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May 31: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – May 31 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. 31st May 1495: The anti-French Saint League was today signed by Emperor Maximillian, Pope Alexander VI, Milan, King Ferdinand, Isabella, and Venice.
2. 31st May 1531: There was a “Women’s Revolt” by hundreds of holy women in Amsterdam and the wool house in the churchyard was aborted.
3. 31st May 1578: Martin Frobisher set sail from Harwich in England to Frobisher Bay in Canada and mined the mineral pyrite which is also referred to as the “Fool’s Gold”, which is used to pave the streets of London.
4. 31st May 1621: Sir Francis Bacon was today imprisoned in The Tower of London overnight.
5. 31st May 1634: The Maine Colony was today annexed by the colony of Massachusetts Bay.
6. 31st May 1659: The Treaty of Hague was signed today by the Netherlands, England, and France.
7. 31st May 1665: Sjabtai Tswi a rabbi from Jerusalem proclaimed himself as Messiah.
8. 31st May 1669: English civil servant and diarist Samuel Pepys, citing poor eyesight, recorded the last event in his diary today.
9. 31st May 1678: The Godiva procession which commemorated Lady Godiva’s legendary ride while naked, became part of the Coventry Fair today.
10. 31st May 1696: The Dutch island in the Caribbean today elected John Salomonsz as its’ chief.
18th Century – What Happened on May 31 – The 1700s
11. 31st May 1727: The Accord of Paris was today signed by the Netherlands, France, and Britain.
12. 31st May 1744: French troops today conquered Kortrijk.
13. 31st May 1759: All theatrical productions were banned by the province of Pennsylvania.
14. 31st May 1790: In the US, the US Copyright law was enacted today.
15. 31st May 1790: The Strait of John de Fuca was explored by Alferez Manuel Quimper.
19th Century – May 31 This Day That Year – The 1800s
16. 31st May 1821: The first US Catholic cathedral, Cathedral of Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary, was dedicated in Baltimore today.
17. 31st May 1831: English explorer Captain John Ross identified the magnetic north pole on the west coast of Boothia Peninsula, Netsilik territory.
18. 31st May 1836: HMS Beagle was anchored today at the Cape of Good Hope.
19. 31st May 1837: Astor Hotel which later became Waldorf-Astoria, opened today in New York City.
20. 31st May 1847: The Rotterdam-Hague Railway was opened on this day.
21. 31st May 1853: Elisha Kane left New York aboard Advance on an Arctic expedition.
22. 31st May 1854: The US Congress today passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
23. 31st May 1859: The Big Ben became operational in London today.
24. 31st May 1861: General Beauregard was today given command of the Confederate Alexandra Line.
25. 31st May 1862: General McLellan defeated the Confederates at the “Battle of Fair Oaks” which is also called the “Battle of Seven Pines”.
26. 31st May 1868: In Ironton, Ohio, the First Memorial Day Parade was held today.
27. 31st May 1868: The first recorded bicycle race, the (2k) velocipede race at Parc file St Cloud in Paris was won by Dr. James Moore of the UK.
28. 31st May 1870: The 1st Enforcement Act (rights of blacks) was today passed by the Congress.
29. 31st May 1870: Asphalt pavement was patented today by E J DeSemdt.
30. 31st May 1875: Ratification of the Reciprocity Treaty between the US and Hawaii was done today.
31. 31st May 1878: SMS Grosser Kurfürst, the German battleship sank today killing 284 people.
32. 31st May 1878: The US Congress accepted a decrease in dollar circulation today.
33. 31st May 1879: The first electric railway opened today at the Berlin Trades Exposition.
34. 31st May 1879: In New York City, Madison Square Garden was opened today. It was named after James Madison, the fourth President of the United States.
35. 31st May 1880: The first US Bicycle Association, League of American Wheelmen was formed today in Newport Rhode Islands.
36. 31st May 1884: Flaked Cereal was patented today by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg.
