January 31......

January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 334 (335 in leap years) days remaining in the year on this date.

{Disclaimer: I have attempted to give credit to the many different sources that I get entries. Any failure to do so is unintentional. Any statement enclosed by brackets like these are the opinion of the blogger, A Proud Liberal.}

EVENTS

● 314 - St Silvester I begins his reign as Catholic Pope

● 876 - Charles becomes king of Italy

● 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon.

● 1531 - Kings Ferdinand of Austria/János Zápolyai of Hungary accept each other

● 1538 - French reformer John Calvin wrote in a letter: 'I pray the Lord to keep you in His holy protection, and so to direct you that you may not go astray in that slippery path whereon you are, until He shall have manifested to you His complete deliverance.'

● 1560 - Spanish king Philip II marries Elisabeth van Valois

● 1578 - Battle of Gembloers

● 1596 - Catholic League disjoins

● 1606 - Guy Fawkes, the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions, at Westminster in London, jumps to his death moments before his execution for treason after being convicted for his role in the "Gunpowder Plot" against the English Parliament and King James I.

● 1627 - Spanish government goes bankrupt

● 1675 - Cornelia/Dina Olfaarts found not guilty of witchcraft

● 1696 - Revolt of undertakers after funeral reforms (Amsterdam)

● 1747 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.

● 1752 - The profession ceremony for Sister St. Martha Turpin was held at Ursuline Convent in New Orleans, LA. She was the first American-born woman to become a nun in the Catholic Church.

● 1779 - Charles Messier adds M57 (Ring Nebula in Lyra) to his catalog

● 1797 - Composer Franz Schubert was born in Vienna, Austria.

● 1804 - British Vice-Admiral William Bligh's fleet reaches Curaçao

● 1814 - Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of Argentina.

● 1839 - Two months before his premature death at age 39, Church of Scotland clergyman Robert Murray McCheyne wrote in a letter: 'Is not a Christian's darkest hour calmer than the world's brightest?'

● 1842 - John Tyler's daughter Elizabeth marries in the White House

● 1849 - Corn Laws abolished in the United Kingdom.

● 1851 - Gail Borden announces invention of evaporated milk

● 1854 - Dutch KNMI established (Royal Meteorological Institute)

● 1855 - Western railroads blocked by snow

● 1855 - Makah and Quileut reservations created by Neah Bay Treaty.

● 1858 - The Great Eastern, the five-funnelled steamship designed by Brunel, was launched at Millwall.

● 1861 - State of Louisiana takes over US Mint at New Orleans

● 1862 - Telescope maker Alvin Clark discovers dwarf companion of Sirius

● 1863 - 1st black Civil War regiment, SC Volunteers, mustered into US army

● 1865 - By a narrow margin, the U.S. House of Representatives passes the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery; it becomes part of the Constitution later that year.

● 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.

● 1867 - Maronite nationalist leader Karam leaves Lebanon on board of a French ship for Algeria

● 1871 - Millions of birds fly over western San Francisco, darken the sky

● 1874 - Jesse James gang robs train at Gads Hill MO

● 1876 - U.S. government orders all Native Americans to move to reservations or be declared hostile. Some of them already were. {Hostile, that is and rightfully so.}

● 1887 - Andreas Fritzner, anti-militarist activist, born, Sweden.

● 1894 - Italian anarchist Luigi Molinari sentenced to 23 years imprisonment by a military tribunal as the instigator of an insurrection in Lunigiani in support of Sicilian victims of the State of Seige (begun earlier in the month to repress revolts against increased flour prices). Following a movement of protest, Molinari was amnestied 20 months later.

● 1895 - José Martí & others leave New York City NY for invasion of Spanish Cuba

● 1899 - Birth of Aristide Lapeyre (1899-1974). Hairdresser, anarchist, pacifist militant, and neo-Malthusian. Participant in the Spanish Revolution of 1936. Helped many comrades escape the Gestapo, and himself was taken hostage by the Nazis. Fought for abortion rights, not hesitating to practice it, and in June 19, 1973, he was sentenced to five years in prison following the accidental death of a patient.

● 1900 - Datu Muhammad Salleh is shot dead in Kampung Teboh, Tambuan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion

● 1910 - The Portuguese republican revolution broke out in the northern city of Porto.

