March 31

March 31 is the 90th day of the year (91st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 275 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian.
• 627 – Battle of the Trench: Muhammad successfully withstands a siege for 27 days at Medina (Saudi Arabia) by Meccan forces under Abu Sufyan.
• 1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade.
• 1492 – Queen Isabella of Castille issues the Alhambra decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish and Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion.
• 1717 – A sermon on "The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ" by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, provokes the Bangorian Controversy.
• 1774 – American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act.
• 1822 – The massacre of the population of the Greek island of Chios by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire following an attempted rebellion, depicted by the French artist Eugène Delacroix.
• 1854 – Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese government, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
• 1866 – The Spanish Navy bombs the harbor of Valparaíso, Chile.
• 1877 – The family with samurai antecedents that responded to the Saigō army in Ōita Nakatsu, rebels.
• 1885 – The United Kingdom establishes a protectorate over Bechuanaland.
• 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened.
• 1899 – Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, was captured by American forces.
• 1901 – 1901 Black Sea earthquake
• 1903 – Richard Pearse allegedly makes a powered flight in an early aircraft.
• 1906 – The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for college sports in the United States.
• 1909 – Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 1909 – Construction of the ill fated RMS Titanic begins.
• 1910 – Six North Staffordshire Pottery towns federate to form modern Stoke-on-Trent.
• 1913 – The Vienna Concert Society rioted during a performance of mordernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Anton von Webern, causing a premature end to the concert due to violence. This concert became known as the Skandalkonzert.
• 1917 – The United States takes possession of the Danish West Indies after paying $25 million to Denmark, and renames the territory the United States Virgin Islands.
• 1918 – Massacre of ethnic Azerbaijanis is committed by allied armed groups of Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks. Nearly 12,000 Azerbaijani Muslims are killed.
• 1918 – Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States for the first time.
• 1921 – The Royal Australian Air Force is formed.
• 1930 – The Motion Pictures Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film, in the U.S., for the next thirty eight years.
• 1931 – An earthquake destroys Managua, Nicaragua, killing 2,000.
• 1931 – TWA Flight 599 crashes near Bazaar, Kansas killing 8 including Knute Rockne, head football coach at the University of Notre Dame
• 1933 – The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission of relieving rampant unemployment in the United States.
• 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces invade Christmas Island, then a British possession.
• 1945 – World War II: a defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, to the Americans, the first to fall into Allied hands.
• 1949 – The Dominion of Newfoundland joins the Canadian Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada.
• 1951 – Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.
• 1957 – Elections to the Territorial Assembly of the French colony Upper Volta are held. After the elections PDU and MDV form a government.
• 1958 – In the Canadian federal election, the Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, win the largest percentage of seats in Canadian history, with 208 seats of 265.
• 1959 – The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
• 1964 – A coup d'état in Brazil establishes a military government, under the aegis of general Castello Branco.
• 1965 – An Iberia Airlines Convair 440 crashes into the sea on approach to Tangier, killing 47 of 51 occupants.
• 1966 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.
• 1970 – Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.
• 1970 – Nine terrorists from the Japanese Red Army hijack Japan Airlines Flight 351 at Tokyo International Airport, wielding samurai swords and carrying a bomb.
• 1979 – The last British soldier leaves the Maltese Islands. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).
• 1980 – The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad operates its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors.
• 1985 – The first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the WWE (then the WWF), takes place in Madison Square Garden in New York.
• 1986 – A Mexicana Boeing 727 en route to Puerto Vallarta erupts in flames and crashes in the mountains northwest of Mexico City, killing 167.
• 1986 – Six metropolitan county councils are abolished in England.
• 1990 – 200,000 protestors take to the streets of London to protest against the newly introduced Poll Tax.
• 1991 – Georgian independence referendum, 1991: nearly 99 percent of the voters support the country's independence from the Soviet Union.
• 1992 – The USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, is decommissioned in Long Beach, California.
• 1994 – The journal Nature reports the finding in Ethiopia of the first complete Australopithecus afarensis skull.
• 1995 – TAROM Flight 371 crashed, killing all of the 10 crew and 50 passengers on board.
