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January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 334 days remaining, (335 in leap years).
- 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon
- 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is executed for his plotting against Parliament and James I of England.
- 1747 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Dock Hospital[?].
- 1849 - Corn Laws abolished in the United Kingdom
- 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
- 1876 - The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations.
- 1814 - Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of Argentina
- 1915 - World War I: Germany uses poison gas against Russians
- 1917 - World War I: Germany announces its U-boats will engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.
- 1929 - The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky.
- 1936 - The Green Hornet radio show debuts.
- 1944 - World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
- 1945 - Eddie Slovik is executed, the first American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion
- 1946 - Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
- 1950 - President Harry S Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
- 1958 - The first successful American satellite, Explorer I, is launched into orbit.
- 1958 - James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt
- 1968 - Viet Cong attack the United States embassy in Saigon
- 1968 - Nauru declares independence from Australia
- 1971 - Apollo program: Astronauts aboard Apollo 14 lift off for a mission to the moon.
- 1990 - The first McDonald's opens in Moscow, Russia.
- 1995 - President Bill Clinton authorizes a $20 billion loan to Mexico to stabilize its economy.
- 1996 - An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400.
- 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 crash into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
- 2003- Man in Miami steals US Mail truck, taking hostages with him. Later, he releases the hostages and surrenders to police.
- 1797 - Franz Schubert, composer (+ 1828)
- 1872 - Zane Grey, writer (+ 1939)
- 1884 - Theodor Heuss[?], politician and publicist (+ 1963)
- 1892 - Eddie Cantor, actor, singer
- 1901 - Marie Luise Kaschnitz[?], writer (+ 1974)
- 1902 - Alva Mydral[?], politician (+ 1986)
- 1902 - Tallulah Bankhead, actress (+ 1968)
- 1905 - John O'Hara, writer (+ 1970)
- 1914 - Jersey Joe Walcott, boxer (+ 1994)
- 1919 - Jackie Robinson, baseball player (+ 1972)
- 1920 - Paul Warnke[?], diplomat (+ 2001)
- 1921 - Carol Channing, actress
- 1921 - Mario Lanza[?], singer, actor (+ 1959)
- 1923 - Norman Mailer, writer and journalist
- 1925 - Benjamin Hooks[?], head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
- 1929 - Jean Simmons, actress
- 1931 - Ernie Banks[?], Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1937 - Suzanne Pleshette[?], actress
- 1937 - Philip Glass, composer
- 1938 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
- 1941 - Richard Gephardt, American politician
- 1942 - Derek Jarman, director, writer (+ 1994)
- 1946 - Terry Kath[?], musician (+ 1978)
- 1947 - Nolan Ryan, baseball player
- 1949 - Ken Wilber, philosopher
- 1956 - Johnny Rotten, musician (The "Sex Pistols")
- 1970 - Minnie Driver, actress
- 1981 - Justin Timberlake, musician
- 1606 - Guy Fawkes, executed for his part in the Gunpowder Plot
- 1907 - Timothy Eaton, department store founder
- 1933 - John Galsworthy, writer
- 1945 - Eddie Slovik, American soldier
- 1956 - A. A. Milne, author (Winnie the Pooh)
- 1970 - Slim Harpo[?], blues singer
- 1974 - Samuel Goldwyn[?], film studio executive
- 1992 - Willie Dixon, blues musician
- 1995 - George Abbott, director and producer on Broadway, dies at 107
- 2000 - Gil Kane[?], comic book writer
- 2001 - Gordon R. Dickson, science fiction writer
See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
January 30 - February 1 - December 31 - Historical anniversaries
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