August 31

August 31 is the 243rd day of the year (244th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 122 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 1056 – After a sudden illness a few days previously, Byzantine Empress Theodora dies childless, thus ending the Macedonian dynasty.
• 1218 – Al-Kamil becomes Sultan of Egypt, Syria and northern Mesopotamia on the death of his father Al-Adil.
• 1314 – King Håkon V Magnusson moves the capital of Norway from Bergen to Oslo.
• 1422 – King Henry V of England dies of dysentery while in France. His son, Henry VI becomes King of England at the age of 9 months.
• 1795 – War of the First Coalition: The British capture Trincomalee (present-day Sri Lanka) from the Dutch in order to keep it out of French hands.
• 1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: Irish rebels, with French assistance, establish the short-lived Republic of Connacht.
• 1803 – Lewis and Clark start their expedition to the west by leaving Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 11 in the morning.
• 1813 – At the final stage of the Peninsular War, British-Portuguese troops capture the town of Donostia (now San Sebastián), resulting in a rampage and eventual destruction of the town. Elsewhere, Spanish troops repel a French attack in the Battle of San Marcial.
• 1864 – During the American Civil War, Union forces led by General William T. Sherman launch an assault on Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1876 – Ottoman Sultan Murat V is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid II.
• 1886 – An earthquake kills 100 in Charleston, South Carolina.
• 1888 – Mary Ann Nichols is murdered. She is the first of Jack the Ripper's confirmed victims.
• 1895 – German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his Navigable Balloon.
• 1897 – Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.
• 1907 – Count Alexander Izvolsky and Sir Arthur Nicolson sign the St. Petersburg Convention, which results in the Triple Entente alliance.
• 1913 – Police attack a union rally during the Dublin Lock-out, killing two people and injuring hundreds.
• 1918 – World War I: Start of the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin, a successful assault by the Australian Corps during the Hundred Days Offensive.
• 1920 – Polish-Bolshevik War: A decisive Polish victory in the Battle of Komarów.
• 1920 – The first radio news program is broadcast by 8MK in Detroit, Michigan.
• 1936 – Radio Prague, now the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic, goes on the air.
• 1935 – In an attempt to stay out of the growing turmoil in Europe, the United States passes the first of its Neutrality Acts.
• 1939 – Nazi Germany mounts a staged attack on the Gleiwitz radio station, creating an excuse to attack Poland the following day thus starting World War II in Europe.
• 1940 – Pennsylvania Central Airlines Trip 19 crashes near Lovettsville, Virginia. The CAB investigation of the accident is the first investigation to be conducted under the Bureau of Air Commerce act of 1938.
• 1941 – World War II: Serbian paramilitary forces defeat Germans in the Battle of Loznica.
• 1943 – The USS Harmon, the first U.S. Navy ship to be named after a black person, is commissioned.
• 1945 – The Liberal Party of Australia is founded by Robert Menzies.
• 1949 – The retreat of the Democratic Army of Greece in Albania after its defeat on Gramos mountain marks the end of the Greek Civil War.
• 1957 – The Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1958 – A parcel bomb sent by Ngo Dinh Nhu, younger brother and chief adviser of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, fails to kill King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
• 1962 – Trinidad and Tobago becomes independent.
• 1963 – North Borneo (now Sabah) achieve a self governance.
• 1965 – The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy aircraft makes its first flight.
• 1968 – Garfield Sobers became the first batsman ever to hit six sixes in a single over of six consecutive balls in first-class cricket.
• 1980 – After two weeks of nationwide strikes, the Polish government was forced to sign the Gdańsk Agreement, allowing for the creation of the trade union Solidarity.
• 1980 – Flood in Ibadan after 12 hours of heavy downpour killed over 300 people and properties worth million destroyed.
• 1982 – Anti-government demonstrations are held in 66 Polish cities to commemorate the second anniversary of the Gdańsk Agreement.
• 1986 – Aeroméxico Flight 498 collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground.