• 1995 – Selena, an American singer, was murdered by her friend and employee of her boutiques Yolanda Saldívar who was embezzling money from the establishments. The event was named "Black Friday" by Hispanics.
• 2004 – Iraq War in Anbar Province - In Fallujah, Iraq, 4 American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed after being ambushed.

Births

• 250 – Constantius Chlorus, Roman emperor (d. 306)
• 1360 – Philippa of Lancaster (d. 1415)
• 1425 – Bianca Maria Visconti, Italian wife of Francesco I Sforza (d. 1468)
• 1499 – Pope Pius IV (d. 1565)
• 1504 – Guru Angad, Indian guru (d. 1552)
• 1519 – Henry II of France (d. 1559)
• 1536 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shogun (d. 1565)
• 1576 – Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau (d. 1644)
• 1596 – René Descartes, French philosopher and mathematician (d. 1650)
• 1621 – Andrew Marvell, English poet and politician (d. 1678)
• 1651 – Charles II, Elector Palatine, German husband of Princess Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark (d. 1685)
• 1675 – Pope Benedict XIV (d. 1758)
• 1685 – Johann Sebastian Bach, German organist and composer (d. 1750)
• 1718 – Mariana Victoria of Spain (d. 1781)
• 1723 – Frederick V of Denmark (d. 1766)
• 1730 – Étienne Bézout, French mathematician (d. 1783)
• 1732 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1809)
• 1747 – Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German pianist and composer (d. 1800)
• 1752 – Panoutsos Notaras, Greek politician (d. 1849)
• 1777 – Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist and engineer (d. 1859)
• 1778 – Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist (d. 1858)
• 1794 – Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1852)
• 1809 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet (d. 1883)
• 1809 – Nikolai Gogol, Ukrainian-Russian author and playwright (d. 1852)
• 1809 – Otto Lindblad, Swedish composer (d. 1864)
• 1819 – Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (d. 1901)
• 1823 – Mary Boykin Chesnut, American author (d. 1886)
• 1847 – Hermann de Pourtalès, Swiss sailor (d. 1904)
• 1847 – Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician (d. 1878)
• 1855 – Alfred E. Hunt, American businessman (d. 1899)
• 1871 – Arthur Griffith, Irish politician, 3rd President of Dáil Éireann (d. 1922)
• 1872 – Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet manager and critic, founded the Ballets Russes (d. 1929)
• 1872 – Alexandra Kollontai, Russian diplomat (d. 1952)
• 1876 – Borisav Stanković, Serbian author (d. 1927)
• 1878 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946)
• 1884 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer (d. 1946)
• 1885 – Pascin, Bulgarian-American painter (d. 1930)
• 1890 – William Lawrence Bragg, Australian-English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
• 1891 – Victor Varconi, Hungarian-American actor (d. 1976)
• 1893 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor (d. 1954)
• 1893 – Herbert Meinhard Mühlpfordt, German historian (d. 1982)
• 1895 – Vardis Fisher, American author (d. 1968)
• 1900 – Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (d. 1974)
• 1902 – Alfred Praks, Estonian wrestler (d. 1998)
• 1903 – John Harron, American actor (d. 1939)
• 1906 – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
• 1907 – Eddie Quillan, American actor (d. 1990)
• 1908 – Red Norvo, American vibraphone player and composer (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Elisabeth Grümmer, German soprano (d. 1986)
• 1912 – William Lederer, American author (d. 2009)
• 1913 – Etta Baker, American singer and guitarist (d. 2006)
• 1914 – Octavio Paz, Mexican author, poet, and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
• 1915 – Albert Hourani, English historian and author (d. 1993)
• 1915 – Shoichi Yokoi, Japanese sergeant (d. 1997)
• 1916 – Lucille Bliss, American voice actress (d. 2012)
• 1916 – John H. Wood, Jr., American lawyer and judge (d. 1979)
• 1919 – Frank Akins, American football player (d. 1993)
• 1920 – Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
• 1921 – Peggy Rea, American actress (d. 2011)
