July 31

Historic Events

2020

A De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver and Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser collide over Soldotna, Alaska, killing all seven people on board both aircraft, including state representative Gary Knopp. ›

2014

Gas explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung kill at least 20 people and injure more than 270. ›

2012

Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics. ›

2008

East Coast Jets Flight 81 crashes near Owatonna Degner Regional Airport in Owatonna, Minnesota, killing all eight people on board. ›

2007

Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end. ›

2006

Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother, Raúl. ›

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. ›

1997

FedEx Express Flight 14 crashes at Newark International Airport, injuring five. ›

1992

The nation of Georgia joins the United Nations. ›

1992

Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal, killing all 113 people on board. ›

1992

China General Aviation Flight 7552 crashes during takeoff from Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport, killing 108. ›

1992

Space Shuttle program: Atlantis is launched on STS-46 to deploy the European Retrievable Carrier and the Tethered Satellite System. ›

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. ›

1988

Thirty-two people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia. ›

1987

A tornado occurs in Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people. ›

1975

The Troubles: Three members of a popular cabaret band and two gunmen are killed during a botched paramilitary attack in Northern Ireland. ›

1973

A Delta Air Lines jetliner, flight DL 723, crashes while landing in fog at Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts, killing 89. ›

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. ›

1971

Apollo program: The Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover. ›

1970

Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy. ›

1966

The pleasure cruiser MV Darlwyne disappears off the Cornwall coast with the loss of all 31 aboard. ›

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. ›

1948

At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated. ›

1948

USS Nevada is sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships. ›

1945

Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria. ›

1941

World War II: The Battle of Smolensk concludes with Germany capturing about 300,000 Soviet Red Army prisoners. ›

1938

Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia). ›

1938

Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis. ›

1932

The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections. ›

1917

World War I: The Battle of Passchendaele begins near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium. ›

1904

Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeat units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation. ›

1874

Patrick Francis Healy becomes the first African-American inaugurated as president of a predominantly white university, Georgetown University. ›

1865

The first narrow-gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia. ›

1856

Christchurch, New Zealand, is chartered as a city. ›

1790

The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process. ›

1777

The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States." ›

1763

Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War. ›

1741

Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia. ›

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. ›

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. ›

1667

The treaty of Breda ends the second Anglo-Dutch War and grants England in possession of New Amsterdam. ›

1658

Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal emperor of India. ›

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. ›

1618

Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions. ›

1498

On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad. ›

1492

All remaining Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect. ›

1451

Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France. ›

1423

Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant: A Franco-Scottish army is defeated by the Anglo-Burgundians at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne. ›

1201

Attempted usurpation by John Komnenos the Fat for the throne of Alexios III Angelos. ›

1009

Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII. ›

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). ›

768

Antipope Constantine II is arrested by primicerius Christopher and Lombard troops sent to aid him by king Desiderius. ›

432

Election of pope Sixtus III following the death of pope Celestine I four days prior. ›

398

End of the Gildonic rebellion after Gildo's forces are defeated by forces loyal to Western Roman Emperor Honorius under Gildo's brother Mascezel and Gildo's subsequent death. ›