• 1986 – The Soviet passenger liner  Admiral Nakhimov sinks in the Black Sea after colliding with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev, killing 423.
• 1987 – Thai Airways Flight 365 crashes into the ocean near Ko Phuket, Thailand, killing all 83 aboard.
• 1991 – Kyrgyzstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
• 1992 – Pascal Lissouba is inaugurated as the President of the Republic of the Congo.
• 1994 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army declares a ceasefire.
• 1996 – Saddam Hussein's troops seized Irbil after the Kurdish Masoud Barzani appealed for help to defeat his Kurdish rival PUK.
• 1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul die in a car crash in Paris.
• 1998 – North Korea reportedly launches Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1, its first satellite.
• 1999 – The first of a series of bombings in Moscow kills one person and wounds 40 others.
• 1999 – A LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashes during takeoff from Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires, killing 65, including two on the ground.
• 2005 – A stampede on Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad kills 1,199 people.
• 2006 – Edvard Munch's famous painting The Scream, stolen on August 22, 2004, is recovered in a raid by Norwegian police.

Births

• 12 – Caligula, Roman emperor (d. 41)
• 161 – Commodus, Roman emperor (d. 192)
• 1602 – Amalia of Solms-Braunfels (d. 1675)
• 1652 – Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat (d. 1708)
• 1663 – Guillaume Amontons, French physicist and instrument maker (d. 1705)
• 1721 – George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1775)
• 1741 – Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, French composer and educator (d. 1816)
• 1748 – Jean-Étienne Despréaux, French ballet dancer, choreographer, composer, and playwright (d. 1820)
• 1767 – Henry Joy McCracken, Irish activist, founded the Society of United Irishmen (d. 1798)
• 1775 – Agnes Bulmer, English poet (d. 1836)
• 1802 – Husein Gradaščević, Bosnian general (d. 1834)
• 1821 – Hermann von Helmholtz, German physician and physicist (d. 1894)
• 1822 – Galusha A. Grow, American lawyer and politician, 28th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1907)
• 1834 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer and educator (d. 1886)
• 1842 – Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, American journalist, publisher, and activist (d. 1924)
• 1843 – Georg von Hertling, Bavarian politician, 7th Chancellor of the German Empire (d. 1919)
• 1860 – Alfred Grütter, Swiss target shooter (d. 1937)
• 1866 – Gilbert Bougnol, French fencer (d. 1947)
• 1870 – Maria Montessori, Italian physician and educator (d. 1952)
• 1871 – James E. Ferguson, American politician, 26th Governor of Texas (d. 1944)
• 1878 – Frank Jarvis, American sprinter (d. 1933)
• 1879 – Alma Mahler, Austrian-American composer and painter (d. 1964)
• 1879 – Emperor Taishō of Japan (d. 1926)
• 1880 – Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (d. 1962)
• 1883 – Leo O'Connell, American soccer player (d. 1934)
• 1885 – DuBose Heyward, American author and playwright (d. 1940)
• 1893 – Lily Laskine, French harp player (d. 1988)
• 1894 – Albert Facey, Australian soldier and author (d. 1982)
• 1896 – Félix-Antoine Savard, Canadian priest and author (d. 1982)
• 1897 – Fredric March, American actor (d. 1975)
• 1900 – Gino Lucetti, Italian anarchist, attempted assassin of Benito Mussolini (d. 1943)
• 1902 – Géza Révész, Hungarian general and politician, Minister of Defence for Hungary (d. 1977)
• 1903 – Arthur Godfrey, American radio and television host (d. 1983)
• 1903 – Vladimir Jankélévitch, French musicologist and philosopher (d. 1985)