• 1922 – Richard Kiley, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1923 – Shoshana Damari, Yemenite-Israeli singer (d. 2006)
• 1923 – François Sermon, Belgian footballer (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Leo Buscaglia, American author (d. 1998)
• 1924 – Charles Guggenheim, American director and producer (d. 2002)
• 1925 – Jean Coutu, Canadian actor (d. 1999)
• 1926 – John Fowles, English author (d. 2005)
• 1926 – Rocco Petrone, American engineer (d. 2006)
• 1927 – Cesar Chavez, American activist (d. 1993)
• 1927 – William Daniels, American actor
• 1927 – Elmer Diedtrich, American politician (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Bud MacPherson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1988)
• 1928 – Lefty Frizzell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
• 1928 – Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1929 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne (d. 2007)
• 1929 – Bert Fields, American lawyer
• 1931 – Miller Barber, American golfer
• 1932 – John Jakes, American author
• 1932 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1933 – Anita Carter, American singer-songwriter and bassist (Carter Family and The Carter Sisters) (d. 1999)
• 1933 – Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet (d. 1983)
• 1934 – Richard Chamberlain, American actor and singer
• 1934 – Shirley Jones, American actress and singer
• 1934 – John D. Loudermilk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1934 – Carlo Rubbia, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1935 – Herb Alpert, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player
• 1935 – Judith Rossner, American author (d. 2005)
• 1936 – Marge Piercy, American author and poet
• 1936 – Bob Pulford, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1936 – Sandayū Dokumamushi, Japanese actor
• 1937 – Willem Duyn, Dutch singer-songwriter (Mouth & MacNeal) (d. 2004)
• 1938 – Sheila Dikshit, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of Delhi
• 1938 – Joel Godard, American television announcer
• 1938 – Bill Hicke, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2005)
• 1938 – Tõnno Lepmets, Estonian basketball player (d. 2005)
• 1938 – Michiko Nomura, Japanese voice actress
• 1938 – Arthur B. Rubinstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (The Beepers)
• 1938 – David Steel, Scottish politician
• 1939 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgian politician, 1st President of Georgia (d. 1993)
• 1939 – Israel Horovitz, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1939 – Walker David Miller, American judge (d. 2013)
• 1939 – Volker Schlöndorff, German director and producer
• 1939 – Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, German footballer
• 1940 – Brian Ackland-Snow, English production designer (d. 2013)
• 1940 – Barney Frank, American politician
• 1940 – Patrick Leahy, American politician
• 1941 – Franco Bonvicini, Italian illustrator (d. 1995)
• 1941 – Faith Leech, Australian swimmer (d. 2013)
• 1942 – Ulla Hoffmann, Swedish politician
• 1942 – Hugh McCracken, American guitarist and producer (d. 2013)
• 1942 – Michael Savage, American radio host and author
• 1943 – Roy Andersson, Swedish film director
• 1943 – Christopher Walken, American actor
• 1944 – Pascal Danel, French singer-songwriter
• 1944 – Mick Ralphs, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Mott the Hoople and Bad Company)
• 1945 – Edwin Catmull, American computer scientist
• 1945 – Valerie Curtin, American actress and screenwriter
• 1945 – Gabe Kaplan, American actor
• 1945 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress (d. 1995)
• 1946 – Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1984)
• 1947 – Kristian Blak, Danish-Faroese pianist, composer, and producer (Yggdrasil)
• 1947 – César Gaviria, Colombian politician, 36th President of Colombia
• 1947 – Eliyahu M. Goldratt Israeli physicist (d. 2011)
• 1948 – Gary Doer, Canadian politician and diplomat, 20th Premier of Manitoba
• 1948 – Natalia Dubova, Russian ice dancer and coach
• 1948 – David Eisenhower, American author and educator
