On this day: July 31

Events on July 31

• 781 The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: Sixth day of the seventh month of the first year of the Ten'o (天応) era). Wikipedia
• 1498 On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad. Wikipedia
• 1618 Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions. Wikipedia
• 1655 Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years. Wikipedia
• 1703 Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers. Wikipedia
• 1715 Seven 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. Wikipedia
• 1856 Christchurch, New Zealand, is chartered as a city. Wikipedia
• 1917 First World War: The Battle of Passchendaele began near Ypres, Belgium, with the Allies aiming to force German troops to withdraw from the Channel Ports. Wikipedia
• 1917 World War I: The Battle of Passchendaele begins near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium. Wikipedia
• 1938 Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia). Wikipedia
• 1938 Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis. Wikipedia
• 1941 The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring authorised SS officer Reinhard Heydrich to handle preparations for the "Final Solution of the Jewish question". Wikipedia
• 1941 The 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." Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: The Battle of Smolensk concludes with Germany capturing about 300,000 Soviet Red Army prisoners. Wikipedia
• 1964 Ranger 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. Wikipedia
• 1972 The 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. Wikipedia
• 1975 The Troubles: Three members of a popular cabaret band and two gunmen are killed during a botched paramilitary attack in Northern Ireland. Wikipedia
• 1987 A tornado occurs in Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people. Wikipedia
• 1991 The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries' stockpiles. Wikipedia
• 1992 The nation of Georgia joins the United Nations. Wikipedia
• 1992 Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal, killing all 113 people on board. Wikipedia
• 1999 Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector: NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the Moon's surface. Wikipedia
• 2002 Hamas attackers detonated a bomb at the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, killing nine students and injuring about 100 more. Wikipedia
• 2006 Following intestinal surgery, Fidel Castro provisionally transferred the duties of the Cuban presidency to his brother Raúl. Wikipedia
• 2006 Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother, Raúl. Wikipedia
• 2007 Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end. Wikipedia

Born on July 31

• 1396 Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (died 1467) Wikipedia
• 1527 Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1576) Wikipedia
• 1800 Friedrich Wöhler, German chemist and academic (died 1882) Wikipedia
• 1835 Henri Brisson, French lawyer and politician, 50th Prime Minister of France (died 1912) Wikipedia
• 1854 José Canalejas, Spanish academic and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (died 1912) Wikipedia
• 1880 Premchand, Indian author and playwright (died 1936) Wikipedia
• 1901 Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (died 1985) Wikipedia
• 1912 Milton Friedman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2006) Wikipedia
• 1914 Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter (died 1983) Wikipedia
• 1918 Paul D. Boyer, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2018) Wikipedia
• 1919 Primo Levi, Italian chemist and author (died 1987) Wikipedia
• 1921 Peter Benenson, English lawyer and activist, founded Amnesty International (died 2005) Wikipedia
• 1929 Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist and writer (died 2006) Wikipedia
• 1944 Robert C. Merton, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1944 Geraldine Chaplin, American actress and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1947 Richard Griffiths, English actor (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1952 Alan Autry, American football player, actor, and politician, 23rd Mayor of Fresno, California Wikipedia
• 1962 Wesley Snipes, American actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1965 J. K. Rowling, English author and film producer Wikipedia
• 1969 Antonio Conte, Italian footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1979 Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer Wikipedia
• 1989 Victoria Azarenka, Belarusian tennis player Wikipedia

Died on July 31

• 54 BC Aurelia Cotta, Roman mother of Gaius Julius Caesar (born 120 BC) Wikipedia
• 1556 Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish priest and theologian, founded the Society of Jesus (born 1491) Wikipedia
• 1784 Denis Diderot, French philosopher and critic (born 1713) Wikipedia
• 1875 Andrew Johnson, American general and politician, 17th President of the United States (born 1808) Wikipedia
• 1886 Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1811) Wikipedia
• 1914 Jean Jaurès, French journalist and politician (born 1859) Wikipedia
• 1944 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and poet (born 1900) Wikipedia
• 1993 Baudouin, King of Belgium (born 1930) Wikipedia
• 2012 Gore Vidal, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic (born 1925) Wikipedia
• 2017 Jeanne Moreau, French actress (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2019 Harold Prince, Broadway producer and director, who received more Tony awards than anyone else in history (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2022 Bill Russell, NBA Hall of Fame player and coach (born 1934) Wikipedia
• 2022 Fidel V. Ramos, 12th President of the Philippines (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2024 Ismail Haniyeh, Palestinian politician, political leader of Hamas (born 1962/1963) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Abanoub Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Cecília Schelingová Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Solanus Casey Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Fabius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Germanus of Auxerre Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Giustino de Jacobis Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Helena of Skövde Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Ignatius of Loyola Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Neot Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: July 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• 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) Wikipedia
• End of the Trinity term (sitting of the High Court of Justice of England) Wikipedia
• Lā Hae Hawaiʻi Day (Hawaii, United States), and its related observance: Sovereignty Restoration Day (Hawaiian sovereignty movement) Wikipedia
• Martyrdom Day of Shahid Udham Singh (Haryana and Punjab, India) Wikipedia
• Treasury Day (Poland) Wikipedia
• Warriors' Day (Malaysia) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “July 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.