and journalist
• 1815 - José Félix Ribas, Venezuelan soldier
• 1828 - Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek general
• 1836 - John Cheyne, English physician and author
• 1844 - Henri Gatien Bertrand, French general
• 1856 - 11th Dalai Lama
• 1870 - Cilibi Moise, Moldavian-Romanian journalist and author
• 1888 - John Bosco, Italian priest and educator, founded the Salesian Society
• 1892 - Charles Spurgeon, English pastor and author
• 1900 - John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish nobleman
• 1907 - Timothy Eaton, Canadian businessman, founded Eaton's
• 1923 - Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Polish painter and critic
• 1933 - John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1942 - Henry Larkin, American baseball player and manager
• 1944 - Jean Giraudoux, French author and playwright
• 1954 - Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio
• 1954 - Vivian Woodward, English captain and footballer
• 1955 - John Mott, American activist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1956 - A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright, created Winnie-the-Pooh
• 1958 - Karl Selter, Estonian politician, 14th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1960 - Auguste Herbin, French painter
• 1961 - Krishna Singh, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar
• 1966 - Arthur Percival, English general
• 1967 - Eddie Tolan, American sprinter and educator
• 1969 - Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master
• 1971 - Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian historian and linguist
• 1973 - Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1974 - Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-American film producer, co-founded Goldwyn Pictures
• 1976 - Ernesto Miranda, American criminal
• 1976 - Evert Taube, Swedish author and composer
• 1985 - Reginald Baker, English-Australian film producer
• 1985 - Tatsuzō Ishikawa, Japanese author
• 1987 - Yves Allégret, French director and screenwriter
• 1989 - William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy
• 1990 - Eveline Du Bois-Reymond Marcus, German zoologist and academic
• 1990 - Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-American biochemist and academic
• 1995 - George Abbott, American actor, director, and producer
• 1997 - John Joseph Scanlan, Irish-American bishop
• 1999 - Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and trainer, co-founded All Japan Pro Wrestling
• 1999 - Norm Zauchin, American baseball player
• 2000 - Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator
• 2001 - Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian-American author
• 2002 - Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot
• 2004 - Eleanor Holm, American swimmer and actress
• 2004 - Suraiya, Indian actress and playback singer
• 2006 - Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and ballerina
• 2007 - Molly Ivins, American journalist and author
• 2007 - Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and politician
• 2008 - František Čapek, Czechoslovakian canoeist
• 2011 - Bartolomeu Anania, Romanian bishop and poet
• 2011 - Mark Ryan, English guitarist and playwright
• 2012 - Mani Ram Bagri, Indian lawyer and politician
• 2012 - Anthony Bevilacqua, American cardinal
• 2012 - Tristram Potter Coffin, American author, scholar, and academic
• 2012 - Dorothea Tanning, American painter and sculptor
• 2013 - Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, Mexican poet and scholar
• 2013 - Hassan Habibi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 1st Vice President of Iran
• 2014 - Francis M. Fesmire, American cardiologist and physician
• 2014 - Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records
• 2014 - Abdirizak Haji Hussein, Somalian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Somalia
• 2014 - Miklós Jancsó, Hungarian director and screenwriter
• 2014 - Joseph Willcox Jenkins, American composer, conductor, and educator
• 2014 - Christopher Jones, American actor
• 2015 - Vic Howe, Canadian ice hockey player
• 2015 - Udo Lattek, German footballer, coach, and journalist
• 2015 - Lizabeth Scott, American actress
• 2015 - Richard von Weizsäcker, German captain and politician, 6th President of Germany
• 2016 - Gil Carmichael, American businessman and politician
• 2016 - Terry Wogan, Irish-British radio and television host
• 2017 - Rob Stewart, Canadian filmmaker
• 2018 - Rasual Butler, American professional basketball player
• 2018 - Leah LaBelle, American singer

  Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
• *Domitius of Amiens
• *Francis Xavier Bianchi
• *Geminianus
• *John Bosco
• *Julius of Novara
• *Blessed Ludovica
• *Máedóc
• *Marcella
• *Samuel Shoemaker
• *Tysul
• *Ulphia
• *Wilgils
• *January 31
• Amartithi
• Independence Day, celebrates independence from Australia in 1968.
• Street Children's Day