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July 31: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – July 31 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. 31st July 1498: Explorer Christopher Columbus, during his third voyage, discovered the Island of Trinidad.
2. 31st July 1620: Pilgrim Fathers, persecuted for their religious beliefs, depart Leiden, Netherlands to England on their way to America.
3. 31st July 1658: Aurangzeb appointed himself as the Mogul Emperor.
4. 31st July 1667: The second English war, Surinam vs Netherlands ended today.
18th Century – What Happened on July 31 – The 1700s
5. 31st July 1751: About a thousand houses were destroyed by a fire in Stockholm.
6. 31st July 1777: French soldier and aristocrat Marquis de Lafayette, at 19 was made the Major General of the Continental Army.
7. 31st July 1790: The first US patent was awarded to Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
8. 31st July 1792: Corner Stone for the first US building, the US Mint in Philadelphia was laid today.
19th Century – July 31 This Day That Year – The 1800s
9. 31st July 1809: The first US railroad tracks were laid in Philadelphia. The tracks were wooden and were suitable for horse-drawn cars.
10. 31st July 1813: Plattsburg in New York was invaded by the British today.
11. 31st July 1849: The Breech-loading cannon was patented by Benjamin Chambers today.
12. 31st July 1856: In New Zealand, Christchurch was chartered as a city today.
13. 31st July 1861: In India, Cherrapunji in Assam recorded the highest rainfall of 9,300 mm in July.
14. 31st July 1864: Ulysses S Grant was today named as the General of Volunteers.
15. 31st July 1865: At Grantchester in Austria, the first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world was opened.
16. 31st July 1876: The US Coast Guard Officers Training School was established today at New Bedford in Massachusetts.
17. 31st July 1877: Turkey failed in the second Russian assault on Plevna. But the Russo-Turkish resulted in Russia suffering a casualty of 73,000.
18. 31st July 1879: British Electrical Engineer Charles Tilston Bright laid the first connection between South Africa and Europe as part of his project to link the British Empire with growing telecommunication technologies.
19. 31st July 1893: Douglas Hyde and Eoin MacNeill founded the Gaelic League to encourage Irish people to speak the language and take a greater interest in their culture.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day July 31st – The 1900
20. 31st July 1900: Prinsloo and Roux, the Boer generals surrendered in the Brandwater basin.
21. 31st July 1901: Abraham Kuyper became the Premier of the Netherlands today.
22. 31st July 1910: A flying demonstration was given by Clement Van Maasdijk today.
23. 31st July 1912: Movies and photos of prize fights were prohibited from being displayed by the US government.
24. 31st July 1914: German Emperor Wilhelm II threatened war and ordered Russia to demobilize.
25. 31st July 1914: Oil was discovered in the Lake of Maracaibo.
26. 31st July 1919: The Weimar Constitution which established the German Republic was adopted today.
27. 31st July 1922: Eighteen-year-old Ralph Samuelson rode the first water skis in Minnesota.
28. 31st July 1922: There was a general strike in Italy against fascist violence.
29. 31st July 1923: Bilinguality at Ghent University was discussed by the Belgium Chamber today.
30. 31st July 1925: Britain passes the Unemployment Insurance Act today.
31. 31st July 1928: Halina Konopacka won the first women’s gold medal in the discus throw event by hurling the disc to a world record 39.62 meters.
32. 31st July 1929: In France, Aristicle Briand became the Premier of France for the 6th time.
33. 31st July 1935: The Dutch government led by Colijn was sworn in today.
34. 31st July 1936: Japan was awarded the 1940 Summer Olympics Games by the IOC. It was however canceled because of the Sino-Japanese War.
35. 31st July 1938: Silver and Gold plates with engravings were discovered by archeologists from King Darius Persepolis.
36. 31st July 1938: In the 32nd Tour de France, both the general and mountain classifications were won by the Italian cyclist Gino Bartali.
37. 31st July 1941: 21 Allied ships were sunk/damaged by U-boats.
38. 31st July 1942: In Minsk, Belorussia, 1,000 Jews were gassed to death by the German SS.
39. 31st July 1943: Transport #43, carrying French Jews to Nazi Germany departed today.
40. 31st July 1944: Sansapor in New Guinea was occupied by US troops.
41. 31st July 1948: The “Idlewild Field”, what is now known as the Kennedy Airport in New York, was dedicated by President Harry Truman today.
42. 31st July 1951: It was on this day that Japan Airways was established.
43. 31st July 1956: In the 4th test match between England and Australia played at Old Trafford, England’s spinner Jim Laker took 10 wickets for 53 runs in the second innings. He had a match tally of 19 for 90.
44. 31st July 1958: Anti-Chinese uprising began in Tibet today.
45. 31st July 1960: Religious leader Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, called for a black state.
46. 31st July 1961: Israel, welcomed its one millionth immigrant today.
47. 31st July 1963: In Argentina, Arturo Illia was elected as its President today.
48. 31st July 1964: Al Parker glided 644 miles without a motor.
49. 31st July 1965: Cigarette advertisement was banned on British TV.
50. 31st July 1969: Mariner 6 made its closest approach of 3410 KM to planet Mars.
51. 31st July 1970: Today is called Black Tot Day which is the last day of the official sanction of Rum ration in the Royal Navy.
52. 31st July 1971: Astronauts of Apollo 15 took a 6½ hour ride in an electric car on the moon.
53. 31st July 1972: Thomas Eagleton withdrew his candidature for Democratic VP.
54. 31st July 1972: Three car bombs exploded in County Londonderry, North Ireland killing 9 civilians. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.
55. 31st July 1973: At the Logan Airport in Boston, a Delta Airlines DC 9 crashed in fog killing 89 people.
56. 31st July 1978: A gunman shot his way into the Iraqi embassy in Paris.
57. 31st July 1980: USSR performed its nuclear test at Eastern Kazak/ Semipalatinsk USSR.
58. 31st July 1980: Hurricane Allen forms in the Atlantic Ocean. It is expected to become the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin with wind speeds touching 190 MPH (305 KM/h).
59. 31st July 1981: Arnette Hubbard was today installed as the first woman president of the National Bar Association.
60. 31st July 1982: In France, two buses and several cars collided near Beaune killing 46 children and 7 adults.
61. 31st July 1987: There was a battle between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi Arabian troops resulting in the death of 402 people.
62. 31st July 1988: A bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapsed in Butterworth in Malesia killing 32 and injuring 1,674 people.
63. 31st July 1991: Senate voted in favor of allowing women to fly combat aircraft.
64. 31st July 1991: The long-range nuclear weapon reduction pact was today signed by Russia and the US.
65. 31st July 1992: An Airbus belonging to Thai Airlines crashed into the mountains at Katmandu in Nepal killing 113 people.
21st Century – July 31 This Day In History – The 2000s
66. 31st July 2002: One Equity Partners purchased Polaroid Corporation but continues to operate under the Polaroid Corporation name.
67. 31st July 2006: In Cuba, Fidel Castro temporarily handed over power to his brother Raul Castro leading to celebrations in Little Havana, Miami, Florida, etc. Many Cuban Americans participated.
68. 31st July 2012: In Iraq, 21 people were killed in two car bomb explosions.
69. 31st July 2012: In India about 670 million people were left without power when there was a second power grid failure.
70. 31st July 2012: Michael Phelps created history when the American 4X200 M Freestyle relay team (of which he was a member) won the gold medal. It was his 19th career gold medal and 15th overall gold.
71. 31st July 2014: Israel and Hamas agree to a 72-hour ceasefire on humanitarian grounds.
72. 31st July 2016: A play by Jack Thorne with assistance from J.K. Rowling “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” was published worldwide at midnight.
73. 31st July 2016: Yuriko Koike was elected Governor of Tokyo. She was the first woman to be elected to that position.
74. 31st July 2017: Antonio Scaramucci was removed as White House Communications Director in less than two weeks of appointment.
75. 31st July 2017: In the third test match between England and South Africa played at the Oval, England’s spinner Moeen Ali took a hat trick which England won.
76. 31st July 2018: Rihanna became the first colored woman to appear on the cover page of the British Vogue magazine.
77. 31st July 2018: In Mexico, Aeromexico flight 2431 crash landed in Durango. All 103 on board the flight survive.
78. 31st July 2019: For the first time since 2008, the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by .25%.
79. 31st July 2019: American officials announced that Hamza bin Laden, son and potential successor of Osama bin Laden has been killed in the US air strike in Pakistan.
80. 31st July 2019: President Vladimir Putin of Russia ordered the Russian Army to help put out the huge wildfires in Siberia covering 3 million hectares after 700,000 people signed the petition.
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