What are the important events that happened on July 31? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

July 31: Facts & Myths About This Day

July 31 is the 212^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 153 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Thursday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is July 18, 2025 – a Thursday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,232,000 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectadecadigon’ day.

Leo is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Ruby is the modern birthstone for this month. Ruby is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 201 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,605 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

July 31 Historical Events

• 904 –
  Thessalonica falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city.
• 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.
• 1790 –
  The very first U.S. patent is issued: to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
• 1932 –
  The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.
• 1941 –
  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.”
• 1973 –
  A Delta Air Lines jetliner, flight DL 723 crashes while landing in fog at Logan Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89.
• 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 temporarily to brother Raúl Castro.

Who were born on July 31?

• 1835 –
  Paul du Chaillu, French explorer (d. 1903)
• 1884 –
  Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German politician (d. 1945)
• 1918 –
  Hank Jones, American pianist (d. 2010)
• 1921 –
  Peter Benenson, British founder of Amnesty International (d. 2005)
• 1943 –
  Sab Shimono, Japanese-American actor
• 1962 –
  John Laurinaitis, American professional wrestler
• 1976 –
  Joshua Cain, American musician (Motion City Soundtrack)
• 1981 –
  Matthew Sanders, American singer (Avenged Sevenfold)
• 1985 –
  Rémy Di Gregorio, French cyclist
• 1990 –
  Olga Galchenko, Russian juggler

Who died on July 31?

• 855 –
  Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Muslim Jurisprudent (b. 780)
• 1396 –
  William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1342)
• 1508 –
  Na'od, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1494)
• 1884 –
  Emperor Kien Phuc, the 7th emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty (d. 1869)
• 1886 –
  Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer (b. 1811)
• 1914 –
  Jean Jaurès, French politician (d. 1859)
• 1954 –
  Onofre Marimón, Argentine racing driver (b. 1923)
• 1973 –
  Azumafuji Kin'ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler (the 40th Yokozuna) and professional wrestler (b. 1921)
• 1993 –
  King Baudouin I of Belgium (b. 1930)
• 2004 –
  Laura Betti, Italian actress (b. 1927)