• 1948 – Al Gore, American politician, 45th Vice President of the United States and Nobel Prize laureate
• 1948 – Rhea Perlman, American actress
• 1948 – Gustaaf Van Cauter, Belgian cyclist
• 1949 – Gilles Gilbert, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1950 – András Adorján, Hungarian chess player and author
• 1950 – Ed Marinaro, American football player and actor
• 1952 – Dermot Morgan, Irish actor (d. 1998)
• 1952 – Vanessa del Rio, American pornographic actress
• 1954 – Laima Vaikule, Latvian actress, singer, director, and choreographer
• 1955 – Robert Vance, New Zealand cricketer
• 1955 – Angus Young, Scottish-Australian guitarist and songwriter (AC/DC and Marcus Hook Roll Band)
• 1957 – Alan Duncan, English politician
• 1957 – Marc McClure, American actor
• 1957 – Kyle Secor, American actor
• 1958 – Tony Cox, American actor
• 1958 – Sylvester Groth, German tenor and actor
• 1959 – Markus Hediger, Swiss poet and translator
• 1959 – Ali McMordie, Irish bass player (Stiff Little Fingers and Friction Groove)
• 1960 – Michelle Nicastro, American actress and singer (d. 2010)
• 1961 – Suzanne Westenhoefer, American comedian
• 1961 – Gary Winick, American director and producer (d. 2011)
• 1961 – Howard Gordon, American television writer and producer
• 1962 – John Taylor, American football player
• 1963 – Paul Mercurio, Australian actor and dancer

• 1964 – Brad Slaight, American comedian and actor
• 1964 – Fez Whatley, American radio host and producer
• 1964 – Paul Wong, Hong Kong singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (Beyond)
• 1965 – Tom Barrasso, American ice hockey player and coach
• 1965 – Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French mountaineer (d. 2006)
• 1965 – William McNamara, American actor
• 1965 – Steven T. Seagle, American author and screenwriter
• 1966 – Roger Black, English runner
• 1966 – Nick Firestone, American race car driver
• 1968 – Naoya Ogawa, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
• 1968 – J. R. Reid, American basketball player and coach
• 1969 – Samantha Brown, American television host
• 1969 – Nyamko Sabuni, Burundian-Swedish politician
• 1969 – Steve Smith, American basketball player
• 1970 – Damon Herriman, Australian actor
• 1970 – Patrick Lachman, American singer and guitarist (Damageplan and Halford)
• 1971 – Demetris Assiotis, Cypriot footballer
• 1971 – Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player
• 1971 – Craig McCracken, American animator, screenwriter, and producer
• 1971 – Ewan McGregor, Scottish-American actor
• 1972 – Alejandro Amenábar, Chilean-Spanish director and screenwriter
• 1972 – Andrew Bowen, American actor
• 1972 – Ze Frank, American comedian and blogger
• 1972 – Luca Gentili, Italian footballer and coach
• 1972 – Hristos Polihroniou, Greek hammer thrower
• 1972 – Evan Williams, American businessman, co-founded Twitter and Pyra Labs
• 1974 – Benjamin Eicher, German director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1974 – Adrian Holmes, Welsh-Canadian actor
• 1974 – Stefan Olsdal, Swedish bass player (Placebo)
• 1975 – Emma Atkins, English actress
• 1975 – Prodromos Dreliozis, Greek basketball player
• 1975 – Toni Gardemeister, Finnish rally driver
• 1975 – Adam Green, American director, screenwriter, and producer
• 1975 – Nathan Grey, Australian rugby player
• 1975 – Cameron Murray, Scottish rugby player
• 1975 – Ryan Rupe, American baseball player
• 1976 – Rich Clementi, American mixed martial artist
• 1976 – Howard Frier, American basketball player
• 1976 – Josh Saviano, American actor and lawyer
• 1976 – Igors Sļesarčuks, Latvian-Russian footballer
• 1976 – Guy Mariano, Italian-American skateboarder
• 1976 – Shawty Lo, American rapper
• 1977 – Toshiya, Japanese bass player, songwriter, and producer (Dir en grey)
• 1977 – Garth Tander, Australian race car driver
• 1978 – Stephen Clemence, English footballer
• 1978 – Daniel Mays, English actor
• 1978 – Jérôme Rothen, French footballer
• 1978 – Tony Yayo, American rapper (G-Unit)
• 1978 – Jarrod Cooper, American football player
• 1979 – Josh Kinney, American baseball player
• 1979 – Charlie Manning, American baseball player
