Home   On This Day   On this day in history - January 31

On this day in history - January 31

What Happened On This Day – January 31

  • 2011 Myanmar's first elected parliament in half a century convenes

    The event underlined a general move towards democracy in the country.

  • 2000 Alaska Airlines flight 261 crashes into the sea

    The MD-83 experienced horizontal stabilizer problems before descending into the Pacific Ocean, killing all 88 on board.

  • 1996 A suicide bombing in Sri Lanka kills 91 people

    Separatist Tamil Tigers detonated a truck loaded with explosives in front of the central bank in Colombo.

  • 1961 Ham the Chimp travels into outer space

    The chimpanzee survived the US Mercury Program test flight with just a bruised nose.

  • 1865 The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed

    The Amendment, which officially abolished slavery, was adopted on December 6, 1865.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
January 31

  • 1982 Elena Paparizou

    Greek/Swedish singer-songwriter

  • 1975 Preity Zinta

    Indian actress

  • 1937 Philip Glass

    American composer

  • 1919 Jackie Robinson

    American baseball player

  • 1797 Franz Schubert

    Austrian composer

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
January 31

  • 1969 Meher Baba

    Indian mystic

  • 1956 A. A. Milne

    English author

  • 1954 Edwin Armstrong

    American engineer, invented FM radio

  • 1888 John Bosco

    Italian priest, educator

  • 1606 Guy Fawkes

    English soldier, planned the Gunpowder Plot