This Day in History for 31st July

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All Events Birthdays
Weddings Deaths

Historical Events

Events 1 - 100 of 191

30 BC - Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
432 - St Sixtus III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
768 - [Philip] begins & ends his reign as Catholic Pope
781 - The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781).
1291 - Egyptian Mamelukken occupies Akko, crusaders driven out of Palestine
1423 - Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant - the French army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
1451 - Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France.
1498 - Christopher Columbus discovers island of Trinidad
1588 - English fleet beats Spanish Armada
1620 - Pilgrim Fathers depart (through England) to America
1653 - Fronde-leaders surrender in Bordeaux
1655 - Russo-Polish War (1654-1667): the Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.
1658 - Aurangzeb appoints himself Mongol emperor
1664 - Pierre Corneille's "Othon," premieres in Paris
1667 - Peace of Breda: 2nd English war-Suriname vs New-Netherlands ends
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.
1718 - Battle at Cape Passaro: English fleet destroys Spanish
1737 - Prince Frederick of Wales escapes English court
1741 - Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
Novelist Daniel Defoe 1751 - Fire in Stockholm destroys 1,000 houses
1771 - Paul Potters "Great ossendrift" sold for Ÿ9050 in Amsterdam
1777 - Marquis de Lafayette, 19, made major-general of Continental Army
1790 - 1st US patent granted, to Samuel Hopkins for a potash process
1792 - Cornerstone laid for 1st US government building: US Mint in Phila
1794 - All Jacobijnse clubs together in Haarlem
1809 - 1st practical US railroad track (wooden, for horse-drawn cars), Phila
1813 - British invade Plattsburgh NY
1849 - Benjamin Chambers patents breech loading cannon
1852 - Hottest July in Netherlands since at least 1783 (68.4°F (20.2°C) avg)
1855 - Hottest July in Stockholm since at least 1756 (21.4°C avg)
1856 - Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city.
1861 - 9,300 mm rainfall in July in Cherrapunji, Assam: world record
1864 - Ulysses S. Grant is named General of Volunteers
1865 - The first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Australia.
US President Ulysses S. Grant 1874 - Patrick Francis Healy, SJ, inaugurated as pres of Georgetown U
1876 - US Coast Guard officers' training school established (New Bedford MA)
1893 - Henry Perky patents shredded wheat
1899 - Albert Trott hits Monty Noble over the Pavilion at Lord's
1900 - Boer Generals Prinsloo & Roux surrenders in Brandwater Basin
1901 - Abraham Kuyper becomes premier of Netherlands
1905 - Matumbi rebellion at Samanga German East Africa
1909 - Bill Burns has no-hitter broken up with 2 outs in 9th
1910 - Chic Cub King Cole no-hits St Louis, 4-0 in a 7 inning game
1910 - Clement van Maasdijk gives flying demonstration
1911 - Hungarian education is only taught in German
1912 - RBC soccer team forms in Roosendaal
1912 - US government prohibits movies & photos of prize fights (censorship)
1914 - German Emperor Wilhelm II threatens war, orders Russia to demobilize
1914 - Oil discovered in Lake of Maracaibo
1917 - 3rd battle of Ypres begins
1919 - Germany accepts Weimar Constitution
1922 - 18-year-old Ralph Samuelson rides world's 1st water skis (Minn)
1922 - Italy's general strike against fascist violence
1923 - Belgian Chamber discusses bilinguality at Ghent University
1925 - Last allied occupying troops leave Ruhrgebied
1925 - Unemployment Insurance Act passed in England
1928 - 1st woman to win a track and field olympic gold medal, Halina Konopacka of Poland
1929 - Aristide Briand becomes premier of France
1930 - Lou Gehrig grand slams as Yanks beat Red Sox 14-13
1932 - 27th Davis Cup: France beats USA in Paris (3-2)
1932 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium opens-Phila A's beat Indians 1-0
1932 - George Washington quarter goes into circulation
1932 - German Election (NSDAP gets 37.3%)
1934 - 29th Davis Cup: Great Britain beats USA in Wimbledon (4-1)
1934 - St Louis Cards defeat Cin Reds 8-6 in 18 innings, pitchers Dizzy Dean & Tony Freitos go the distant
1935 - 3rd Dutch government of Colijn sworn in
1936 - Tokyo Japan is awarded the 1940 Olympics (later cancelled)
1937 - Politburo enables Operative Order 00447: execute 193,000 Russians
1938 - NY Yanks suspend Jake Powell, after he said on Chicago radio he'd "hit every colored person in Chicago over head with a club"
1938 - Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius in Persepolis.
1940 - 38 U boats sinks this month (196,000 ton)
1940 - Riech's commissar Seyss-Inquart bans homosexuals
1941 - U boats sink 21 allied ships this month: 94,000 ton
1942 - German SS gases 1,000 Jews in Minsk, Belorussia
1942 - U boats sank 96 allied ships this month: 476,000 ton
1943 - Transport nr 58 departs with French Jews to nazi Germany
1944 - Last deportation train out Mechelen departs to Auschwitz
1944 - Transport nr 77 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany
1944 - US troops occupy Sansapor New-Guinea
1945 - Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.
1948 - "Brigadoon" closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 581 performances
1948 - Pres Harry Truman dedicates Idlewild Field (Kennedy Airport), NY
1949 - Lightning strikes a baseball field in Fla, kills SS & 3rd baseman
1951 - Japan Airlines is established.
1953 - Dept of Health, Education & Welfare created
1954 - Mil Braves' Joe Adcock sets record of 18 total bases (4 hrs, 1 double)
1954 - First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio.
1955 - Beverly Hanson wins LPGA Battle Creek Golf Open
1955 - KRNT (now KCCI) TV channel 8 in Des Moines, IA (CBS) 1st broadcast
1955 - WHIS (now WVVA) TV channel 6 in Bluefield, WV (NBC) 1st broadcast
1956 - Laker takes 10-53 in Australia's 2nd innings, 19-90 for match
1958 - Anti-Chinese uprising in Tibet
1959 - 1st exhibit of bongos at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo opens
1960 - Elijah Muhammad, leader of Nation of Islam, calls for a black state
1960 - KSOO (now KSFY) TV channel 13 in Sioux Falls, SD (NBC) 1st broadcast
1960 - Patty Berg wins LPGA American Women's Golf Open
1961 - 31st All Star Baseball Game: 1-1 tie ends by rain at Fenway, Boston
1961 - Israel welcomes its 1,000,000th immigrant
1962 - Federation of Malaysia forms
1962 - Statham is Test crickets' leading wkt-taker (229), beating Lindwall

