On this day | January 31st

On this day: January 31st

Credit/Source: Wikipedia

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.

1266 The Mudéjar of Murcia, who had rebelled against the Crown of Castile during the Mudéjar revolt of 1264–1266, surrender the city to James I of Aragon after a Conquest of Murcia (1265–1266).

1504 The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War of 1499–1504, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples.

1578 Eighty Years' War and Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604): The Battle of Gembloux (1578) is a victory for Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria over a rebel army of Dutch people, Flemish people, English people, Scottish people, German language, French people and Walloons.

1606 Gunpowder Plot: Four of the conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by Hanged, drawn and quartered, for plotting against Parliament of England and James VI and I.

1609 Bank of Amsterdam established

1703 & # x2013; Forty-seven rōnin, under the command of Ōishi Yoshio, avenged the death of their master, by killing Kira Yoshinaka.

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 (present-day Argentina).

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 States of America General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief of all Confederate armies.

1891 History of Portugal (1834–1910): The first attempt at a Portuguese republicanism revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto.

1900 Datu Muhammad Salleh is killed in Kampung Teboh, Tambunan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion.

1901 Anton Chekhov's ''Three Sisters (play)'' premieres at Moscow Art Theatre in Russia.

1915 World War I: German Empire is the first to make large-scale use of Chemical weapons in World War I in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russian Empire.

1917 World War I: Kaiser Wilhelm II orders the U-boat Campaign # 1917: Resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare.

1918 A Battle of May Island 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.

1918 Finnish Civil War: The List of massacres in the Finnish Civil War, which changes the nature of the war in a more hostile direction, takes place in Kangasala.

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.

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 Battle of Stalingrad, followed two 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 Battle of Anzio, 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 Capital punishment for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the American 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, Kaliningrad Oblast, 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 Rakhine State Peninsula.

1946 Cold War: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's new 1946 Yugoslav Constitution, modeling that of the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Socialist Republic of Croatia, Socialist Republic of Macedonia, Socialist Republic of Montenegro, Socialist Republic of Serbia and Socialist Republic of Slovenia).

1946 The North Vietnam introduces the North Vietnamese 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, United States.

1951 United Nations Security Council Resolution 90 relating to the Korean War is adopted.

1953 A North Sea flood of 1953 causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom.

1957 Eight people (five total crew from two aircraft and three on the ground) in Pacoima, Los Angeles are killed following the Pacoima aircraft accident between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet.

1958 Cold War: Space Race: The Explorer 1 detects the Van Allen radiation belt.

1961 Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2: The chimpanzee Ham (chimpanzee) travels into space science.

1966 The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna programme.

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.

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 formation on the Moon.

1971 The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize alleged war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begins in Detroit.

1978 The Holy Crown of Hungary (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) goes on public display after being returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.

1988 Doug Williams (quarterback) becomes the first African American quarterback to play in a Super Bowl and leads the Washington Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII.

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.

2001 Two Japan Airlines planes 2001 Japan Airlines mid-air incident over Suruga Bay in Japan.

2003 The Waterfall rail accident occurs near Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia.

2007 Emergency officials in Boston mistakenly identified battery-powered LED placards depicting characters from ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' as Improvised explosive devices (IEDs), causing 2007 Boston Mooninite panic.

2009 At least 113 people are killed in Kenya and over 200 injured following an Molo fire in Molo, Kenya, days after 2009 Nakumatt supermarket fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.

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 Withdrawal from the European Union # Procedure, after 47 years of being a member state.

2022 Sue Gray (civil servant), a senior Civil Service (United Kingdom) in the United Kingdom, publishes an initial version of her report on the Downing Street Partygate.

2023 The last Boeing 747, the first wide-body airliner, is delivered.

1512 Henry, King of Portugal (d. 1580)

1543 Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1616)

1583 Peter Bulkley, English and later American Puritan (d. 1659)

1597 John Francis Regis, French priest and saint (d. 1640)

1607 James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (d. 1651)

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)

1769 André-Jacques Garnerin, French balloonist and the inventor of the frameless parachute (d. 1823)

1785 Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová, Czech cookbook author (d. 1845)

1797 Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1828)

1799 Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist (d. 1846)

1820 William B. Washburn, American politician, 28th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1887)

1835 Lunalilo of Hawaii (d. 1874)

1854 David Emmanuel (mathematician), Romanian mathematician and academic (d. 1941)

1865 Henri Desgrange, French cyclist and journalist (d. 1940)

1865 Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader, founded Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (d. 1951)

1868 Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate (d. 1928)

1872 Zane Grey, American author (d. 1939)

1881 Irving Langmuir, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 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 List of heads of government of Azerbaijan (d. 1955)

