On this day: January 31

Events on January 31

• 314 Sylvester I (bust depicted), during whose pontificate many churches in Rome were constructed by Constantine the Great, began his reign as pope. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1578 Eighty Years' War: Spanish forces won a crushing victory at the Battle of Gembloux, threatening the States General of the Netherlands and contributing to its move from Brussels to Antwerp. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1901 Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters premieres at Moscow Art Theatre in Russia. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1919 Intense rioting over labour conditions broke out in Glasgow, Scotlan. Wikipedia
• 1919 The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, during a campaign for shorter working hours. Wikipedia
• 1928 Leon Trotsky is exiled to Alma-Ata. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to Singapore. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1945 US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War. Wikipedia
• 1946 Cold War: Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling that of the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia). Wikipedia
• 1961 Aboard NASA's Mercury-Redstone 2, the chimpanzee Ham became the first hominid to be launched into outer space. Wikipedia
• 1966 The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1978 The Crown of St. Stephen (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. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 2009 At least 113 people are killed in Kenya 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. Wikipedia
• 2013 A gas leak underneath the Pemex Executive Tower in Mexico City caused an explosion (aftermath pictured) that killed at least 37 people and injured another 121. Wikipedia
• 2020 The United Kingdom's membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state. Wikipedia
• 2022 Sue Gray, a senior civil servant in the United Kingdom, publishes an initial version of her report on the Downing Street Partygate controversy. Wikipedia
• 2025 Med Jets Flight 056 crashes near Roosevelt Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, killing 8 people and injuring 23. Wikipedia

Born on January 31

• 1543 Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shōgun (died 1616) Wikipedia
• 1797 Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer (died 1828) Wikipedia
• 1868 Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1928) Wikipedia
• 1881 Irving Langmuir, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1957) Wikipedia
• 1884 Theodor Heuss, German journalist and politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Germany (died 1963) Wikipedia
• 1902 Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1986) Wikipedia
• 1919 Jackie Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 1972) Wikipedia
• 1923 Norman Mailer, American journalist and author (died 2007) Wikipedia
• 1929 Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2011) Wikipedia
• 1929 Jean Simmons, English-American actress (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1935 Kenzaburō Ōe, Japanese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2023) Wikipedia
• 1937 Philip Glass, American composer Wikipedia
• 1937 Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1938 Beatrix of the Netherlands Wikipedia
• 1956 Guido van Rossum, Dutch programmer, creator of the Python programming language Wikipedia
• 1956 John Lydon, English singer-songwriter Wikipedia
• 1973 Portia de Rossi, Australian-American actress Wikipedia
• 1975 Preity Zinta, Indian actress, producer, and television host Wikipedia
• 1977 Kerry Washington, American actress Wikipedia
• 1981 Justin Timberlake, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor Wikipedia
• 1983 Fabio Quagliarella, Italian footballer Wikipedia
• 2000 Julián Alvarez, Argentine footballer Wikipedia

Died on January 31

• 1606 Guy Fawkes, English conspirator, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (born 1570) Wikipedia
• 1606 Ambrose Rookwood, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (born 1578) Wikipedia
• 1606 Thomas Wintour, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (born 1571) Wikipedia
• 1888 John Bosco, Italian priest and educator, founded the Salesian Society (born 1815) Wikipedia
• 1892 Charles Spurgeon, English pastor and author (born 1834) Wikipedia
• 1933 John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1867) Wikipedia
• 1944 Jean Giraudoux, French author and playwright (born 1882) Wikipedia
• 1954 Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (born 1890) Wikipedia
• 1955 John Mott, American activist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1865) Wikipedia
• 1956 A. A. Milne, English author, poet and playwright, created Winnie-the-Pooh (born 1882) Wikipedia
• 1969 Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (born 1894) Wikipedia
• 1973 Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1895) Wikipedia
• 1974 Samuel Goldwyn, Polish American film producer, co-founded Goldwyn Pictures (born 1882) Wikipedia
• 2015 Richard von Weizsäcker, German captain and politician, 6th President of Germany (born 1920) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Domitius (Domice) of Amiens Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Francis Xavier Bianchi Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Geminianus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John Bosco Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Julius of Novara Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Ludovica Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Máedóc (Mogue, Aiden) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Marcella of Marseille Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Marcella of Rome Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Samuel Shoemaker (Episcopal Church (USA)) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Tysul Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Ulphia Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Wilgils Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: January 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Amartithi (Meherabad, India, followers of Meher Baba) Wikipedia
• Independence Day (Nauru), celebrates independence from Australia in 1968. Wikipedia
• Street Children's Day (Austria) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “January 31” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.