● 1901 - Boer General John Smuts & De la Rey conqueror Mud river Transvaal

● 1905 - 1st auto to exceed 100 mph (161 kph), A G MacDonald, Daytona Beach

● 1905 - Carroll Wright appointed 1st US Commissioner of Labor

● 1906 - Strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake, Colombia, 8.6 Richter

● 1911 - In Falcon, NC, the Fire-Baptized Holiness Church (FBHC) and the Pentecostal Holiness Church (PHC) officially merged. In 1915, the Tabernacle Pentecostal Church (TPC) joined the merger. In 1975, the name of this body officially became the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC).

● 1911 - Congress names San Francisco as Panamá Canal opening celebration site

● 1915 - Thomas Merton, radical pacifist U.S. priest, born, Pyrenees-Orientales, France.

● 1915 - World War I: First poison gas attack, Germans against Russians.

● 1916 - Dutch Girl Guides form

● 1917 - World War I: Germany announces its U-boats will engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.

● 1918 - A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.

● 1919 - David Kirkwood being detained by police during the 1919 Battle of George Square

● 1919 - Jackie Robinson , who made history in 1947 by becoming the first black baseball player in the major leagues , was born.

● 1920 - Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, at Howard University, incorporates

● 1924 - George Simeonov Popov (1900-1924) dies. Bulgarian teacher, poet, speaker and organizer of anarchist groups. Initiated an insurrectionary movement against the coup d'etat of June 1923, which was subdued after a week of fighting against the army. Popov took refuge in the mountains, forming guerilla anarchist groups. When his hiding place was discovered, he committed suicide rather than fall into the hands of the army.

● 1925 - Premier Ahmed Zogu (Zogu I) becomes President of Albania

● 1927 - International allies military command in Germany disbands

● 1929 - The USSR exiled Leon Trotsky. He found asylum in Mexico, where he would tacked down and killed.

● 1930(28?) - 3M markets Scotch Tape.

● 1930 - U.S. Navy Lt. Ralph S. Barnaby became the first glider pilot to have his craft released from a dirigible, a large blimp, at Lakehurst, NJ.

● 1932 - US railway unions accept 10% wage reduction

● 1933 - French government of Daladier takes power

● 1933 - Hitler promises parliamentary democracy

● 1934 - FDR devalues the dollar in relation to gold at $35 per ounce

● 1935 - 30.5 cm (12.0") of rain falls, Quinault RS WA (state record)

● 1936 - The Green Hornet radio show debuts.

● 1940 - First Social Security check issued, $22.54, to Ida Fuller, Brattleboro, Vermont.

● 1940 - 40 U boats sunk this month (111,000 ton)

● 1941 - 21 U boats sunk this month (127,000 ton)

● 1941 - Anti-German demonstration in Haarlem Netherlands

● 1941 - Layforce set sail.

● 1942 - 62 U boats sunk this month (327,000 ton)

● 1943 - 39 U boats sunk this month (203,100 ton)

● 1943 - Chile breaks contact with Germany & Japan

● 1943 - General Friedrich von Paul surrenders to Russian troops at Stalingrad

● 1944 - Operation-Overlord (D-Day) postponed until June

● 1944 - U-592 sunk off Ireland

● 1944 - World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.

● 1945 - US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed, the first American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion.

● 1945 - US 4th Infantry division occupies Elcherrath

● 1946 - Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).

● 1948 - Magnetic tape recorder developed by Wireway

● 1949 - American missionary and Auca Indian martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'One does not surrender a life in an instant -- that which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime.'

● 1950 - President Truman reveals that he ordered the Atomic Energy Commission to develop the hydrogen bomb

● 1952 - Dutch Lutheran Church reunites after 1½ centuries

● 1953 - 133 die in ferry disaster; "Princess Victoria," a car ferry sinks in the Irish Sea in one of the worst gales of the winter, claiming the lives of 133 passengers and crew.

● 1953 - Hurricane-like winds flood Netherlands drowning nearly 2,000

● 1953 - A flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands.

● 1955 - RCA demonstrates 1st music synthesizer

● 1956 - Juscelino Kubitschek becomes President of Brazil

● 1956 - Guy Mollet becomes Prime Minister of France.

● 1957 - Three students on a junior high school playground in Pacoima, California are among the eight persons killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet above the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles.

● 1957 - Trans-Iranian oil pipe line finished

● 1958 - Explorer program: Explorer I - The first successful launch of an American satellite into orbit.

● 1958 - James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt.

● 1961 - Chimp returns safely after space flight on Mercury-Redstone 2; Ham, a chimpanzee sent into space in a United States rocket is recovered alive and well from the sea near Florida.

