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 213^th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 153 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is July 18, 2024 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,722,384,000 seconds 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 ‘dihectadecatrigon’ 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 182 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 4,240 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

July 31 Historical Events

• 1492 –
  The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.
• 1667 –
  Second Anglo-Dutch War: Treaty of Breda ends the conflict.
• 1790 –
  The very first U.S. patent is issued: to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
• 1938 –
  Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.
• 1940 –
  A doodlebug train in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio collides with a multi-car freight train heading in the opposite direction, killing 43 people.
• 1945 –
  Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.
• 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.
• 1988 –
  32 people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, 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.

Who were born on July 31?

• 1843 –
  Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet (d. 1918)
• 1847 –
  Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1905)
• 1901 –
  Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)
• 1912 –
  Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel laureate (d. 2006)
• 1920 –
  James Esdras Faust, American religious leader (d. 2007)
• 1936 –
  Vic Davalillo, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1962 –
  Wesley Snipes, American actor
• 1968 –
  Mark Cuban, American businessman and basketball team owner
• 1970 –
  Ahmad Akbarpour, Iranian writer
• 1974 –
  Emilia Fox, English actress

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)
• 1750 –
  King John V of Portugal (b. 1689)
• 1864 –
  Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (b. 1800)
• 1886 –
  Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer (b. 1811)
• 1917 –
  Francis Ledwidge, Irish poet (b. 1881)
• 1980 –
  Pascual Jordan, German physicist (b. 1902)
• 2001 –
  Francisco da Costa Gomes, 16th President of Portugal (b. 1914)
• 2004 –
  Laura Betti, Italian actress (b. 1927)