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Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 231

1143 - Emperor Nijo of Japan (d. 1165)
1396 - Philips, the Good, Duke of Burgundy//Brabant/Limburg/count
1443 - Albrecht III of Saxon-Meisen, duke of Saxon
1527 - Maximilian II, German King/Emperor (1564-76)
1550 - Jakob Handl, [Petelin], Austrian composer/bandmaster
1578 - Catharina Belgica of Nassau, daughter of Willem of Orange
1597 - Sebastian Stosskopf, Elzassisch painter, baptized
1598 - Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor and architect (d. 1654)
1629 - Johann Jakob Lowe von Eisenach, composer
1654 - Jacob Hop, Dutch politician/diplomat
1702 - Jean Denis Attiret, French Jesuit missionary and painter (d. 1768)
1704 - Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (paradox of Cramer)
1718 - John Canton, English physicist (d. 1772)
1724 - Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer (d. 1801)
1737 - Princess Augusta Charlotte of Wales (d. 1813)
1743 - August R van Hekeren van Suideras, Dutch orangist
1748 - Isaac Ouwater, Amsterdam painter/cartoonist
1767 - Amelie Julia Candielle, composer
1803 - John Ericsson, US, inventor (screw propeller)/shipbuilder-USS Monitor
1808 - Frederick Nichols Crouch, composer
1816 - George Henry Thomas, Major General (Union Army), died in 1870
1817 - Philip Cook Jr, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1894
1818 - Heinrich Kiepert, German cartographer/geographer
1825 - Thomas Hart Taylor, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1901
1825 - William S. Clark, American senator and scholar (d. 1886)
1828 - Francois Auguste Gevaert, Belgian composer (Le diable au moulin)
1830 - Frantisek Zdenek Xavier Alois Skuhersky, composer
1834 - Peter H Hugenholtz, Dutch reformer/founder (Free Parish)
1835 - Henri Brisson, French statesman (d. 1912)
1835 - Paul du Chaillu, French explorer (d. 1903)
1837 - William Clarke Quantrill, Col (Confederate Army), died in 1865
1841 - George Melville, polar explorer, naval engineer
1843 - Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet (d. 1918)
1844 - Ignazio Guidi, Italian orientalist/archaeologist
1847 - Ignatio Cervantes, composer
1848 - Jean Robert Planquette, France, composer (Bells of Corneville)
1854 - Jose Canalejas contributes Mendez, premier of Spain (1910-12)
1858 - Richard Dixon Oldham, British geologist (d. 1936)
1860 - Mary Vaux Walcott, American artist and naturalist (d. 1940)
1867 - Sebastian S. Kresge, American merchant and philanthropist (d. 1966)
1875 - Harry Northrup, Paris France, actor (Who's That Knocking at My Door)
1880 - Munshi Premchand, Indian Author (d. 1936)
1882 - Grete Gulbransson, writer
1883 - Fred Quimby, American film producer (d. 1965)
1884 - Karl F Goerdeler, mayor (Leipzig), "July 20th Plot",,18860731::"Constant Permeke, Flemish painter/statues artist (Sow)
1886 - Salvatore Maranzano, Sicilian-born American organized crime figure (d. 1931)