37. 31st May 1889: A massive flood caused by the breaching of the South Fork Dam destroyed Johnstown in Pennsylvania. 2,209 people lost their lives in the floods.
38. 31st May 1891: Work began today on the trans-Siberian railway.
39. 31st May 1893: The Zipper, a hook-less fastening system was today patented by Whitcomb Judson of Chicago.
40. 31st May 1894: A resolution encouraging Hawaii to establish its government without interference from the US was passed today by the US Congress.
41. 31st May 1899: Keltch Memorial Park was acquired by the Bronx today.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day May 31st – The 1900s
42. 31st May 1990: Johannesburg was today occupied by British troops led by Lord Roberts.
43. 31st May 1990: To help put down the Boxer rebellion, US troops arrived at peak today.
44. 31st May 1902: The treaty of Vereeniging brought the bore war between the boars of South Africa and Great Britain.
45. 31st May 1907: Taxis began to operate in New York City. They were the first taxis in the United States.
46. 31st May 1909: The first conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored (NAACP) people was held today.
47. 31st May 1910: On this day the Union of South Africa was founded.
48. 31st May 1913: The 17 Amendment which provided for the popular election of senators came into effect today.
49. 31st May 1915: Air raid on London by a German zeppelin.
50. 31st May 1921: There was a major race riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma during which the black section of the town Greenwood was burned.
51. 31st May 1926: A coup prompted Portuguese President Bernardino Machado to resign.
52. 31st May 1927: Ford Motor Company produced its last Model T today to start production of Model A.
53. 31st May 1935: A massive earthquake of magnitude 7.5 struck Quetta, an Indian city in which an estimated 50,000 people were killed.
54. 31st May 1937: Almeria in Spain was shelled by German battleships today.
55. 31st May 1941: The marks the publication and sale of the first issue of “Parade, The Weekly Picture Newspaper”.
56. 31st May 1943: The Mutual Broadcasting System today aired “Archie” for the first time.
57. 31st May 1955: Due to a railroad strike, Great Britain proclaimed an emergency crisis.
58. 31st May 1955: An order was issued by the US Supreme Court stating that all states must end racial segregation “with all deliberate speed”.
59. 31st May 1961: South Africa becomes an independent republic.
60. 31st May 1962: Israel today hanged Adolf Eichmann, a Gestapo official for his actions in Nazi Holocaust.
61. 31st May 1969: John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono recorded “Give Peace a Chance” at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal during their “Bed-In” today.
62. 31st May 1970: Tens of thousands of people were killed today in an earthquake in Peru.
63. 31st May 1974: An agreement on the Golden Heights was signed by Israel and Syria.
64. 31st May 1977: Construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline was completed today, after 3 years.
65. 31st May 1979: Zimbabwe today proclaims its independence today.
66. 31st May 1985: Several tornados (at least 41) struck Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York in the US and southeastern Ontario in Canada, killing 88 people and injuring over 1000 people.
67. 31st May 1989: Dogged by questions about his ethics, US House Speaker Jim Wright said he would resign. He was succeeded by Thomas Foley.
68. 31st May 1990: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was welcomed by President George W Bush and his wife Barbara in a ceremony on the south lawn of the White House.
69. 31st May 1991: A new Medicare fee schedule was today announced by the Federal Health officials.
70. 31st May 1992: About 50,000 people held a demonstration in Belgrade, Yugoslavia today against the communist-organized elections.
71. 31st May 1993: A crowd jeered at President Clinton when he went on a Memorial Day visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, to avoid military service.
72. 31st May 1994: It was announced by the US today that it was no longer aiming its long-range nuclear missiles at targets in Russia.
73. 31st May 1995: President Clinton today declared that he was ready to temporarily deploy American ground forces in Bosnia to help UN peacekeeping forces move to safer positions if necessary.
74. 31st May 1995: Kansas senator Bob Dole, while accusing Hollywood of promoting violence, casual sex, and rape in music and movies said “The mainstream deviancy must come to an end”.