1889 Frank Foster (cricketer), 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)

1900 Betty Parsons, American artist, art dealer and collector (d. 1982)

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 Peace Prize laureate (d. 1986)

1902 Julian Steward, American anthropologist (d. 1972)

1905 John O'Hara, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1970)

1909 Miron Grindea, Romanian-English journalist (d. 1995)

1913 Don Hutson, American football player and coach (d. 1997)

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)

1916 Frank Parker (tennis), American tennis player (d. 1997)

1917 Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (d. 2013)

1919 Jackie Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1972)

1920 Stewart Udall, American lawyer and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 2010)

1920 Bert Williams (footballer, born 1920), English footballer (d. 2014)

1921 John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)

1921 Carol Channing, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2019)

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)

1926 Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (d. 1958)

1927 Norm Prescott, American animator, producer, and composer, co-founded Filmation (d. 2005)

1928 Irma Wyman, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2015)

1929 Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (d. 2011)

1929 Jean Simmons, English-American actress (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 sea captain (d. 2013)

1933 Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1997)

1933 Morton Mower, American cardiologist and inventor (d. 2022)

1934 Ernesto Brambilla, Italian motorcycle racer and race car driver (d. 2020)

1934 Gene DeWeese, American author (d. 2012)

1934 James Franciscus, American actor and producer (d. 1991)

1934 Bob Turner (ice hockey), Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)

1935 Kenzaburō Ōe, Japanese author and academic, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (d. 2023)

1936 Can Bartu, Turkish footballer and basketball player (d. 2019)

1937 Regimantas Adomaitis, Lithuanian actor (d. 2022)

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 (d. 2023)

1939 Jerry Brudos, American serial killer (d. 2006)

1940 Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (d. 1998)

1940 Stuart Margolin, American actor and director (d. 2022)

1941 Len Chappell, American basketball player (d. 2018)

1941 Dick Gephardt, American lawyer and politician

1941 Gerald McDermott, American author and illustrator (d. 2012)

1941 Jessica Walter, American actress (d. 2021)

1942 Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress

1942 Derek Jarman, English director, stage designer, and author (d. 1994)

1944 John Inverarity, Australian cricketer and coach

1944 Charlie Musselwhite, American musician and singer-songwriter

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 Mike Carlton, Australian journalist and radio host

1946 Terry Kath, American guitarist and singer-songwriter (d. 1978)

1946 Medin Zhega, Albanian footballer and manager (d. 2012)

1947 Jonathan Banks, American actor

1947 Matt Minglewood, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

1947 Nolan Ryan, American baseball player

1947 Glynn Turman, American actor

1948 Volkmar Groß, German footballer (d. 2014)

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 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 John Lydon, English singer-songwriter

1956 Guido van Rossum, Dutch programmer, creator of the Python (programming language) programming language

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 (d. 2014)

1961 Elizabeth Barker, Baroness Barker, English politician

1961 Fatou Bensouda, Gambian lawyer and judge

1961 Lloyd Cole, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

1962 Bruce McGuire, Australian rugby league player

1963 Gwen Graham, American lawyer and politician

1964 Martha MacCallum, American journalist

1964 Dawn Prince-Hughes, American scientist

1965 Giorgos Gasparis (basketball), Greek basketball player and coach

1965 Ofra Harnoy, Israeli-Canadian cellist

1965 Peter Sagal, American author and radio host

1966 Dexter Fletcher, English actor and director

1966 Thant Myint-U, Myanmar historian, diplomat, conservationist, and former presidential advisor.

1967 Fat Mike, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer

1968 John Collins (footballer, born 1968), Scottish footballer and manager

1968 Matt King (comedian), English actor, producer, and screenwriter

1968 Ulrica Messing, Swedish politician, 2nd Minister for Infrastructure (Sweden)

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 Preity Zinta, Indian actress, producer, and television host