● 1961 - USAF launches Samos spy satellite to replace U-2 flights

● 1961 - David Ben-Gurion resigns as premier of Israel

● 1961 - Houston voters approve bond to finance luxury domed stadium

● 1961 - NATO secretary-General Paul-Henri Spaak says he'll resign

● 1962 - Samuel Gravely assumes command of destroyer escort "USS Falgout"

● 1962 - General Charles P Cabell, USAF, ends term as deputy director of CIA

● 1963 - U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara declares - "The war in Vietnam is going well and will succeed."

● 1964 - US report "Smoking & Health" connects smoking to lung cancer

● 1966 - USSR launches Luna 9 toward the Moon

● 1966 - Belgian state police kills 2 striking mine workers

● 1966 - U.S. planes resume bombing of North Vietnam after a 37-day pause.

● 1968 - Record high barometric pressure (1083.8 mb, 32"), at Agata, USSR

● 1968 - Nauru (formerly Pleasant Island) declares independence from Australia

● 1968 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1968 - A Seattle City Council hearing concludes that there are no legal means to curb hippies in the U-District.

● 1968 - Tet Offensive catches South Vietnam off guard as war escalates. Seventy thousand Viet Cong troops attack 100 cities. Puts the lie to numerous U.S. government, military, and media fantasies of American victory being "in hand." Westmoreland and his troops are caught completely by surprise. Fighting lasts 25 days, and undermines U.S. morale abroad and at home. A photo of a police chief shooting a Viet Cong captive in the head is like a swan song. The Viet Cong strike at Saigon, including a penetration of the U.S. embassy compound, siege a U.S. Marine base at Khe Sanh, and capture the provincial capital of Hue, among other initial gains. By the end of February, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces have repulsed the offensive and inflicted heavy losses on the Viet Cong, but the episode exposes the reality that a military end to the war is not in sight.

● 1968 - Nauru declares independence from Australia.

● 1969 - A Saskatchewan Court convicts 17 year old hippie, David Milgaard of murder; He is sentenced to life in prison. He spent 23 years in jail until April 14th, 1992 when DNA evidence proves him Innocent of all charges.

● 1969 - Vice Admiral Rufus L Taylor, USN, ends term as deputy director of CIA

● 1970 - Grateful Dead members busted on LSD charges

● 1971 - Project Apollo: Apollo 14 Mission - Astronauts, Shepard, Roosa, & Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro.

● 1971 - The Winter Soldier Hearings begin in a Howard Johnson's motel in Detroit. Sponsored by the group Vietnam Veterans Against the War, the hearings are an attempt by soldiers who have served in Vietnam to publicize U.S. conduct in the war. The veterans testify that the My Lai massacre was not an isolated incident, and that American troops have committed atrocities. More than 100 veterans, in fact, testify to brutal U.S. acts. Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield will enter the Winter Soldier hearings into the Congressional Record but, otherwise, the proceedings capture little attention.

● 1971 - Telephone service between East and West Berlin was re-established after 19 years.

● 1972 - Military coup ousts civilian government of Ghana

● 1972 - US launches HEOS A-2 for interplanetary observations (396/244,998)

● 1972 - Birenda, becomes leader of Nepal

● 1973 - U.S. General John Stennis shot twice during a robbery in Washington.

● 1977 - Frenchman François Claustre freed, after 33 months as hostage in Chad

● 1978 - Israel turns 3 military outposts in West Bank into civilian settlements

● 1980 - Guatemalans take over Spanish embassy to protest the killing, by Guatemala's military dictatorship, of seven of their leaders; fire consequently kills 39. Guatemala City.

● 1981 - West German squatters protest eviction attempts, battle the police in West Berlin.

● 1982 - 10 Arabian oryx (extinct except in zoos) released in Oman

● 1983 - British drivers ordered to belt up; Drivers and front-seat passengers must wear seatbelts under a new law designed to reduce road deaths.

● 1983 - JCPenney announced plans to spend in excess of $1 billion over the next five years to modernize stores and to accelerate a repositioning program.

● 1984 - Edwin Newman retires from NBC News after 35 years with the network

● 1984 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1985 - South African President PW Botha offers to free Mandela if he denounces violence

● 1985 - Seminal draft call completed in South Africa. Of 21,000 white draftees, 7,000 get "lost" on the way to camp and never show up.

● 1985 - The final Jeep rolled off the assembly line at the AMC plant in Toledo, OH.