75. 31st May 1996: In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu claimed victory in the election for prime minister. He defeated incumbent Shimon Peres by nine-tenth of 1 percent.
76. 31st May 1996: A Finnish food company Raisio Group has invented a new plant extract-based “pharma food” called benecol which blocks the body’s absorption of cholesterol.
77. 31st May 1996: In retaliation for an ambush that killed 4 Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, Israeli warplanes today attacked the Hezbollah base in eastern Lebanon.
78. 31st May 1997: Over 60 monk seals are reported to have been killed from eating fish that had ingested toxic algae off Mauritania’s Atlantic coast. According to estimates only 360 monk seals are left worldwide.
79. 31st May 1998: An additional conditional financial support to Russia from the World Bank and IMF was endorsed today by President Clinton.
80. 31st May 1999: India today agreed to hold talks with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, but the Indian offensive against guerrillas continued without any let-up.
81. 31st May 1999: At least 26 people were killed by NATO missiles in separate attacks. Ten people were killed when an apartment block in Navi Pazar was struck by a missile and 16 people were killed when a missile hit a hospital and retirement complex on the outskirts of Surdulika.
21st Century – May 31 This Day In History – The 2000s
82. 31st May 2000: To calm fears of a nuclear arms race leaving Europe vulnerable, President Clinton proposed to EU allies in Portugal to share key technologies on the US missile defense program.
83. 31st May 2001: The new Office XP for Windows software was released by Microsoft today.
84. 31st May 2001: The Taliban in Afghanistan today barred foreign female air-workers from driving. The virtue ministry stated that the activity is harmful to society.
85. 31st May 2002: The US State Department today urged Americans in India, about 60,000 of them to leave due to concerns of war between India and Pakistan.
86. 31st May 2002: In Denmark the Parliament today voted for more stringent immigration rules.
87. 31st May 2002: A pact aimed at stemming pollution and global warming, the Kyoto Protocol was formally signed by the EU countries today. This has been opposed by the US.
88. 31st May 2003: Air France planned to ground its last five Concord airplanes which are the world’s fastest and most luxurious passenger jet. The New York to Paris flight for flown for the last time today.
89. 31st May 2003: Eric Robert Rudolf, who was on the FBI’s most wanted 10 list for five years for several bombings including the bombing at the 1996 Olympics was today caught in North Carolina.
90. 31st May 2004: An apparent suicide bombing in a Shiite mosque in Karachi, Pakistan, killed about 25 to 30 people.
91. 31st May 2005: In western Afghanistan, NATO forces took over command of the security and reconstruction effort from the US forces today.
92. 31st May 2006: The Canadian dollar today was strongest against the dollar in 28 years.
93. 31st May 2006: As one of North America’s most restrictive bans went into effect, smokers across eastern Canada were required to light up outside.
94. 31st May 2007: Acting under international pressure, President Bush had to take tough action against global warming, and called for a world summit to set a long-term global strategy for reducing the emission of greenhouse gases.
95. 31st May 2007: India began talks with the US intended to resolve delays in a nuclear energy deal to give India access to Western nuclear technology.
96. 31st May 2007: In northwestern Pakistan, 13 people were killed when about 100 pro-Taliban militants attacked the house of a government official.
97. 31st May 2008: The US space shuttle Discovery, carrying a Japanese research laboratory and key parts to repair a broken toilet in the international space station was launched successfully from Florida today.
98. 31st May 2008: A senior health department official for the federal capital in Nigeria said smokers in public places in the capital of Abuja will be arrested from June 1.
99. 31st May 2009: In Afghanistan, after insurgents attacked a joint patrol in Farah province, Afghan and NATO troops killed 18 Taliban militants.
100. 31st May 2011: The human rights court in Europe ruled that Russia was guilty of violations in its jailing of former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. They did not find any proof that the case was politically motivated.
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