What Happened On August 31 - On This Day

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  • 1142 Possible date for establishment of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) League [disputed date - other research places date between 1450 and 1660]
  • Densely packed, London's Broad Street in 1854 was a perfect breeding ground for a cholera outbreak

    John Snow, Cholera and the Battle for Broad Street

    1854 A major outbreak of cholera occurs in Soho, London; physician John Snow calls it "the most terrible outbreak of cholera which ever occurred in this kingdom"
  • 1888 The body of Jack the Ripper's first victim, Mary Ann Nichols, is found in Whitechapel in London's East End
  • 1917 Sun Yat-sen and his supporters' 'rump' parliament establish a military government in China and elect Sun Yat-sen as Commander-in-Chief
  • 1945 The Liberal Party of Australia is founded by Robert Menzies
  • 1957 Federation of Malaya gains independence from Great Britain
  • 1994 The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Sinn Féin) declares a ceasefire in Northern Ireland
  • 1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in a road tunnel in Paris
More August 31 Events
  • 1897 Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope [kinetographic camera], a device that produces moving pictures
  • 1993 50th Venice Film Festival: "Short Cuts" directed by Robert Altman and "Three Colors: Blue" directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski are jointly awarded the Golden Lion
  • 1999 "Fly," the 5th studio album by the Dixie Chicks is released (Grammy Award Best Country Album 2000, Billboard Album of the Year 2000)
  • 1947 NY Giants set a season record for HRs by a club with 183 and end the season with 221

A. J. Reach Co. patents cork-centered baseball

August 31, 1909

  • Caligula

    12 AD - 41 AD
  • Commodus

    161 AD - 192 AD
  • Maria Montessori

    1870 - 1952
  • Wilhelmina of the Netherlands

    1880 - 1962
  • Tsai Ing-wen

    69 Years Old
  • Mohammed bin Salman

    40 Years Old
More Birthdays on August 31
  • Fredric March

    1897 - 1975
  • Arthur Godfrey

    1903 - 1983
  • Alan Jay Lerner

    1918 - 1986
  • Richard Gere

    76 Years Old
  • Chris Tucker

    54 Years Old
  • Marc Webb

    51 Years Old
  • Van Morrison

    80 Years Old
  • Jean Béliveau

    1931 - 2014
  • Frank Robinson

    1935 - 2019

A Pentium computer running Richard Lang's ChessGenius 2 program defeats world chess champion Garry Kasparov

August 31, 1994

  • 1937 American stage and screen actress Tallulah Bankhead (35) weds American actor John Emery (32) at her father's home in Jasper, Alabama; divorce in 1941
  • 1940 British "Wuthering Heights" actor Laurence Olivier (33) weds British"Gone With The Wind" actress Vivien Leigh (26), at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, California; second marriage for both end in divorce in 1960
  • 1940 Football player and coach Vince Lombardi (27) weds Marie Planitz at Our Lady of Refuge Church in Bronx, New York
More August 31 Weddings
  • Henry V

    1387 - 1422
  • John Bunyan

    1628 - 1688
  • Arthur Phillip

    1738 - 1814
  • Mary Ann Nichols

    1845 - 1888
  • John Ford

    1895 - 1973
  • Diana Spencer

    1961 - 1997
More August 31 Deaths
  • Paula Yates

    How Paula Yates Discovered Her Real Father

    Controversial television presenter Paula Yates married pop star Bob Geldof on this day. Fate decided she would not remain happy ever after August 31, 1986
  • A section of New Orleans, Louisiana is flooded after Hurricane Katrina in 2005

    Weekly Quiz for August 26 - September 1

    Test your knowledge of historical events and famous people in our weekly history quiz for August 26 - September 1. Then challenge your friends!
  • 30 Aug
  • Calendar
  • Sep 1
  • Anak Krakatau – the “Child of Krakatoa” – erupts in December, 2018, causing more than 400 deaths

    Krakatoa: The World’s Mightiest Explosion

    August 27, 1883
  • All aboard: Passengers enjoy their ride in a carriage pulled by the replica Tom Thumb

    Horse in Race Against a Train

    August 28, 1830
  • Children lining up for work outside a factory in the late nineteenth century

    Fighting The Scourge of Child Labour

    August 29, 1833
  • Ernest Rutherford’s image first appeared on New Zealand’s $100 banknote in 1992

    Ernest Rutherford, The Man Who ‘Split’ The Atom

    August 30, 1871
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