July 31

July 31 is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 153 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
• 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781).
• 904 – Thessalonica falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city.
• 1009 – Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII.
• 1201 – Attempted usurpation of John Komnenos the Fat.
• 1423 – Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant – the French army is defeated by the English at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
• 1451 – Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France.
• 1492 – The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.
• 1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
• 1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
• 1655 – Russo-Polish War (1654–67): the Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.
• 1658 – Aurangzeb is proclaimed Moghul emperor of India.
• 1667 – Second Anglo-Dutch War: Treaty of Breda ends the conflict.
• 1703 – Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.
• 1715 – A Spanish treasure fleet seven days after 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks.
• 1741 – Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
• 1763 – Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War.
• 1777 – The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States."
• 1790 – The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
• 1856 – Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city.
• 1865 – The first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.
• 1913 – The Balkan States signs an armistice at Bucharest.
• 1919 – German national assembly adopts the Weimar Constitution, which comes into force on August 14.
• 1930 – The radio mystery program The Shadow airs for the first time.
• 1931 – New York, New York experimental television station W2XAB (now known as WCBS) begins broadcasts.
• 1932 – The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.
• 1938 – Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia).
• 1938 – Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.
• 1940 – Doodlebug Disaster: A doodlebug train in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio collides with a multi-car freight train heading in the opposite direction, killing 43 people.
• 1941 – The Holocaust: under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question."
• 1945 – Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.
• 1948 – At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
• 1948 – USS Nevada (BB-36) is sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.
• 1954 – First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio.
• 1956 – Jim Laker becomes the first man to take all 10 wickets in a Test match innings as he returns figures of 10/53 in the Australian 2nd innings. This combined with his 9/37 in the first innings gave him match figures of 19/90 in the 4th Test at Old Trafford.
• 1961 – At Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in Major League Baseball history occurs when the game is stopped in the 9th inning because of rain.
• 1964 – Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.
• 1970 – Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.
• 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
• 1972 – The Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-takes the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It is the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians are killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy.
• 1973 – A Delta Air Lines jetliner, flight DL 723 crashes while landing in fog at Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89.
• 1975 – The Troubles: three members of a popular cabaret band and two gunmen are killed during a botched paramilitary attack in Northern Ireland.
• 1987 – A rare, class F4 tornado rips through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and causing $330 million in damage.
• 1988 – 32 people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
• 1991 – The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries' stockpiles.
• 1991 – The Medininkai Massacre in Lithuania. Soviet OMON attacks Lithuanian customs post in Medininkai, killing 7 officers and severely wounding one other.
• 1992 – Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing all 113 people on board.
• 1992 – China General Aviation Flight 7552 from Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport to Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport crashes after taking off, killing 108 of the 116 people on board.
• 1992 – Georgia joins the United Nations.
• 1999 – Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector – NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface.
• 2002 – Hebrew University of Jerusalem is attacked when a bomb explodes in a cafeteria, killing 9.
• 2006 – Fidel Castro hands over power to brother Raúl Castro.
• 2007 – Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.
• 2009 – Three members of the popular South Korean group TVXQ, (Kim Jaejoong, Kim Junsu, and Park Yoochun), filed lawsuit against their Korean management S.M. Entertainment.
• 2012 – Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the greatest number of medals won at the Olympics.