● 1986 - Mary Lund of Minnesota, is 1st female recipient of an artificial heart

● 1987 - United Steelworkers union ratified a concessionary contract with USX Corp

● 1988 - Barge sinks near Anacortes WA, spills 70,000 gallons of oil

● 1988 - Super Bowl XXII: The Washington Redskins win their second championship of the 1980s, 42-10 over the Denver Broncos.

● 1990 - 1st McDonald's in Russia opens in Moscow, world's biggest McDonald's

● 1991 - Battle for Khafji in Saudi Arabia (ends after 3 days)

● 1992 - U.N. Security Council first summit meeting proposes "An Agenda for Peace," New York.

● 1993 - Three hundred thousand Berliners rally against attacks on immigrants, racism, Nazism on 60th anniversary of Hitler's rise to power.

● 1993 - Super Bowl XXVII: The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Buffalo Bills, 52-17.

● 1994 - Dow Jones hits a record 3,978.36

● 1995 - President Bill Clinton authorizes a $20 billion loan to Mexico to stabilize its economy.

● 1995 - World Trade Organization opens for business in Geneva, Switzerland.

● 1996 - U.S. Customs officials near San Diego attack Pastors for Peace activists attempting to carry donated computers across border to Mexico for humanitarian shipment to Cuba.

● 1996 - An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400. The Tamil Tiger group takes responsibility.

● 1997 - Four Critical Mass protesters arrested and five police officers "injured" when police attack a peaceful bicycle protest in downtown Seattle.

● 1998 - STS 89 (Endeavour 12) lands

● 1999 - Super Bowl XXXIII: The Denver Broncos defeat the Atlanta Falcons, 34-19. After the game, the TV show Family Guy airs its pilot episode.

● 2000 - An Alaska Airlines MD-83 crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Oxnard, California killing all 88 aboard.

● 2000 - Life for serial killer Shipman; Family GP Dr Harold Shipman is jailed for life for murdering 15 of his patients, making him Britain's most prolific convicted serial killer.

● 2000 - John Rocker (Atlanta Braves) was suspended from major league baseball for disparaging foreigners, homosexuals and minorities in an interview published by Sports Illustrated.

● 2001 - In the Netherlands a Scottish court convicts a Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

● 2002 - A large section of the Antarctic Larsen Ice Shelf begins disintegrating, eventually consuming about 3,250 km² (1,254 miles²) over a 35-day period.

● 2003 - Waterfall train disaster, NSW, Australia.

● 2004 - Mystery Science Theater 3000 ends its run on the Sci-Fi Channel.

● 2004 - Six U.S.-bound flights from England, Scotland and France were canceled because of security concerns.

● 2005 - Belfast stab victim McCartney dies; The death of Robert McCartney, killed by IRA supporters, leads to a major backlash in the Nationalist community of Northern Ireland and abroad.

● 2005 - Jury selection began in Santa Maria, Calif., for Michael Jackson's child molestation trial. (Jackson was later acquitted.)

● 2005 - SBC Communications Inc. announced it was acquiring AT&T Corp. for $16 billion.

● 2006 - Coretta Scott King, the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died at age 78.

● 2006 - The Senate approved Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

● 2006 - Samuel A. Alito Jr. assumes office as the 110th Supreme Court justice of the United States.

BIRTHS

● 1338 - King Charles V of France (d. 1380)

● 1512 - King Henry of Portugal (d. 1580)

● 1543 - Tokugawa Ieyasu, Shogun of Japan (d. 1616)

● 1550 - Henry I, Duke of Guise, French Catholic leader (d. 1588)

● 1597 - John Regis, French saint (d. 1640)

● 1624 - Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher (d. 1669)

● 1686 - Hans Egede, Norwegian Lutheran missionary (d. 1758)

● 1734 - Robert Morris, American merchant/banker (d. 1806)

● 1752 - Gouverneur Morris, American lawmaker and diplomat (d. 1816)

● 1759 - François Devienne, French composer (d. 1803)

● 1769 - Andre-Jacques Garnerin, French parachutist (d. 1823)

● 1785 - Charles Green, English balloonist (d. 1870)

● 1797 - Franz Schubert, Austrian composer (d. 1828)

● 1841 - Sam Loyd, American puzzlemaker (d. 1911)

● 1862 - George Perkins, American insurance executive (d. 1920)

● 1866 - Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)

● 1868 - Theodore William Richards, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1928)

● 1872 - Zane Grey, American Western writer (d. 1939)

● 1881 - Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina (d. 1931)

● 1881 - Irving Langmuir, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1957)

● 1884 - Theodor Heuss, 1st President of Germany (Bundespräsident) (d. 1963)