• 1979 – Alexis Ferrero, Argentine footballer
• 1979 – Omri Afek, Israeli footballer
• 1979 – Euan Burton, Scottish judoka
• 1979 – Tanya Tate, English pornographic actress and model
• 1980 – Trenyce, American singer and actress
• 1980 – Dean Clark, English footballer
• 1980 – Martin Albrechtsen, Danish footballer
• 1980 – Kate Micucci, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (Garfunkel and Oates)
• 1980 – Michael Ryder, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 – Maaya Sakamoto, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
• 1980 – Chien-Ming Wang, Taiwanese baseball player
• 1981 – Ryan Bingham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1981 – Gerard McCarthy, Irish actor
• 1981 – Thomas Chatelle, Belgian footballer
• 1981 – Pa Dembo Touray, Gambian footballer
• 1981 – Maarten van der Weijden, Dutch swimmer
• 1982 – Tal Ben Haim, Israeli footballer
• 1982 – Ryland Blackinton, American guitarist (Cobra Starship and This Is Ivy League)
• 1982 – Bam Childress, American football player
• 1982 – Audrey Kawasaki, American painter
• 1982 – Lennon Murphy, American singer-songwriter
• 1983 – Hashim Amla, South African cricketer
• 1983 – Silver Leppik, Estonian basketball player
• 1983 – Jeff Mathis, American baseball player
• 1983 – Anthony Lewis, English actor
• 1983 – Noah "40" Shebib, Canadian hip-hop producer
• 1983 – Vlasios Maras, Greek gymnast
• 1983 – Paddy McCarthy, Irish footballer
• 1983 – Thierry Issiémou, Gabonese footballer
• 1983 – Melissa Ordway, American actress and model
• 1983 – Nigel Plum, Australian rugby player
• 1984 – Jack Antonoff, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Steel Train and Fun)
• 1984 – Dario Bova, Italian footballer
• 1984 – David Clarkson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1984 – Eddie Johnson, American soccer player
• 1984 – James Jones, American football player
• 1984 – Kaie Kand, Estonian heptathlete
• 1984 – Alberto Junior Rodríguez, Peruvian footballer
• 1984 – Osama Hawsawi, Saudi Arabian footballer
• 1984 – Ed Williamson, English rugby player
• 1984 – Yanin Vismitananda, Thai actress and martial artist
• 1985 – Stephanie Bendixsen, Australian television host
• 1985 – Jessica Szohr, American actress
• 1985 – Jesper Hansen, Danish footballer
• 1985 – Jalmar Sjöberg, Swedish Greco-Roman wrestler
• 1985 – Kory Sheets, American football player
• 1985 – Jo-Lonn Dunbar, American football player
• 1985 – Steve Bernier, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Paulo Machado, Portuguese footballer
• 1986 – Matthew Collins, Welsh footballer
• 1986 – Andreas Dober, Austrian footballer
• 1986 – Romeo Filipović, German-Croatian footballer
• 1986 – James King, Scottish rugby player
• 1986 – Jay Rock, American rapper
• 1987 – Nordin Amrabat, Dutch footballer
• 1987 – Hugo Ayala, Mexican footballer
• 1987 – Amaury Bischoff, Portuguese footballer

& 1987 – The Child of Lov, Belgian-Dutch singer (d. 2013)

• 1987 – Koneru Humpy, Indian chess player
• 1987 – Georg Listing, German bass player (Tokio Hotel)
• 1987 – Winston Venable, American football player
• 1987 – Justin Braun, American soccer player
• 1987 – Allison Falk, American soccer player
• 1987 – Eros Pisano, Italian footballer
• 1987 – Aridane Santana, Spanish footballer
• 1987 – Carl Dickinson, English footballer
• 1987 – Kirill Starkov, Danish ice hockey player
• 1987 – Nelli Zhiganshina, Russian figure skater
• 1988 – Hogan Ephraim, English footballer
• 1988 – DeAndre Liggins, American basketball player
• 1988 – Dorin Dickerson, American football player
• 1988 – Louis van der Westhuizen, Namibian cricketer
• 1988 – Thomas De Corte, Belgian footballer
• 1989 – Alfredo Marte, Dominican baseball player
• 1989 – Josmil Pinto, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1989 – Kidd, Danish rapper
• 1989 – Alyn Camara, German long jumper
• 1989 – Liu Zige, Chinese swimmer
• 1989 – Alberto Martín Romo García Adámez, Spanish footballer
• 1989 – Nejc Vidmar, Slovenian footballer
• 1990 – Kylie Bisutti, American model
• 1990 – Balázs Megyeri, Hungarian footballer
• 1990 – George Iloka, American football player