Births

• 1143 – Emperor Nijō of Japan (d. 1165)
• 1396 – Philip the Good, French son of John the Fearless (d. 1467)
• 1527 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1576)
• 1598 – Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor (d. 1654)
• 1702 – Jean Denis Attiret, French missionary and painter (d. 1768)
• 1704 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (d. 1752)
• 1718 – John Canton, English physicist (d. 1772)
• 1724 – Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer (d. 1801)
• 1737 – Princess Augusta of Great Britain (d. 1813)
• 1777 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentinian priest and politician (d. 1849)
• 1796 – Jean-Gaspard Deburau, Czech-French actor and mime (d. 1846)
• 1800 – Friedrich Wöhler, German chemist (d. 1882)
• 1803 – John Ericsson, Swedish engineer, co-designed the Novelty Locomotive (d. 1889)
• 1816 – George Henry Thomas, American general (d. 1870)
• 1825 – William S. Clark, American colonel and politician (d. 1886)
• 1835 – Henri Brisson, French politician, 50th Prime Minister of France (d. 1912)
• 1835 – Paul du Chaillu, French-American anthropologist and explorer (d. 1903)
• 1837 – William Quantrill, American captain (d. 1865)
• 1839 – Ignacio Andrade, Venezuelan politician, 25th President of Venezuela (d. 1925)
• 1843 – Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet (d. 1918)
• 1847 – Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1905)
• 1854 – José Canalejas, Spanish politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1912)
• 1858 – Richard Dixon Oldham, English seismologist and geologist (d. 1936)
• 1860 – Mary Vaux Walcott, American painter (d. 1940)
• 1867 – S. S. Kresge, American businessman, founded Kmart (d. 1966)
• 1877 – Auguste Daumain, French cyclist
• 1880 – Premchand, Indian author (d. 1936)
• 1883 – Ramón Fonst, Cuban fencer (d. 1959)
• 1884 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, Polish-German economist and politician (d. 1945)
• 1886 – Salvatore Maranzano, Italian-American mobster (d. 1931)
• 1886 – Fred Quimby, American animator and producer (d. 1965)
• 1886 – Harry Tate, American soccer player (d. 1954)
• 1887 – Hans Freyer, German sociologist (d. 1969)
• 1892 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist and publisher, founded Worldwide Church of God (d. 1986)
• 1892 – Joseph Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (d. 1959)
• 1894 – Fred Keenor, Welsh footballer (d. 1972)
• 1901 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)
• 1904 – Brett Halliday, American author (d. 1977)
• 1907 – Roy Milton, American singer, drummer, and bandleader (d. 1983)
• 1909 – Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Austrian theorist and author (d. 1999)
• 1911 – George Liberace, American violinist (d. 1983)
• 1912 – Bill Brown, Australian cricketer (d. 2008)
• 1912 – Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
• 1912 – Irv Kupcinet, American journalist (d. 2003)
• 1913 – Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)
• 1914 – Paul J. Christiansen, American conductor and composer (d. 1997)
• 1914 – Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter (d. 1983)
• 1916 – Sibte Hassan, Pakistani journalist, scholar, and activist (d. 1986)
• 1916 – Billy Hitchcock, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2006)
• 1916 – Bill Todman, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1979)
• 1918 – Paul D. Boyer, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1918 – Hank Jones, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2010)
• 1918 – Frank Renouf, New Zealand businessman and financier (d. 1998)
• 1919 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster (d. 2006)
• 1919 – Primo Levi, Italian chemist and author (d. 1987)
• 1920 – James E. Faust, American religious leader, lawyer, and politician (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Percy Herbert, English actor (d. 1992)
• 1921 – Peter Benenson, English lawyer and activist, founded Amnesty International (d. 2005)
• 1921 – Donald Malarkey, American sergeant
• 1921 – Whitney Young, American activist (d. 1971)
• 1922 – Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
• 1923 – Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American record producer, founded Atlantic Records (d. 2006)
• 1923 – Jimmy Evert, American tennis player and coach
• 1926 – Bernard Nathanson, American physician and activist (d. 2011)
• 1926 – Hilary Putnam, American philosopher, mathematician, and computer scientist
• 1929 – Lynne Reid Banks, English author
• 1929 – Gilles Carle, Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 2009)
• 1929 – Don Murray, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1929 – José Santamaría, Uruguayan footballer, coach, and manager
• 1930 – Oleg Popov, Russian clown