● 1889 - Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958)

● 1892 - Eddie Cantor, American actor and singer (d. 1964)

● 1894 - Isham Jones, American musician (d. 1956)

● 1896 - Sofya Yanovskaya], Russian mathematician (b. 1896)

● 1902 - Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)

● 1902 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician, Nobel laureate (d. 1986)

● 1905 - John O'Hara, American writer (d. 1970)

● 1913 - Don Hutson, American football player (d. 1997)

● 1914 - Sri Daya Mata, Hindu religious figure

● 1914 - Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer (d. 1994)

● 1914 - Carey Loftin, American actor and stuntman (d. 1997)

● 1915 - Alan Lomax, American singer (d. 2002)

● 1915 - Thomas Merton, American Catholic monk and poet (d. 1968)

● 1915 - Garry Moore, American comedian (d. 1993)

● 1919 - Jackie Robinson, American baseball player (d. 1972)

● 1921 - John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)

● 1921 - Carol Channing, American actress

● 1921 - E. Fay Jones, American architect

● 1921 - Mario Lanza, American singer (d. 1959)

● 1922 - Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)

● 1923 - Norman Mailer, American writer and journalist

● 1925 - Benjamin Hooks, American civil rights leader

● 1929 - Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist, Nobel laureate

● 1929 - Jean Simmons, English actress

● 1930 - Lynn Carlin, American actress

● 1931 - Ernie Banks, American baseball player and Hall of Fame member

● 1935 - Kenzaburo Oe, Japanese writer, Nobel laureate

● 1937 - Philip Glass, American composer

● 1937 - Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (''The Bob Newhart Show'')

● 1938 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

● 1938 - James G. Watt, American politician

● 1940 - Stuart Margolin, Actor ("L. A. Law")

● 1940 - Jessica Walter, American actress

● 1941 - Richard A. "Dick" Gephardt, American politician

● 1942 - Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress

● 1942 - Derek Jarman, British director and writer (d. 1994)

● 1944 - Charlie Musselwhite, American musician

● 1945 - Joseph Kosuth, American conceptual artist

● 1946 - Terry Kath, American musician (d. 1978)

● 1947 - Jonathan Banks, American actor

● 1947 - Nolan Ryan, American baseball player and Hall of Fame member

● 1948 - Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician

● 1949 - Ken Wilber, American philosopher

● 1950 - Alexander Korzhakov, Boris Yeltsin's bodyguard

● 1951 - Dave Benton, Aruban-born singer

● 1951 - Harry Wayne Casey (KC), American singer and musician (KC and the Sunshine Band)

● 1952 - Nadya Rusheva, Russian painter (d. 1969)

● 1954 - Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch musician (Whitesnake)

● 1956 - Johnny Rotten, British singer (Sex Pistols)

● 1959 - Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor (''Without a Trace'')

● 1959 - Kelly Lynch, Actress

● 1959 - Kelly Moore, American stock car driver

● 1960 - Grant Morrison, British comic book author

● 1961 - Lloyd Cole, British singer

● 1963 - John Dye, Actor

● 1964 - Jeff Hanneman, American musician (Slayer)

● 1964 - Billey Shamrock, Swedish singer

● 1966 - Al Jaworski, Rock musician (Jesus Jones)

● 1967 - Fat Mike, American musician

● 1970 - Minnie Driver, British actress

● 1971 - Lee Young Ae, South Korean actress

● 1971 - Patrick Kielty, Northern Irish comedian

● 1973 - Portia de Rossi, Australian actress (''Arrested Development,'' ''Ally McBeal'')

● 1974 - Wil Anderson, Australian comedian

● 1975 - Preity Zinta , Indian actress

● 1976 - Buddy Rice, American race car driver

● 1977 - Jim Kleinsasser, American football player

● 1977 - Mark Dutiaume, Canadian ice hockey player

● 1977 - Kerry Washington, American actress (''Ray'')

● 1978 - Ray Shah, Irish DJ, TV, radio presenter

● 1980 - Tiffany Limos, American actress

● 1981 - Justin Timberlake, American singer

● 1982 - Andreas Görlitz, German footballer

● 1982 - Brad Thompson, American baseball player

● 1982 - Bruno Nogueira, Portuguese actor, comedian and TV host

● 1982 - Helena Paparizou, Greek singer

● 1982 - Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player

DEATHS

● 743 - Muhammad al-Baqir, Shia Imam (b. 676)

● 1398 - Emperor Sukō (b. 1334)