• 1905 – Robert Bacher, American physicist and academic (d. 2004)
• 1905 – Sanford Meisner, American actor (d. 1997)
• 1907 – Valter Biiber, Estonian footballer (d. 1977)
• 1907 – Augustus F. Hawkins, American politician (d. 2007)
• 1907 – Ramon Magsaysay, Filipino captain, engineer, and politician, 7th President of the Philippines (d. 1957)
• 1907 – William Shawn, American journalist (d. 1992)
• 1907 – Altiero Spinelli, Italian theorist and politician (d. 1986)
• 1908 – William Saroyan, American author and playwright (d. 1981)
• 1909 – Ferenc Fejtő, Hungarian-French journalist and political scientist (d. 2008)
• 1911 – Edward Brongersma, Dutch journalist and politician (d. 1998)
• 1911 – Arsenio Rodríguez, Cuban-American tres player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1970)
• 1913 – Helen Levitt, American photographer and cinematographer (d. 2009)
• 1913 – Bernard Lovell, English physicist and astronomer (d. 2012)
• 1914 – Richard Basehart, American actor (d. 1984)
• 1916 – Danny Litwhiler, American baseball player and coach (d. 2011)
• 1916 – Daniel Schorr, American journalist and author (d. 2010)
• 1916 – John S. Wold, American politician
• 1918 – Alan Jay Lerner, American songwriter and composer (d. 1986)
• 1919 – Amrita Preetam, Indian poet and author (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Gustavo Adolfo Palma, Guatemalan tenor and actor (d. 2010)
• 1920 – G. D. Spradlin, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2011)
• 1921 – Otis G. Pike, American judge and politician (d. 2014)
• 1921 – Raymond Williams, Welsh academic and author (d. 1988)
• 1924 – John Davidson, American physician and politician (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Buddy Hackett, American actor and singer (d. 2003)
• 1924 – Herbert Wise, Austrian-English director and producer
• 1925 – Moran Campbell, English-Canadian physician and academic, invented the venturi mask (d. 2004)
• 1928 – James Coburn, American actor (d. 2002)
• 1928 – Jaime Sin, Filipino cardinal (d. 2005)
• 1930 – Charles Kay, English actor
• 1930 – Big Tiny Little, American pianist (d. 2010)
• 1931 – Jean Béliveau, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
• 1931 – Noble Willingham, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1932 – Roy Castle, English actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1994)
• 1932 – Allan Fotheringham, Canadian journalist
• 1934 – Nikos Xanthopoulos, Greek actor and singer
• 1935 – Eldridge Cleaver, American activist and author (d. 1998)
• 1935 – Bryan Organ, English painter
• 1935 – Frank Robinson, American baseball player and manager
• 1936 – Vladimir Orlov, Russian author (d. 2014)
• 1937 – Warren Berlinger, American actor
• 1937 – Bobby Parker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
• 1938 – Martin Bell, English journalist and politician
• 1939 – Jerry Allison, American drummer and songwriter (The Crickets)
• 1940 – Robbie Basho, American guitarist, pianist, and composer (d. 1986)
• 1940 – Wilton Felder, American saxophonist and bass player (The Crusaders)
• 1940 – Larry Hankin, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1940 – Robert Morris, English actor
• 1940 – Roger Newman, English-American actor and screenwriter (d. 2010)
• 1940 – Jack Thompson, Australian actor
• 1941 – William DeWitt, Jr., American businessman
• 1941 – Emmanuel Nunes, Portuguese-French composer and educator (d. 2012)
• 1943 – Leonid Ivashov, Russian general
• 1944 – Roger Dean, English illustrator and publisher
• 1944 – Liz Forgan, English journalist
• 1944 – Christine King, English historian and academic
• 1944 – Clive Lloyd, Guyanese cricketer
• 1944 – Jos LeDuc, Canadian-American wrestler (d. 1999)
• 1945 – Lee Bryant, American actress
• 1945 – Van Morrison, Irish singer-songwriter (Them)