1976 Traianos Dellas, Greek footballer and manager

1976 Buddy Rice, American race car driver

1977 Bobby Moynihan, American actor and comedian

1977 Kerry Washington, American actress

1978 Fabián Caballero, Argentine footballer and manager

1979 Daniel Tammet, English author and educator

1980 James Adomian, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter

1980 Gary Doherty, Irish footballer

1980 Shim Yi-young, South Korean actress

1981 Julio Arca, Argentine footballer

1981 Mark Cameron (cricketer), Australian cricketer

1981 Gemma Collins, English media personality and businesswoman

1981 Justin Timberlake, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor

1982 Maret Ani, Estonian tennis player

1982 Allan McGregor, Scottish footballer

1982 Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player

1983 Fabio Quagliarella, Italian footballer

1984 Vernon Davis, American football player

1984 Mikhail Grabovski, German-Belarusian ice hockey player

1984 Josh Johnson (pitcher), 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

1989 Tommy La Stella, American baseball player

1990 Cro (musician), German rapper

1990 Jacopo Fortunato, Italian footballer

1990 Nicolás Laprovíttola, Argentine basketball player

1990 Jacob Markström, Swedish ice hockey player

1990 Kota Yabu, Japanese singer-songwriter, model, and actor

1992 Tyler Seguin, Canadian ice hockey player

1993 Qiu Bo, Chinese diver

1994 Kenneth Zohore, Danish footballer

1996 Joel Courtney, American actor

1996 Nikita Dragun, American Youtuber

1997 Arnaut Danjuma, Dutch footballer

1997 Donte DiVincenzo, American basketball player

1998 Jalen McDaniels, American basketball player

2000 Julián Álvarez, Argentine footballer

2006 Sára Bejlek, Czech tennis player

632 Máedóc of Ferns, Irish bishop and saint (b. 550)

876 Hemma, Frankish queen

985 Ryōgen, Japanese monk and abbot (b. 912)

1030 William V, Duke of Aquitaine, duke of Aquitaine (b. 969)

1216 Theodore II of Constantinople, patriarch of Constantinople

1398 Emperor Sukō, emperor of Japan (b. 1334)

1418 Mircea I of Wallachia, prince of Wallachia (b. 1355)

1435 Xuande Emperor, 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, king of Portugal (b. 1512)

1606 Guy Fawkes, English conspirator, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (b. 1570)

1606 Ambrose Rookwood, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1578)

1606 Thomas Wintour, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (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)

1790 Thomas Lewis (Virginia politician), Irish-born American lawyer and surveyor (b. 1718)

1794 Mariot Arbuthnot, English admiral and politician, 12th List of lieutenant governors 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 (physician), 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)

1900 John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish nobleman (b. 1844)

1911 Paul Singer (politician), German politician (b. 1844)

1923 Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Polish painter and critic (b. 1869)

1933 John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (b. 1867)

1944 Jean Giraudoux, French author and playwright (b. 1882)

1954 Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented Frequency modulation (b. 1890)

1955 John Mott, American activist, Nobel Peace 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 Minister of Foreign Affairs (Estonia) (b. 1898)

1960 Auguste Herbin, French painter (b. 1882)

1961 Krishna Singh (politician), 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 spiritual master (b. 1894)

1971 Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian historian and linguist (b. 1891)

1973 Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences laureate (b. 1895)

1974 Samuel Goldwyn, Polish American film producer, co-founded Goldwyn Pictures (b. 1882)

1976 Ernesto Miranda, American criminal (b. 1941)

1976 Evert Taube, Swedish author and composer (b. 1890)

1985 Reginald Baker (film producer), 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)

1997 John Joseph Scanlan, Irish American bishop (b. 1930)

1999 Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and trainer, co-founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (b. 1938)

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)

2004 Suraiya, Indian actress and playback singer (b. 1929)

2006 Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and ballerina (b. 1926)

2007 Molly Ivins, American journalist and author (b. 1944)

2007 Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and politician (b. 1929)

2008 František Čapek, Czechoslovakian canoeist (b. 1914)

2011 Bartolomeu Anania, Romanian bishop and poet (b. 1921)

2012 Mani Ram Bagri, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1920)

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)

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)

2015 Vic Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)

2015 Udo Lattek, German footballer, coach, and journalist (b. 1935)

2015 Lizabeth Scott, American actress (b. 1922)

2015 Richard von Weizsäcker, German captain and politician, 6th List of German presidents (b. 1920)

2016 Terry Wogan, Irish radio and television host (b. 1938)

2017 Rob Stewart (filmmaker), Canadian filmmaker (b. 1979)

2018 Rasual Butler, American professional basketball player (b. 1979)

2018 Leah LaBelle, American singer (b. 1986)

Christian feast day:

- Saint Domitius

- Francis Xavier Bianchi

- Geminianus

- John Bosco

- Julius of Novara

- Ludovica Albertoni

- Máedóc of Ferns

- Marcella of Marseille

- Marcella of Rome

- Sam Shoemaker (Episcopal Church (USA))

- Saint Tysul

- Ulphia

- Wilgils

- January 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Amartithi (Meherabad, India, followers of Meher Baba)

Independence Day (Nauru), celebrates independence from Australia in 1968.

Jugend Eine Welt (Austria)

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/31 BBC: On This Day]

[https://www.onthisday.com/events/january/31 Historical Events on January 31]