• 1990 – Sandra Roma, Swedish tennis player
• 1990 – Bang Yong-guk, South Korean rapper, actor, and dancer (B.A.P)
• 1991 – Rodney Sneijder, Dutch footballer
• 1991 – Milan Milanović, Serbian footballer
• 1991 – Renato Kelić, Croatian footballer
• 1991 – Lukas Rotpuller, Austrian footballer
• 1991 – Jan Šebek, Czech footballer
• 1991 – Nichaon Jindapon, Thai badminton player
• 1992 – Henri Laaksonen, Swiss-Finnish tennis player
• 1992 – Stijn de Looijer, Dutch footballer
• 1993 – Jonatan Isenia, Dutch baseball player
• 1993 – Mikael Ishak, Swedish footballer
• 1994 – Thomas Batuello, American actor

Deaths

• 1340 – Ivan I of Moscow (b. 1288)
• 1547 – Francis I of France (b. 1494)
• 1567 – Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1504)
• 1621 – Philip III of Spain (b. 1578)
• 1631 – John Donne, English lawyer and poet (b. 1572)
• 1671 – Anne Hyde, English wife of James II of England (b. 1637)
• 1703 – Johann Christoph Bach, German organist and composer (b. 1642)
• 1723 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, English-American politician, 14th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1661)
• 1741 – Pieter Burman the Elder, Dutch scholar (b. 1668)
• 1797 – Olaudah Equiano, Nigerian merchant, author, and activist (b.1745)
• 1837 – John Constable, English painter (b. 1776)
• 1850 – John C. Calhoun, American politician, 7th Vice President of the United States (b. 1782)
• 1850 – Miguel Pedrorena, Spanish-American soldier (b. 1808)
• 1855 – Charlotte Brontë, English author (b. 1816)
• 1877 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician (b. 1801)
• 1880 – Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violinist and composer (b. 1835)
• 1885 – Franz Abt, German composer and conductor (b. 1819)
• 1913 – J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier, founded J.P. Morgan & Co. (b. 1837)
• 1915 – Wyndham Halswelle, English-Scottish runner (b. 1882)
• 1917 – Emil Adolf von Behring, German physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1854)
• 1924 – George Charles Haité, English painter and illustrator (b. 1855)
• 1929 – Pablo de Escandón, Mexican polo player (b. 1856)
• 1930 – Ludwig Schüler, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1836)
• 1931 – Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (b. 1888)
• 1935 – Georges V. Matchabelli, Georgian-American businessman and diplomat, founded Prince Matchabelli perfume (b. 1885)
• 1935 – Concordia Selander, Swedish actress and manager (b. 1861)
• 1944 – Mineichi Koga, Japanese admiral (b. 1885)
• 1945 – Hans Fischer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
• 1945 – Frank Findlay, New Zealand politician (b. 1884)
• 1950 – Robert Natus, Baltic German architect (b. 1890)
• 1952 – Wallace H. White, Jr., American politician (b. 1877)
• 1956 – Ralph DePalma, Italian race car driver (b. 1884)
• 1968 – Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (b. 1885)
• 1972 – Meena Kumari, Indian actress (b. 1932)
• 1975 – Percy Alliss, English golfer (b. 1897)
• 1976 – Paul Strand, American photographer and director (b. 1890)
• 1978 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian medical scientist, co-discovered Insulin (b. 1899)
• 1980 – Vladimír Holan, Czech poet (b. 1905)
• 1980 – Jesse Owens, American sprinter and long jumper (b. 1913)
• 1981 – Enid Bagnold, English author and playwright (b. 1889)
• 1983 – Christina Stead, Australian author (b. 1902)
• 1984 – Ronald Clark O'Bryan, American murderer (b. 1944)
• 1986 – O'Kelly Isley, Jr., American singer-songwriter (The Isley Brothers) (b. 1937)
• 1986 – Jerry Paris, American actor and director (b. 1925)
• 1988 – William McMahon, Australian politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)
• 1993 – Chichay, Filipino actress (b. 1918)
• 1993 – Brandon Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1965)
• 1993 – Mitchell Parish, Lithuanian-American songwriter (b. 1900)
• 1995 – Selena, American singer-songwriter (Selena y Los Dinos) (b. 1971)
• 1996 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Gun Club) (b. 1958)
• 1998 – Bella Abzug, American lawyer and politician (b. 1920)