• 1931 – Nick Bollettieri, American tennis player and coach
• 1931 – Kenny Burrell, American guitarist
• 1931 – Ivan Rebroff, German singer (d. 2008)
• 1932 – Ted Cassidy, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1932 – John Searle, American philosopher
• 1933 – Cees Nooteboom, Dutch journalist, author, and poet
• 1935 – Yvon Deschamps, Canadian comedian, actor, and producer
• 1935 – Geoffrey Lewis, American actor and screenwriter
• 1936 – Vic Davalillo, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1939 – France Nuyen, French actress
• 1940 – Carol J. Clover, American academic and author
• 1940 – Roy Walker, Irish comedian, actor, and game show host
• 1941 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (d. 2004)
• 1943 – Lobo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1943 – William Bennett, American politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Education
• 1943 – Susan Flannery, American actress and director
• 1943 – Sab Shimono, American actor
• 1944 – Geraldine Chaplin, American actress
• 1944 – Jonathan Dimbleby, English journalist
• 1944 – Robert C. Merton, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1945 – Gary Lewis, American singer and drummer (Gary Lewis & the Playboys)
• 1945 – William Weld, American politician, 68th Governor of Massachusetts
• 1946 – Karen Zerby, American cult leader
• 1947 – Richard Griffiths, English actor (d. 2013)
• 1947 – Hubert Védrine, French politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for France
• 1950 – Richard Berry, French actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1950 – Lane Davies, American actor
• 1951 – Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Australian tennis player
• 1951 – Werner Novak, German footballer
• 1951 – Barry Van Dyke, American actor
• 1952 – Chris Ahrens, American ice hockey player
• 1952 – Alan Autry, American football player, actor, and politician, 23rd Mayor of Fresno, California
• 1952 – Helmuts Balderis, Latvian ice hockey player and coach
• 1952 – João Barreiros, Portuguese author and critic
• 1952 – Faye Kellerman, American author
• 1953 – Ted Baillieu, Australian architect and politician, 46th Premier of Victoria
• 1953 – Jimmy Cook, South African cricketer and coach
• 1953 – James Read, American actor
• 1954 – Manivannan, Indian actor and director (d. 2013)
• 1954 – Derek Smith, Canadian-American ice hockey player
• 1955 – Jakie Quartz, French singer
• 1956 – Michael Biehn, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1956 – Bill Callahan, American football player and coach
• 1956 – Ron Kuby, American lawyer and radio host
• 1956 – Deval Patrick, American politician, 71st Governor of Massachusetts
• 1956 – Lynne Rae Perkins, American author and illustrator
• 1956 – Mark Arden, English comedian and actor
• 1957 – Daniel Ash, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, and Tones on Tail)
• 1957 – Dirk Blocker, American actor
• 1957 – Leon Durham, American baseball player
• 1958 – Bill Berry, American singer-songwriter and drummer (R.E.M. and Hindu Love Gods)
• 1958 – Mark Cuban, American businessman
• 1958 – Wally Kurth, American actor and singer
• 1959 – Stanley Jordan, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1959 – Andrew Marr, Scottish journalist
• 1960 – Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1960 – Duncan Lewis Jowitt, English musician, songwriter and singer (UFX)
• 1960 – Malcolm Ross, Scottish guitarist
• 1962 – John Chiang, American politician, 31st California State Controller
• 1962 – Kevin Greene, American football player and coach
• 1962 – Wesley Snipes, American martial artist, actor, and producer
• 1963 – Norman Cook, English DJ and producer (The Housemartins, Beats International, Freak Power, and Pizzaman)
• 1963 – Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1964 – Jim Corr, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Corrs)
• 1964 – Urmas Hepner, Estonian footballer
• 1965 – Scott Brooks, American basketball player and coach
• 1965 – Pat Finn, American actor
• 1965 – John Laurinaitis, American wrestler and producer
• 1965 – Najwa Najjar, Palestinian filmmaker
• 1965 – Julian Richards, Welsh director and producer
• 1965 – J. K. Rowling, English author
• 1966 – Dean Cain, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1966 – Tatsuya Ishihara, Japanese animator and director
• 1966 – Kevin Martin, Canadian curler
• 1967 – Minako Honda, Japanese singer and actress (d. 2005)
• 1967 – Mitsuo Iwata, Japanese voice actor
• 1967 – Tony Massenburg, American basketball player
• 1967 – Peter Rono, Kenyan runner
• 1967 – Tim Wright, Welsh composer
• 1968 – Saeed-Al-Saffar, Emirati cricketer
• 1969 – Loren Dean, American actor
• 1969 – Kid Kash, American wrestler
• 1969 – Kenneth D. Schisler, American politician