• 1945 – Itzhak Perlman, Israeli-American violinist and conductor
• 1945 – Bob Welch, American singer and guitarist (Fleetwood Mac and Paris) (d. 2012)
• 1946 – Ann Coffey, Scottish politician
• 1946 – Jerome Corsi, American theorist and author
• 1946 – Tom Coughlin, American football player and coach
• 1947 – Mona Marshall, American voice actress
• 1947 – Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Italian businessman
• 1947 – Yumiko Ōshima, Japanese author and illustrator
• 1947 – Somchai Wongsawat, Thai politician, 26th Prime Minister of Thailand
• 1948 – Harald Ertl, Austrian race car driver (d. 1982)
• 1948 – Lowell Ganz, American screenwriter and producer
• 1948 – Ken McMullen, English director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1948 – Holger Osieck, German footballer and manager
• 1948 – Rudolf Schenker, German guitarist and songwriter (Scorpions)
• 1949 – Richard Gere, American actor, singer, and producer
• 1949 – Hugh David Politzer, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1951 – Sirje Tamul, Estonian historian, author, and academic
• 1952 – Kim Kashkashian, American viola player
• 1952 – Herbert Reul, German politician
• 1953 – Miguel Ángel Guerra, Argentinian race car driver
• 1953 – György Károly, Hungarian poet and author
• 1953 – Jimmy McKenna, Scottish actor
• 1953 – Pavel Vinogradov, Russian astronaut and engineer
• 1954 – Julie Brown, American actress, singer, producer, and screenwriter
• 1955 – Aleksander Krupa, Polish-American actor
• 1955 – Julie Maxton, Scottish lawyer and academic
• 1955 – Edwin Moses, American hurdler
• 1955 – Anthony Thistlethwaite, English saxophonist and bass player (The Waterboys and The Saw Doctors)
• 1955 – Gary Webb, American journalist and author (d. 2004)
• 1956 – Mária Balážová, Slovak painter
• 1956 – Masashi Tashiro, Japanese singer, actor, and director (Rats & Star)
• 1957 – Colm O'Rourke, Irish footballer and sportscaster
• 1957 – Gina Schock, American drummer, songwriter, and actress (The Go-Go's and Edie and the Eggs)
• 1957 – Glenn Tilbrook, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Squeeze and Difford & Tilbrook)
• 1958 – Serge Blanco, Venezuelan-French rugby player
• 1958 – Stephen Cottrell, English bishop
• 1959 – Ralph Krueger, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1959 – Jessica Upshaw, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
• 1960 – Vali Ionescu, Romanian long jumper
• 1960 – Chris Whitley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
• 1960 – Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanese politician, 3rd Secretary-General of Hezbollah
• 1961 – Magnus Ilmjärv, Estonian historian and author
• 1962 – Dee Bradley Baker, American voice actor and singer
• 1962 – Thomas Suozzi, American politician
• 1963 – Reb Beach, American guitarist (Winger, Whitesnake, Night Ranger, and Dokken)
• 1963 – Todd Carty, Irish actor and director
• 1963 – Rituparno Ghosh, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1963 – Naomi Robson, American-Australian journalist
• 1963 – Sonny Silooy, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1964 – Ramón Arellano Félix, Mexican drug trafficker (d. 2002)
• 1964 – Raymond P. Hammond, American poet and critic
• 1965 – Céline Bonnier, Canadian actress
• 1965 – Zsolt Borkai, Hungarian gymnast
• 1965 – Susan Gritton, English soprano
• 1965 – Willie Watson, New Zealand cricketer
• 1966 – Jan Einar Thorsen, Norwegian skier
• 1967 – Nigel Avery, New Zealand weightlifter
• 1967 – Jonathan Cake, English actor
• 1967 – Gene Hoglan, American drummer (Tenet, Strapping Young Lad, Testament, Fear Factory, and Dethklok)
• 1967 – Anita Moen, Norwegian skier
• 1968 – Valdon Dowiyogo, Nauruan politician
• 1968 – Hideo Nomo, Japanese-American baseball player