● 1435 - Xuande, Emperor of China (b. 1398)

● 1561 - Bairam Khan, Great Mughal General, regent for Akbar

● 1561 - Menno Simons, Dutch Mennonite leader (b. 1496)

● 1580 - Henry of Portugal (b. 1512)

● 1606 - Gunpowder Plot conspirators:
● Guy Fawkes (b. 1570)
● Ambrose Rokewood (b. c. 1578)
● Thomas Wintour (b. 1571)

● 1615 - Claudio Aquaviva, Italian Jesuit (b. 1543)

● 1632 - Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (b. 1552)

● 1665 - Johannes Clauberg, German theologian and philosopher (b. 1622)

● 1686 - Jean Mairet, French dramatist (b. 1604)

● 1720 - Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English privy councilor (c. 1654)

● 1729 - Jakob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (b. 1659)

● 1736 - Filippo Juvara, Italian architect (b. 1678)

● 1788 - Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (b. 1720)

● 1790 - Thomas Lewis, Irish-born Virginia settler (b. 1718)

● 1794 - Marriott Arbuthnot, British admiral (b. 1711)

● 1815 - José Félix Ribas, Venezuelan independentist leader (b. 1775)

● 1844 - Henri Gratien, Comte Bertrand, French general (b. 1773)

● 1888 - John Bosco, Italian priest, youth worker, educator, founder of the Salesian Society (b. 1815)

● 1892 - Charles Spurgeon, English preacher and evangelist (b. 1834)

● 1907 - Timothy Eaton, Canadian department store founder (b. 1834)

● 1923 - Eligiusz Niewiadomski, assassin of Gabriel Narutowicz (b. 1869)

● 1933 - John Galsworthy, English writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1867)

● 1944 - Jean Giraudoux, French writer (b. 1882)

● 1945 - Eddie Slovik, American soldier (b. 1920)

● 1955 - John Mott, American YMCA leader, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1865)

● 1956 - A. A. Milne, English author (b. 1882)

● 1966 - GeneralArthur Ernest Percival, British Army Officer (b. 1887)

● 1967 - Eddie Tolan, American athlete (b. 1908)

● 1970 - Slim Harpo, American singer (b. 1924)

● 1973 - Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch, Norwegian economist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1895)

● 1974 - Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-born film studio executive (b. 1882)

● 1976 - Ernesto Miranda, American litigant (b. 1941)

● 1981 - Cozy Cole, American jazz drummer (b. 1909)

● 1990 - Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-born imam (stabbed) (b. 1935)

● 1992 - Willie Dixon, American musician (b. 1915)

● 1995 - George Abbott, American stage director and producer (b. 1887)

● 1997 - John Joseph Scanlan, Irish Catholic prelate (b. 1930)

● 1999 - Norm Zauchin, American baseball player (b. 1929)

● 2000 - Gil Kane, Latvian-born comic book writer (b. 1926)

● 2001 - Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian writer (b. 1923)

● 2004 - Eleanor Holm, American swimmer (b. 1913)

● 2006 - Moira Shearer, Scottish actress (The Red Shoes) and ballerina (b. 1926)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● St. Adamnan of Coldingham
● St. Aidan of Ferns
● St. Athanasius
● St. Bobinus
● St. Cyrus
● St. Eusebius
● St. Francis Xavier Bianchi, Apostle of Naples
● St. Geminian
● St. John Bosco, patron saint of Christian apprentices, editors, and publishers
● St. Julius of Novara
● St. Madoes
● St. Marana and Cyra
● St. Marcella
● St. Martin Manuel
● St. Metranus
● St. Nicetas
● St. Peter Nolasco, French founder
● Sts. Saturninus, Thrysus, & Victor
● St. Tarskius
● St. Trypbaena
● St. Ulphia
● Bl. Ludovica

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar: There is none for Civil Date January 31

● Lerwick, Shetland Islands : Up-Helly-Aa/Norse fire festival

● Nauru : Independence Day (1968)

● Surrey England : Dicing for Maid's Money Day

● Note: This Holiday is only applicable on a given "day of the week"
● Australia : Australia Day (1788 - 1993) - ( Monday )


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

On This Day Website

Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

Scope Systems Any Day Website

Roman Catholic Saint of the Day

Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar

Permanent Backlink to Post

THIS IS AN ABBREVIATED POST FOR THIS DATE USING ONLY THE FOLLOWING TWO SOURCES. A COMPLETE POST IS PLANNED AS SOON AS TIME ALLOWS.


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

Permanent Backlink to Post