• 1970 – Ahmad Akbarpour, Iranian author
• 1970 – Ben Chaplin, English actor
• 1970 – Andrzej Kobylański, Polish footballer and manager
• 1970 – Giorgos Sigalas, Greek basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1970 – Amanda Stepto, Canadian actress
• 1970 – Dave Wedge, American journalist
• 1971 – John 5, American guitarist and songwriter (2wo, Loser, and Red Square Black)
• 1971 – Gus Frerotte, American football player and coach
• 1972 – Giorgos Kapoutzidis, Greek actor and screenwriter
• 1973 – Wail al-Shehri, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 11 (d. 2001)
• 1973 – Nathan Brown, Australian rugby player and coach
• 1973 – Fabulous Flournoy, American basketball player and coach
• 1974 – Emilia Fox, English actress
• 1974 – Jonathan Ogden, American football player
• 1975 – Randy Flores, American baseball player
• 1975 – Andrew Hall, South African cricketer
• 1975 – Simon Hirst, English radio host
• 1975 – Gabe Kapler, American baseball player and manager
• 1975 – Ruben Patterson, American basketball player
• 1975 – Allan von Schenkel, American bassist and composer
• 1976 – Joshua Cain, American guitarist and producer (Motion City Soundtrack)
• 1976 – Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer
• 1977 – Tim Couch, American football player
• 1978 – Will Champion, English drummer and singer (Coldplay)
• 1978 – Zeta Makripoulia, Greek model and actress
• 1978 – Nick Sorensen, American football player and sportscaster
• 1978 – Justin Wilson, English race car driver
• 1979 – Jaco Erasmus, South African-Italian rugby player
• 1979 – J. J. Furmaniak, American baseball player
• 1979 – Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer
• 1979 – Jade Kwan, Hong Kong singer
• 1979 – Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer
• 1979 – B. J. Novak, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1980 – Rina Aiuchi, Japanese singer
• 1980 – Mikko Hirvonen, Finnish race car driver
• 1980 – Mils Muliaina, New Zealand rugby player
• 1981 – Titus Bramble, English footballer
• 1981 – Vernon Carey, American football player
• 1981 – J.Son Dinant, American comedian and actor
• 1981 – Eric Lively, American actor
• 1981 – Ira Losco, Maltese singer
• 1981 – M. Shadows, American singer-songwriter (Avenged Sevenfold)
• 1982 – Jeff DaRosa, American singer and banjo player (Dropkick Murphys and The Exit)
• 1982 – Jack Korpela, American sportscaster
• 1982 – Blessing Mahwire, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1982 – Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spanish tennis player
• 1982 – Raymond Pickard, English actor
• 1982 – DeMarcus Ware, American football player
• 1983 – Rebecca Atkinson, English actress
• 1984 – Joseph Benavidez, American mixed martial artist
• 1984 – Felipe dal Belo, Brazilian footballer
• 1985 – Daniel Ciofani, Italian footballer
• 1985 – Shannon Curfman, American singer and guitarist
• 1985 – Rémy Di Gregorio, French cyclist
• 1986 – Kortney Kane, American porn actress
• 1986 – Evgeni Malkin, Russian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Brian Orakpo, American football player
• 1987 – Michael Bradley, American soccer player
• 1987 – Brittany Byrnes, Australian actress
• 1988 – Charlie Carver, American actor
• 1988 – A. J. Green, American football player
• 1988 – Krystal Meyers, American singer-songwriter
• 1989 – Victoria Azarenka, Belarusian tennis player
• 1989 – Alexis Knapp, American actress and singer
• 1989 – Joey Richter, American actor and singer
• 1989 – Jessica Williams, American actress
• 1989 – Zelda Williams, American actress
• 1990 – Mirela, Spanish singer
• 1990 – Besart Abdurahimi, Croatian footballer
• 1991 – Réka-Luca Jani, Hungarian tennis player
• 1992 – Lizzy, South Korean singer, dancer, and actress (After School and Orange Caramel)
• 1992 – José Fernández, Cuban baseball player
• 1992 – Kyle Larson, American race car driver
• 1993 – Christian Byers, Australian actor
• 1996 – Blake Michael, American actor
• 1997 – Barbie Forteza, Filipino actress
• 1998 – Rico Rodriguez, American actor

Deaths

• 54 BC – Aurelia Cotta, Roman wife of Gaius Julius Caesar (b. 120 BC)
• 450 – Peter Chrysologus, Italian bishop and saint (b. 380)
• 1358 – Étienne Marcel, French rebel leader (b. 1302)
• 1396 – William Courtenay, English archbishop (b. 1342)
• 1508 – Na'od, Ethiopian emperor (b. 1494)
• 1556 – Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish priest and theologian, founded the Society of Jesus (b. 1491)
• 1653 – Thomas Dudley, English-American politician, 3rd Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1576)
• 1726 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1695)
• 1750 – John V of Portugal (b. 1689)
• 1762 – Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla Spanish commander (b. 1711)