• 1968 – Jolene Watanabe, American tennis player
• 1969 – Nathalie Bouvier, French skier
• 1969 – Jonathan LaPaglia, Australian actor
• 1969 – Javagal Srinath, Indian cricketer and referee
• 1970 – Debbie Gibson, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1970 – Nikola Gruevski, Macedonian economist and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia
• 1970 – Kristina Cook, English horse rider
• 1970 – Greg Mulholland, English politician
• 1970 – Queen Rania of Jordan
• 1970 – Amy Stein, American photographer and educator
• 1970 – Arie van Lent, Dutch-German footballer and manager
• 1970 – Zack Ward, Canadian actor and producer
• 1971 – Pádraig Harrington, Irish golfer
• 1971 – Vadim Repin, Belgian-Russian violinist
• 1972 – Chris Tucker, American actor
• 1973 – Scott Niedermayer, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1974 – Andriy Medvedev, Ukrainian-Monacan tennis player
• 1975 – Craig Cumming, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
• 1975 – John Grahame, American ice hockey player and coach
• 1975 – Daniel Harding, English conductor
• 1975 – Sara Ramirez, Mexican-American actress and singer
• 1975 – Takahiro Suwa, Japanese wrestler
• 1976 – Vincent Delerm, French singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1976 – Roque Júnior, Brazilian footballer
• 1976 – Radek Martínek, Czech ice hockey player
• 1977 – Jeff Hardy, American wrestler and singer
• 1977 – Ian Harte, Irish footballer
• 1977 – Craig Nicholls, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Vines)
• 1978 – Philippe Christanval, French footballer
• 1978 – Ido Pariente, Israeli mixed martial artist and trainer
• 1978 – Sandis Valters, Latvian basketball player
• 1979 – Clay Hensley, American baseball player
• 1979 – Mickie James, American wrestler and singer
• 1979 – Mark Johnston, Canadian swimmer
• 1979 – Simon Neil, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Biffy Clyro and Marmaduke Duke)
• 1979 – Yuvan Shankar Raja, Indian singer-songwriter
• 1979 – Ramón Santiago, Dominican baseball player
• 1980 – Joe Budden, American rapper (Slaughterhouse)
• 1981 – Mawnia Al-Kuwaitia, Kuwaiti singer and actress
• 1981 – Dwayne Peel, Welsh rugby player
• 1981 – Steve Saviano, American ice hockey player
• 1982 – Ian Crocker, American swimmer
• 1982 – Chris Duhon, American basketball player
• 1982 – Lien Huyghebaert, Belgian sprinter
• 1982 – Christopher Katongo, Zambian footballer
• 1982 – Josh Kroeger, American baseball player
• 1982 – Alexei Mikhnov, Ukrainian-Russian ice hockey player
• 1982 – Pepe Reina, Spanish footballer
• 1982 – Michele Rugolo, Italian race car driver
• 1982 – G. Willow Wilson, American journalist and author
• 1983 – Deniz Aydoğdu, German-Turkish footballer
• 1983 – Milan Biševac, Serbian footballer
• 1983 – Larry Fitzgerald, American football player
• 1984 – Aleksander Baldin, Estonian swimmer
• 1984 – Matti Breschel, Danish cyclist
• 1984 – Ryan Kesler, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Ted Ligety, American skier
• 1984 – Rajkummar Rao, Indian actor
• 1984 – Charl Schwartzel, South African golfer
• 1985 – Rolando, Portuguese footballer
• 1985 – Andrew Foster, Australian footballer
• 1986 – Ryan Kelley, American actor
• 1986 – Feng Tianwei, Singaporean table tennis player
• 1986 – Riza Santos, Filipino-Canadian actress, host, Miss Earth Canada 2006, Miss World Canada 2011, Miss Universe Canada 2013
• 1987 – Xavi Annunziata, Spanish footballer
• 1987 – Petros Kravaritis, Greek footballer
• 1987 – Ondřej Pavelec, Czech ice hockey player
• 1988 – Ken Kallaste, Estonian footballer
• 1989 – Dezmon Briscoe, American football player
• 1990 – Tadeja Majerič, Slovenian tennis player
• 1991 – António Félix da Costa, Portuguese race car driver
• 1992 – Holly Earl, English actress