1887 - Hans Freyer, German sociologist (d. 1969)
1889 - Donald Foster, PA, actor (Scaramouche)
1892 - Joseph Charbonneau, French-Canadian Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1959)
1893 - Charles Wilfred Orr, composer
1894 - Roy Bargy, Mich, orchestra leader (Jimmy Durante Show)
1894 - Fred Keenor, Welsh footballer (d.1972)
1900 - Elmo Roper, pollster (Roper Poll)
1900 - Erich Katz, composer
1901 - Jean Debuffet, French painter/sculptor (Landscape with 2 Personages)
1902 - G O "Gubby" Allen, cricketer (in Sydney England non-bodyline quickie)
1904 - Arthur Daley, sportswriter (NY Times-Pulitzer 1956)
1904 - Brett Halliday, American writer (d. 1977)
1905 - Trenchard Cox, museum director
1911 - George Liberace, Menasha Wisc, violinist (Liberace Show)
1912 - Bill Brown, cricketer (Australian opener of the 30's & 40's)
1912 - Irv Kupcinet, Chicago Ill, TV host (Tonight! America After Dark)
Economist Milton Friedman (1912) 1912 - Milton Friedman, Brooklyn New York, economist (Nobel 1976), (d. 2006)
1913 - Bryan Hextall, NHL hall of famer (NY Rangers)
1914 - Jose Ignacio Domecq, wine maker
1914 - Louis De Funes, Courbevoie France, actor (I Tartassati, Fantomas)
1914 - Raymond Aubrac, Paris, French resistance leader, (d. 2012)
1915 - Robert Steel, academic
1916 - Sydney Tafler, London England, actor (Too Many Crooks)
1916 - Verdun Scott, NZ cricketer/rugby player
1916 - Sibte Hassan, Pakistani activist
1918 - Paul D. Boyer, American chemist, Nobel Prize Laureate
1918 - Hank Jones, American pianist
1919 - Curt Gowdy, Green River Wyo, sportscaster (ABC)
1919 - Hemu Ramchandra Adhikari, cricketer (Indian righty batsman 1947-59)
1919 - Norman Del Mar, composer
1919 - Primo Levi, Italy, chemist/writer (Survival in Aushchwitz)
1920 - Rudolf Halaczinsky, composer
1920 - James Esdras Faust, American religious leader (d. 2007)
1921 - Whitney M Young Jr, civil rights leader, head of Urban League
1921 - Peter Benenson, British founder of Amnesty International (d. 2005)
1922 - Lucy Killea, (assemblywoman-California)
1923 - Ahmet Ertegun, CEO (Atlantic Records)
1923 - Jimmy Evert, American tennis coach and father of Chris Evert
1926 - Hilary Putnam, American philosopher
1927 - Walter Vogt, writer
1928 - Bill Frenzel, (Rep-R-MN, 1971- )
1929 - Don Murray, California, actor (Bus Stop, Advise & Consent, Endless Love)
1929 - Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist
1929 - Don Murray, American actor
1929 - José Santamaria, Uruguayan footballer
1929 - Lynne Reid Banks, British author
1930 - Oleg Popov, Russian clown
1931 - Kenny Burrell, American guitarist
1931 - Nick Bollettieri, American tennis coach
1932 - Morey Carr, rocker (Playmates)
1932 - Robert W Davis, (Rep-R-MI, 1979- )
1932 - Ted Cassidy, Pittsburgh PA, American actor (Lurch-Addams Family)
1932 - John Searle, American philosopher
1932 - Sam Coppola, Jersey City, New Jersey, actor (Saturday Night Fever), (d. 2012)