• 1998 – Tim Flock, American race car driver (b. 1924)
• 1999 – Yuri Knorozov, Russian linguist (b. 1922)
• 2001 – David Rocastle, English footballer (b. 1967)
• 2001 – Clifford Shull, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
• 2002 – Barry Took, English comedian and screenwriter (b. 1928)
• 2002 – Moturu Udayam, Indian politician and activist (b. 1924)
• 2003 – Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, English-Canadian geometer (b. 1907)
• 2003 – Anne Gwynne, American actress (b. 1918)
• 2003 – Tommy Seebach, Danish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (Sir Henry and his Butlers) (b. 1949)
• 2004 – Scott Helvenston, American soldier (b. 1965)
• 2005 – Stanley J. Korsmeyer, American oncologist (b. 1951)
• 2005 – Justiniano Montano, Filipino politician (b. 1905)
• 2005 – Frank Perdue, American businessman (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Terri Schiavo, American medical patient (b. 1963)
• 2006 – Angela Devi, American model (b. 1975)
• 2006 – Jackie McLean, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1931)
• 2007 – Paul Watzlawick, Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Jules Dassin, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1911)
• 2008 – Bill Keightley, American equipment manager (b. 1926)
• 2009 – Jarl Alfredius, Swedish journalist (b. 1943)
• 2009 – Raúl Alfonsín, Argentine lawyer and politician, 46th President of Argentina (b. 1927)
• 2009 – Choor Singh, Indian-Singaporean judge (b. 1911)
• 2010 – Shirley Mills, American actress (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Tony Barrell, English-Australian journalist and broadcaster (b. 1940)
• 2011 – Gil Clancy, American boxing trainer (b. 1922)
• 2011 – Alan Fitzgerald, Australian journalist and author (b. 1935)
• 2011 – Oddvar Hansen, Norwegian footballer and coach (b. 1921)
• 2011 – Claudia Heill, Austrian martial artist (b. 1982)
• 2011 – Vassili Kononov, Russian war criminal (b. 1923)
• 2011 – Ishbel MacAskill, Scottish singer and activist (b. 1941)
• 2011 – Mel McDaniel, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
• 2011 – Boško Radonjić, Serbian mobster (b. 1943)
• 2011 – Edward Stobart, English businessman (b. 1954)
• 2011 – Henry Taub, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Judith Adams, New Zealand-Australian nurse and politician (b. 1943)
• 2012 – Dale R. Corson, American physicist and academic (b. 1914)
• 2012 – Bernard O. Gruenke, American stained glass artist (b. 1914)
• 2012 – Jerry Lynch, American baseball player (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Halbert White, American economist and educator (b. 1950)
• 2013 – Rod Berry, American lawyer and politician (b. 1948)
• 2013 – Charles Amarin Brand, French archbishop (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Ernie Bridge, Australian singer and politician (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Helena Carroll, Scottish-American actress (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Bob Clarke, American illustrator (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Dick Duden, American football player and coach (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Ahmad Sayyed Javadi, Iranian lawyer and politician (b. 1917)
• 2013 – Michael Jenkins, English diplomat (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Mack McInnis, American politician (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Ronnie Ray Smith, American sprinter (b. 1949)
• 2013 – Dmitri Uchaykin, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1980)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day
  • Abdas of Susa
  • Acathius of Melitene (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • Anesius and companions
  • Benjamin
  • Balbina
  • March 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Freedom Day (Malta)
• King Nangklao Memorial Day (Thailand)
• Thomas Mundy Peterson Day (New Jersey)
• Transfer Day (US Virgin Islands)
• César Chávez Day (United States of America)
• Geologists Day (in the Soviet Union)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to March 31.

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