• 1994 – Alex Harris, Scottish footballer
• 1995 – Ceallach Spellman, English actor

Deaths

• 577 – John Scholasticus, Byzantine patriarch and saint
• 651 – Aidan of Lindisfarne, Irish bishop and saint
• 731 – Ōtomo no Tabito, Japanese poet (b. 665)
• 1158 – Sancho III of Castile (b. 1134)
• 1234 – Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan (b. 1212)
• 1372 – Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, English soldier (b. 1301)
• 1422 – Henry V of England (b. 1386)
• 1645 – Francesco Bracciolini, Italian poet (b. 1566)
• 1654 – Ole Worm, Danish physician and historian (b. 1588)
• 1688 – John Bunyan, English preacher, theologian, and author (b. 1628)
• 1730 – Gottfried Finger, Czech-German viol player and composer (b. 1660)
• 1741 – Johann Gottlieb Heineccius, German academic and jurist (b. 1681)
• 1772 – William Borlase, English geologist and historian (b. 1695)
• 1795 – François-André Danican Philidor, French-English chess player (b. 1726)
• 1799 – Nicolas-Henri Jardin, French architect, designed the Bernstorff Palace and Marienlyst Castle (b. 1720)
• 1811 – Louis Antoine de Bougainville, French admiral and explorer (b. 1729)
• 1814 – Arthur Phillip, English admiral and politician, 1st Governor of New South Wales (b. 1738)
• 1817 – Sir John Duckworth, 1st Baronet, English admiral and politician, 39th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1747)
• 1867 – Charles Baudelaire, French poet and critic (b. 1821)
• 1869 – Mary Ward, Irish astronomer and entomologist (b. 1827)
• 1888 – Mary Ann Nichols, English victim of Jack the Ripper (b. 1845)
• 1908 – Leslie Green, English architect (b. 1875)
• 1912 – Jean, duc Decazes, French sailor (b. 1864)
• 1920 – Jens Oliver Lisberg, Faroese designer of the Flag of the Faroe Islands (b. 1896)
• 1920 – Wilhelm Wundt, German physician, psychologist, and philosopher (b. 1832)
• 1924 – Todor Aleksandrov, Bulgarian soldier (b. 1881)
• 1927 – William Frank Carver, American target shooter (b. 1851)
• 1927 – Andranik, Armenian general (b. 1865)
• 1940 – Georges Gauthier, Canadian archbishop (b. 1871)
• 1941 – Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian poet and author (b. 1892)
• 1948 – Billy Laughlin, American actor (b. 1932)
• 1948 – Andrei Zhdanov, Russian politician (b. 1896)
• 1952 – Henri Bourassa, Canadian politician (b. 1868)
• 1954 – Elsa Barker, American author and poet (b. 1869)
• 1963 – Georges Braque, French painter and sculptor (b. 1882)
• 1965 – E. E. Smith, American engineer and author (b. 1890)
• 1967 – Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian journalist and author (b. 1891)
• 1968 – John Hartle, English motorcycle racer (b. 1933)
• 1969 – Rocky Marciano, American boxer (b. 1923)
• 1973 – John Ford, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894)
• 1974 – William Pershing Benedict, American soldier and pilot (b. 1928)
• 1974 – Norman Kirk, New Zealand engineer and politician, 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1923)
• 1978 – John Wrathall, Rhodesian accountant and politician, 2nd President of Rhodesia (b. 1913)
• 1979 – Sally Rand, American actress and dancer (b. 1904)
• 1979 – Tiger Smith, England cricketer (b. 1886)
• 1984 – Audrey Wagner, American baseball player (b. 1927)
• 1985 – Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Australian virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
• 1986 – Elizabeth Coatsworth, American author and poet (b. 1893)
• 1986 – Urho Kekkonen, Finnish journalist, lawyer, and politician, 8th President of Finland (b. 1900)
• 1986 – Henry Moore, English sculptor and illustrator (b. 1898)
• 1990 – Nathaniel Clifton, American basketball player (b. 1922)
• 1991 – Cliff Lumsdon, Canadian swimmer (b. 1931)
• 1992 – Wolfgang Güllich, German rock climber (b. 1960)