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Famous Weddings

Weddings 1 - 7 of 7

1940 - Actress Loretta Young (27) weds advertising executive Tom Lewis at the chapel of St. Paul's Church in Westwood
1954 - "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" guest host Steve Allen (32) weds actress Jayne Meadows (33)
1964 - George Lascelles marries Patricia Tuckwell
1985 - Bee Gees member Robin Gibb (35) weds author and artist Dwina Murphy
2004 - "Ed" actor Tom Cavanagh (35) weds "Sports Illustrated" photo editor Maureen Grise (33) at a 19th-century, cedar-shingled Roman Catholic church in Nantucket, Massachusetts
2010 - R&B singer-songwriter Alicia Keys (31) weds Grammy Award winning rapper Swizz Beatz (33) at a private home on the French island of Corsica
2010 - Daughter of former US President Bill Clinton Chelsea Clinton (30) weds investment banker Marc Mezvinsky (32) at Astor Courts in Rhinebeck, New York

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 90 of 90

855 - Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Muslim Jurisprudent (b. 780)
1358 - Etienne Marcel, French textile merchant/reformer/Boer leader, dies
1396 - William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1342)
1508 - Na'od, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1494)
1556 - Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest, theologian and founder of the Society of Jesus, dies in Rome at about 65
1566 - Bartholome de Casas, Spanish historian/bishop of Chiapa, dies at 92
1648 - Benedictus J van Haeften, poet (Regia thru Crucis), dies at about 60
1653 - Thomas Dudley, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1576)
1693 - Willem Calf, Rotterdams still life painter, dies at 73
1726 - Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1695)
1750 - Johan V, King of Portugal, dies
1763 - James Kent, Fredericksburgh NY, legal scholar (Columbia), dies
1784 - Denis Diderot, French writer/philosopher, dies at 70
1790 - Johann Christian Frischmuth, composer, dies at 48
1795 - Jose B da Gama, Portuguese poet (East Uraguay), dies at 54
1811 - Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Mexican hero priest, executed by Spanish
1864 - Louis Hachette, French publisher, dies at 64
1875 - Andrew Johnson, 17th pres, dies in Tennessee at 66
1886 - Franz Liszt [Ferencz], Hungarian pianist/composer, dies at 74
Composer/Pianist Franz Liszt (1886) 1891 - Jean-Baptist Capronnier, French/Belgian painter, dies at 77
1911 - Jack Edwards, cricketer (1888 Ashes tourist), dies
1914 - A J Jean Jaurès, French socialist (L'Humanité/Les Preuves), murdered=
1917 - Charlie Finlason, cricketer (South Africa's 1st Test), dies
1917 - Francis Ledwidge, Irish poet (b. 1881)
1917 - Hedd Wyn, Welsh poet (b. 1887)
1919 - R G Barlow, cricketer (591 runs/34 wickets/17 Tests for England), dies
1932 - Francesco Paolo Neglia, composer, dies at 58
1940 - Whitney Krakower, US gangster, murderrd by "Bugsy" Siegel
1942 - Francis E Younghusband, British journalist/explorer, dies at 79
1943 - Hedley Verity, cricketer (144 wickets in 40 Tests), dies in POW camp
1948 - Maria "Marie" Hens, Flemish actress (Female Revue), dies at 70
1951 - J of Oudshoorn, [John K Feylbrief], writer (Maze of Sentences), dies
1952 - N B F "Tufty" Mann, cricketer (South African slow lefty 1947-51), dies
1953 - Robert Taft, (Sen-R-Oh) "Mr Republican", dies in NY at 63
1954 - Onofre Marimón, Argentine racing driver (b. 1923)
