Today in History for February 1931

Months in 1931: January March April May June July August September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 23 of 23

2nd - 1st siyyum of Talmud celebrated by Daf Yomi students
2nd - 1st use of a rocket to deliver mail (Austria)
3rd - Arkansas legislature passes motion to pray for soul of H L Mencken after he calls state "apex of moronia"
3rd - The Hawke's Bay earthquake, New Zealand's worst natural disaster, kills 258
4th - National League adopts a deader baseball
5th - Maxine Dunlap becomes 1st US women to earn a glider pilot license
7th - US opera, "Peter Ibbetson," by Deems Taylor premieres at Met Opera NYC
8th - Gas explosion Fire in Fushun-coal mine, Manchuria kills 3,000
10th - New Delhi becomes capital of India
10th - Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Harts premieres in NYC
12th - Vatican Radio begins broadcasting with the callsign HVJ
14th - Bradman scores 152 Aust v WI, 154 minutes, 13 fours 2 fives
14th - Spanish government of General Damasco Berenguer falls
15th - 1st Dracula movie released
15th - Spring training site of NY Yankees in St Petersburg is renamed Miller Huggins Field in honor of the team's late manager
16th - Extreme right wing Svinhufvud becomes president of Finland
17th - 1st telecast of a sporting event in Japan (baseball)
17th - Hockey's Hershey Bears (now with AHL) 1st game
20th - Congress allows California to build Oakland-Bay Bridge
21st - Alka Seltzer introduced
21st - Chicago White Sox & NY Giants play 1st exhibition night game
28th - Canadian Rugby Union adopts the forward pass
28th - Oswald Mosley founds his New Party

Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 61 of 61

1st - Barrel, [ABM] Frinking, teacher/Dutch MP (CVP)
1st - Boris Yeltsin, Ural Mts USSR, president of Russian SSR
1st - Madeline Berthod, Switzerland, downhill skier (Olympic-gold-1956)
1st - Mark Richmond, CEO (Science & Engineering Research Council)
1st - Ton [ABM] Frinking, Dutch MP (CDA)
2nd - Andreas "Andries" van Agt, Dutch premier (CDA, 1977-82)
2nd - Dries van Agt, Dutch politician
2nd - Les Dawson, British comedian (d. 1993)
2nd - Judith Viorst, American author
4th - Argentina Rioja
4th - Isabel Peron, [Maria Martinez], dancer/president Argentina
6th - Fred Trueman, [Fiery Fred], English cricket player
6th - Freddie Trueman, cricketer ("Fiery Fred", 307 wickets for England)
6th - Rip Torn, Tx, actor (Coma, Summer Rental, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
6th - Mamie Van Doren, American actress
8th - James Dean, Marion IN, stage/film actor (Giant, Rebel Without a Cause)
9th - Robert Morris, sculptor
9th - Xavier Benguerel, composer
9th - Josef Masopust, Czech footballer
Actor James Dean (8th) 10th - Gerhard Rosenfeld, composer
10th - Makoto Shinohara, composer
10th - Thomas Bernhard, writer
10th - Doug Young, American voice actor
11th - Larry Merchant, author/boxing commentator (Showtime)
12th - Constance A Morella, (Rep-R-Maryland)
12th - Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch author
14th - Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, NHL right wing (Canadiens, Rangers)
14th - Lord Rossmore
14th - Phyllis McGuire, Middletown Oh, vocalist (McGuire Sisters)
14th - Vic Morrow, Bronx NY, actor (Combat, Roots, Twilight Zone the Movie)
14th - Brian Kelly, American actor (d. 2005)
15th - W K Reid, British ombudsman
15th - [Patricia] Claire Bloom, London, actress (Charly, Look Back in Anger)
15th - Geoff Edwards, American television game show host
16th - A Kolleritsch, writer
16th - Gamini Goonesena, cricket leg-spinner (all-rounder for Ceylon, Notts)
16th - George E Sangmeister, (Rep-D-Illinois)
16th - Ken Takakura, [Goichi Oda], Kita Japan, actor (Story of Antarctic)
18th - Dieter Schonbach, composer
18th - Johnny Hart, cartoonist
18th - Maxwell Thurman, US General
18th - Swraj Paul, Indian/British industrial/multi-millionaire (Caparo)
18th - Toni Morrison, Ohio, novelist (Tar Baby, Beloved, Song of Solomon)
18th - Bob St. Clair, American football player
23rd - Tom Wesselmann, American collage artist and sculptor (Great American Nudes) (d. 2004)
24th - Brian Close, cricketer (played for England between 1949 & 1976)
24th - Inge Bernstein, British judge
24th - Lev Vasilyevich Vorobyov, Russia, cosmonaut
24th - Maezumi Hakuyu Taizan Koun, teacher Rinzai/Soto lines of Zen Buddhism
24th - Marta Marzotto, Italy, countess
24th - Dominic Chianese, American actor
25th - Edward Kellett-Bowman, British MEP
25th - J R Stephenson, Lt-col/secretary (MCC)
26th - Francisco Kroepfl, composer
26th - Robert D Novak, Joliet Ill, news reporter (CNN-Evans & Novak)
26th - Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
27th - Andrew Sloan, Chief Constable (Strathcourt)
28th - Gavin MacLeod, Mt Kisco NY, actor (Murray-Mary Tyler Moore, Love Boat)
28th - Gustav Thoni, Italy, skiier (World Cup-1971, 72, 73, 75)
28th - Jack Thieuloy, writer
28th - Iajuddin Ahmed, Bikrampur, British Raj, President (Bangladesh, 2002-2009), (d. 2012)

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 10 of 10

2nd - Theodor Batthynyi, Hungarian contra-revolutionary, dies at 71
3rd - Hans Schardt, Swiss geologist, dies at 72
7th - Ion Vidu, composer, dies at 67
11th - Charles Algernon Parsons, British inventor (steam turbine), dies at 76
11th - Charles Parsons, inventor of the steam turbine, dies
12th - Samedbey Mehmandarov, Russian general (b. 1855)
18th - Milan Šufflay, Croatian politician (b. 1879)
23rd - Nellie Melba, [Helen Mitchell], Australian soprano, dies
26th - Otto Wallach, German chemist (Nobel 1910), dies at 83
28th - Ban Johnson, created (baseball's AL), dies after a long illness