• 1995 – Barry Lee Fairchild, American kidnapper and murderer (b. 1954)
• 1997 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (b. 1955)
• 1997 – Henri Paul, French security guard (b. 1956)
• 1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales (b. 1961)
• 2000 – Lucille Fletcher, American screenwriter (b. 1912)
• 2000 – Dolores Moore, American baseball player (b. 1932)
• 2000 – Patricia Owens, Canadian-American actress (b. 1925)
• 2002 – Lionel Hampton, American pianist, composer, bandleader, and actor (b. 1908)
• 2002 – Farhad Mehrad, Persian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and pianist (b. 1944)
• 2002 – George Porter, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Carl Wayne, English singer and actor (The Move, The Hollies, and The Vikings) (b. 1943)
• 2005 – Jaan Kiivit, Jr., Estonian archbishop (b. 1940)
• 2005 – Joseph Rotblat, Polish-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
• 2005 – Michael Sheard, Scottish-English actor (b. 1940)
• 2006 – Mohamed Abdelwahab, Egyptian footballer (b. 1983)
• 2006 – Tom Delaney, English race car driver (b. 1911)
• 2006 – Derrick Wayne Frazier, American murderer (b. 1977)
• 2007 – Gay Brewer, American golfer (b. 1932)
• 2007 – Karloff Lagarde, Mexican wrestler (b. 1928)
• 2007 – Jean Jacques Paradis Canadian general (b. 1928)
• 2007 – Sulev Vahtre, Estonian historian and academic (b. 1926)
• 2008 – Ken Campbell, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1941)
• 2008 – Ike Pappas, American journalist (b. 1933)
• 2008 – Victor Yates, New Zealand rugby player (b. 1939)
• 2009 – Eraño Manalo, Filipino minister (b. 1925)
• 2010 – Laurent Fignon, French cyclist (b. 1960)
• 2011 – Ali Jawad al-Sheikh, Bahraini protester (b. 1997)
• 2011 – Wade Belak, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1976)
• 2012 – Max Bygraves, English-Australian actor and singer (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Joe Lewis, American martial artist and actor (b. 1944)
• 2012 – Carlo Maria Martini, Italian cardinal (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Kashiram Rana, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1938)
• 2012 – John C. Shabaz, American judge and politician (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Sergey Sokolov, Russian commander and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for The Soviet Union (b. 1911)
• 2013 – Alan Carrington, English chemist and academic (b. 1934)
• 2013 – David Frost, English journalist and game show host (b. 1939)
• 2013 – Jimmy Greenhalgh, English footballer and manager (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Jan Camiel Willems, Belgian mathematician and theorist (b. 1939)
• 2014 – Bapu, Indian director and screenwriter (b. 1933)
• 2014 – Ștefan Andrei, Romanian politician, 87th Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Stan Goldberg, American illustrator (b. 1932)
• 2014 – Jimi Jamison, American singer-songwriter (Survivor) (b. 1951)
• 2014 – María Eugenia Llamas, Mexican actress (b. 1944)
• 2014 – Carol Vadnais, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1945)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Aidan of Lindisfarne
  • Raymond Nonnatus
  • August 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Day of Solidarity and Freedom (Poland)
• National Language Day or Limba Noastră (Moldova)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Kyrgyzstan from the Soviet Union in 1991
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Malaya from the United Kingdom in 1957.
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Trinidad and Tobago from the United Kingdom in 1962.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to August 31.

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