• 1784 – Denis Diderot, French philosopher (b. 1713)
• 1805 – Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian soldier (b. 1756)
• 1864 – Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (b. 1800)
• 1875 – Andrew Johnson, American politician, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)
• 1884 – Kien Phuc, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1869)
• 1886 – Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1811)
• 1914 – Jean Jaurès, French journalist and politician (d. 1859)
• 1917 – Francis Ledwidge, Irish soldier and poet (b. 1881)
• 1917 – Hedd Wyn, Welsh poet (b. 1887)
• 1920 – Ion Dragoumis, Greek diplomat and philosopher (b. 1878)
• 1940 – Udham Singh, Indian activist (b. 1899)
• 1943 – Hedley Verity, English cricketer (b. 1905)
• 1944 – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and poet (b. 1900)
• 1953 – Robert Taft, American politician (b. 1889)
• 1953 – Georg Zacharias, German swimmer (b. 1884)
• 1954 – Onofre Marimón, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1923)
• 1963 – Sir Robert Chapman, 1st Baronet, English soldier and politician (b. 1880)
• 1964 – Jim Reeves, American singer-songwriter (b. 1923)
• 1966 – Bud Powell, American pianist (b. 1924)
• 1970 – Walter Briggs, Jr., American businessman (b. 1912)
• 1971 – Walter P. Carter, American activist (b. 1923)
• 1972 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian politician, 40th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)
• 1973 – Azumafuji Kin'ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 40th Yokozuna (b. 1921)
• 1979 – Beatrix Lehmann, English actress, theatre director and author (b. 1903)
• 1980 – Pascual Jordan, German physicist (b. 1902)
• 1980 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian singer (b. 1924)
• 1981 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian general and politician, Military Leader of Panama (b. 1929)
• 1985 – Eugene Carson Blake, American religious leader (b. 1906)
• 1986 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)
• 1986 – Teddy Wilson, American pianist (b. 1912)
• 1987 – Joseph E. Levine, American film producer (b, 1905)
• 1988 – Trinidad Silva, American actor (b. 1950)
• 1990 – Albert Leduc, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
• 1992 – Leonard Cheshire, English pilot and captain (b. 1917)
• 1993 – Baudouin of Belgium (b. 1930)
• 2000 – William Keepers Maxwell, Jr., American author (b. 1908)
• 2001 – Poul Anderson, American author (b. 1926)
• 2001 – Francisco da Costa Gomes, Portuguese general and politician, 15th President of Portugal (b. 1914)
• 2001 – Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1910)
• 2003 – Guido Crepax, Italian author and illustrator (b. 1933)
• 2004 – Laura Betti, Italian actress and singer (b. 1927)
• 2004 – Virginia Grey, American actress and singer (b. 1917)
• 2005 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician, 1st President of the European Central Bank (b. 1935)
• 2006 – Paul Eells, American sportscaster (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Bobby Robson, English footballer and manager (b. 1933)
• 2009 – Harry Alan Towers, English-Canadian screenwriter and producer (b. 1920)
• 2012 – César Amaro, Uruguayan guitarist (b. 1948)
• 2012 – Roy Bryce-Laporte, Panamanian-American sociologist (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Mollie Hunter, Scottish author (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Curt Levine, American lawyer and politician (b. 1947)
• 2012 – Abdi Jeylani Malaq Marshale, Somalian journalist (b. 1969)
• 2012 – Lucio Quarantotto, Italian songwriter (b. 1957)
• 2012 – Alfredo Ramos, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Tony Sly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (No Use for a Name and Scorpios) (b. 1970)
• 2012 – Gore Vidal, American journalist, author, and screenwriter (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Michel Donnet, English-Belgian general and pilot (b. 1917)
• 2013 – John Graves, American author (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Jean Madiran, French author (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Trevor Storer, English businessman, founded Pukka Pies (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Gerald W. Thomas, American academic (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Alvis Wayne, American singer (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Germanus of Auxerre
  • Ignatius of Loyola
  • Neot
  • July 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• End of the Trinity term (sitting of the High Court of Justice of England)
• Ka Hae Hawaiʻi Day, a Flag Day. (Hawaii)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to July 31.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada