Famous Events For March 31 – Today In History

March 31: Today in History – Historical Events

Early Centuries – March 31  Historic Events – Before the 1700s

1. 31^st March 1492: The Alhambra edict expelling Jews who were unwilling to convert to Christianity was issued today by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.
2. 31^st March 1504: France and Spain signed a ceasefire.
3. 31^st March 1521: Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese navigator, takes possession of Homohon, Archipelago of St Lazarus in the Philippines.
4. 31^st March 1547: Henry II succeeds Francois I as the King of France.
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5. 31^st March 1651: Great earthquake at Cuzco Peru.
6. 31^st March 1657: English Parliament today made a Humble Petition to Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell offering him the crown. He declined the offer.
7. 31^st March 1667: France and England signed an anti-Dutch military accord.
   

   18th Century – What Happened on March 31 – The 1700s

8. 31^st March 1745: Jews are expelled from Prague.
9. 31^st March 1776: Abigail Adams today wrote to her husband John that women were “determined to foment rebellion” if the new Declaration of Independence failed to guarantee their rights.
10. 31^st March 1779: A treaty concerning military action in Crimea was signed by Russia and Turkey.
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    19th Century – March 31 This Day That Year – The 1800s

11. 31^st March 1831: Quebec and Montreal were incorporated as cities.
12. 31^st March 1854: The U.S. government today signed the Treaty of Kanagawa with Japan, which opened the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
13. 31^st March 1870: In Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Thomas Munday Peterson became the first black to vote in the United States.
14. 31^st March 1880: Wabash in Indiana became the first town to be completely illuminated by electric light.
    

    20th Century – Important Events On This Day March 31st – The 1900s

15. 31^st March 1900: The National Assembly in France passed a law reducing the workday for women and children to 11 hours.
16. 31^st March 1900: The W.E. Roach Company was the first ever automobile company to place an advertisement in a national magazine, the “Saturday Evening Post”.
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17. 31^st March 1901: The Czar in Russia lashed out at Socialist-Revolutionaries. 72 people were arrested and two printing presses were seized.
18. 31^st March 1902: In a coal mine explosion in Tennessee, 22 coal miners were killed.
19. 31^st March 1904: Hundreds of Tibetans were slaughtered by the British in India, today.
20. 31^st March 1905: Kaiser Wilhelm arrived in Tangier proclaiming to support an independent state of Morocco.
21. 31^st March 1906: The Conference on Moroccan Reforms in Algeciras ended today, two months after France and Germany reached an agreement.
22. 31^st March 1906: The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was founded today to set rules in amateur sports.
23. 31^st March 1908: In Indianapolis, 250,000 coal miners went on strike to await a wage adjustment.
24. 31^st March 1909: Serbia today accepted Austrian control over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
25. 31^st March 1917: The US took possession of the Virgin Islands after purchasing it from Denmark for $25 million.

26. 31^st March 1918: Daylight saving time went into effect for the first time in the United States.
27. 31^st March 1921: A state of emergency was declared by Great Britain because of the strike of thousands of coal miners.
28. 31^st March 1923: The first U.S. dance marathon was held today in New York City. Alma Cummins set a world record of 27 hours.
29. 31^st March 1932: The Ford Motor Company’s V-8 engine made its debut today.
30. 31^st March 1933: The “Sopeton News” in Georgia became the first newspaper to publish using pine pulp paper.
31. 31^st March 1933: The Civilian Conservation Corps was today authorized by the U.S. Congress to relieve rampant unemployment.
32. 31^st March 1939: Britain and France today agreed to support Poland if Germany threatened an invasion.
33. 31^st March 1940: The La Guardia airport was today officially opened to the public.
34. 31^st March 1941: Germany began a counter-offensive in North Africa.
35. 31^st March 1946: Elections in Greece were won by the Monarchists.
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36. 31^st March 1947: John L. Lewis called for a sympathy strike in sympathy for miners killed in an explosion in Centralia in Illinois, on 25^th
37. 31^st March 1949: Newfoundland became the 10 provinces in the Canadian Confederation.
38. 31^st March 1949: Winston Churchill today declared that the Atom Bomb was the only thing that kept the USSR from taking over Europe.
39. 31^st March 1953: Dag Hammarskjold was today nominated as the Secretary-General of the UN Security Council.
40. 31^st March 1954: The USSR today offered to join NATO.
41. 31^st March 1958: USSR today suspended nuclear weapons tests. It has urged the US and Britain to do the same.
42. 31^st March 1958: The Atomic Submarine Division was formed by the U.S. Navy today.
43. 31^st March 1960: A state of emergency was declared by the South African government after demonstrations led to the death of more than 50 Africans.
44. 31^st March 1961: Aklilou Habtewold, today became the first premier of Ethiopia.
45. 31^st March 1963: Los Angeles ends streetcar service today after 90 days.
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46. 31^st March 1964: The military in Brazil chased President Jango Goulart out of office today.
47. 31^st March 1965: Iberia Airlines Convair 440 crashes into the sea while on approach to Tangier killing about 50 occupants.
48. 31^st March 1966: The Soviet Union today launched Luna 10. It became the first spacecraft to enter the lunar orbit.
49. 31^st March 1966: The British parliamentary elections were won by the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson.
50. 31^st March 1966: About 200,000 anti-war demonstrators took out a march in New York City today.
51. 31^st March 1967: The Consular Treaty, the first bilateral pact with the Soviet Union since the Bolshevik Revolution was today signed by US President Lyndon Johnson.
52. 31^st March 1968: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson today announced that he will not seek re-election.
53. 31^st March 1968: Pirate Radio Station Pegaus (NZ) begins its transmission.
54. 31^st March 1970: After 12 years in orbit, Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth’s orbit today.
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55. 31^st March 1970: The US forces in Vietnam shot down a MIG-21. It was the first since Sept 68. To Milwaukee..
56. 31^st March 1970: Federal bankruptcy court allows Seattle Pilots to be sold
57. 31^st March 1971: William Calley was today sentenced to life for the Mi Lai Massacre.
58. 31^st March 1971: The South African national debt touches 5.45 billion.
59. 31^st March 1972: Today was the final day for the rum ration in the Royal Canadian Navy.
60. 31^st March 1978: USSR today launched its navigational satellite “Kosomos 1000”.
61. 31^st March 1979: Malta declares Freedom Day today as the last of the British soldiers leave the Maltese Islands.
62. 31^st March 1980: The banking industry in the United States was today deregulated by President Carter.
63. 31^st March 1980: The Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific railroad today operated its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets due to bankruptcy and debt owed to creditors.
64. 31^st March 1981: Four of the five Indonesian terrorists were killed in Bangkok, Thailand. They had hijacked an airplane on March 28^th.
65. 31^st March 1982: Arkas tanker at Montz La, spills 1.47 million gallons of oil.
66. 31^st March 1983: There was an earthquake in Columbia that killed about 5000 people.
67. 31^st March 1984: The United States performed a nuclear test at its Nevada test site today.
68. 31^st March 1985: El Salvador’s President Jose Napoleon Duarte’ Christian Democratic Party wins the election.