1960 - Karl Hasse, composer, dies at 77
1964 - Jim Reeves, US country singer, dies in air crash at 39
1965 - James Rennie, actor (Wilson, Skylark, Illicit), dies at 75
1966 - Alex E von Falkenhausen, German general, dies at 87
1967 - Mario Varvoglis, composer, dies at 81
1967 - Richard Kuhn, German chemist, dies
1968 - Gertrude Short, actress (Stella Dallas, Blonde Venus), dies at 66
1970 - Walter Briggs, Jr., American sports executive (b. 1912)
1972 - Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian premier/sect-gen (NATO, 1957-61), dies at 73
1977 - Stacy Moskowitz, shot to death by Son of Sam, at 20
1978 - Carleton Percy Hobbs, actor (I Claudius, Dark Places), dies at 80
1978 - Enoch Light, orchestra leader (Gulf Road Show with Bob Smith), dies at 70
1979 - Beatrix Lehmann, actress (Psyche '59, Rat, Staircase), dies at 76
1980 - Bobby Van, actor/TV host (Make Me Laugh), dies of cancer at 49
1980 - Mohd. Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924)
1981 - Gen Omar Torrijos, leader of Panama, dies in plane crash
1984 - Bill Raisch, one armed actor (Fred Johnson-Fugitive), dies at 79
1984 - Paul Le Flem, composer, dies at 103
1985 - Eugene Carson Blake, sec-gen World Council of Churches, dies at 78
1985 - Murray Chapple, cricketer (14 Tests for NZ, 497 runs), dies
1986 - Theodore "Teddy" Wilson, US jazz pianist/arranger, dies at 73
1986 - Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)
1988 - Trinidad Silva, killed in auto accident at 38
1990 - Fernando Sancho, dies after operation for malignant tumor at 72
1990 - Albert Leduc, French Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
1992 - G Harold Carswell, supreme court justice candidate 1970, dies at 72
1992 - Joseph L George, dies of cancer at 65
1992 - Ralph Strait, dies of heart attack at 56
1992 - Sjoerd de Free, reporter (Radio Herrijzend Netherland), dies
1993 - Baudouin, king of Belgium (1951-93), dies at 62 from heart problems
1993 - Elmar Klos, director (Obzalovany, Obchod na Korze), dies at 83
1993 - Paul Henry, US Republicans Congressional leader, dies at 51
1994 - Anne Shelton, British singer (Glenn Miller Band), dies at 66
1994 - Caitlin Thomas, dies
1994 - G de Ru, chairman of Dutch Reformed Synode, dies
1994 - Pieter C Buitendijk, co-founder (Free Netherlands), dies at 92
1995 - Genevieve Tobin Keighley, actress (Zaza, Great Gambini), dies at 83
1996 - Joan "Maudie" Warburton, painter, dies at 76
1996 - Michael Jinks, child care pioneer, dies at 59
1996 - Seagram Miller, American rapper (b. 1970)
1997 - Beam Dai, head of South Vietnam (1949-55), dies
1997 - Bo Dai, Last emporer of Vietnam, dies at 85
1997 - Edith Fore, pitchwoman (I've fallen and I can't get up!), dies at 81
1997 - Ulrich Ernst Simon, theologian, dies at 63
2001 - Poul Anderson, American author (b. 1926)
2001 - Francisco da Costa Gomes, 16th President of Portugal (b. 1914)
2001 - Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1910)
2003 - Guido Crepax, Italian comics artist (b. 1933)
2004 - Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1917)
2004 - Laura Betti, Italian actress (b. 1927)
2005 - Wim Duisenberg, Dutch banker (b. 1935)
2006 - Paul Eells, American sportscaster (b. 1935)
2009 - Sir Bobby Robson, English professional football player and manager (b. 1933)
2009 - Harry Alan Towers, English film producer and screenwriter (b. 1920)
2012 - Gore Vidal, American author, dies from pneumonia at 86