69. 31^st March 1985: The 200^th episode of “The Love Boat” was today aired by ABC-TV.
70. 31^st March 1986: Six metropolitan county councils were abolished in England.
71. 31^st March 1986: English Hampton Court palace was destroyed by fire today. One person died.
72. 31^st March 1986: A Mexican Airlines Boeing 727 crashed in Los Angeles killing 167 people.
73. 31^st March 1988: In Gent Belgium today, the last East Limburg coal mine closed.
74. 31^st March 1989: A fishing rights pact was signed today by Canada and France.
75. 31^st March 1990: Riots over the new poll tax laws, began in London today.
76. 31^st March 1991: The northern city of Kirkuk was today recaptured by the Iraqi forces from Kurdish guerillas.
77. 31^st March 1991: The Establishment of Islamic Constitutional Movement – Hadas in Kuwait.
78. 31^st March 1991: In a multiparty election in Albania which was held for the first time in 50 years Incumbent President Ramiz Alia won.
79. 31^st March 1991: The Soviet Rep of Georgia endorsed independence. Warsaw Pact was dissolved.

80. 31^st March 1992: The UN Security Council voted to ban flights and arms sales to Libya.
81. 31^st March 1993: Brandon Lee was accidentally killed today while filming a movie.
82. 31^st March 1994: It was announced today by “Nature” magazine that a complete skull of Australopithecus aphaeresis, humankind’s earliest ancestor, was found in Ethiopia.
83. 31^st March 1996: Space Shuttle STS 76(Atlatis 16) landed today.
84. 31^st March 1996: Today’s shortwave broadcast of Radio Canada International was its final shortwave broadcast.
85. 31^st March 1997: NASA’s Pioneer 10 ends its mission today.
86. 31^st March 1998: Budd Hackett received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
87. 31^st March 1998: An arms embargo was today imposed on Yugoslavia by the U.N. Security Council.
88. 31^st March 1998: Under the Clinton administration, for the first time in U.S. History the federal government released a detailed financial statement.
89. 31^st March 1999: Fabio received a one-inch cut across his nose when he was hit in the face by a bird during a promotional ride of a new roller coaster at Busch Gardens theme park in Williamsburg, Vancouver.
90. 31^st March 1999: Three U.S. soldiers were captured by Yugoslav soldiers today, three miles from the border of Macedonia.

    21st Century – March 31 This Day In History – The 2000s

91. 31^st March 2000: The number of deaths linked to a doomsday religious cult, the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments, was put by Ugandan officials at over 900. More than 530 perished in a fire at the cult’s church on March 17. Subsequently, mass graves were found at various sites linked to the cult.
92. 31^st March 2004: Four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA were killed and their bodies mutilated after being ambushed in Fallujah in Iraq.
93. 31^st March 2004: Google Inc today announced the introduction of a free e-mail service called Gmail.
94. 31^st March 2004: Air America Radio launched five stations around the United States.
95. 31^st March 2007: About 2.2 million people took part in the first Earth Hour in Sydney Australia.
96. 31^st March 2008: Passenger service was permanently ended by Aloha Airlines, a bankrupt airline.
97. 31^st March 2013: Two people die of bird flu (type H7N9) in China.
98. 31^st March 2013: Flooding in Port Louis in Mauritius killed 11 people today.
99. 31^st March 2013: In a Nigerian Army raid, 14 Boko Haram suspects were killed.
100. 31^st March 2016: The iPhone SE was released by Apple today.

     See Also:

     • Famous People Born Today – March 31
     • Famous People Who Died On March 31
     • March 31 Famous Birthdays
     • March 31 Birthday Personality Traits
     • March Birthday Astrology