What happened this day in history July 31

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 212th 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.

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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.

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July 31 Historical Events

  • 904
    Thessalonica falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city.
  • 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.
  • 1938
    Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.
  • 1938
    Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia).
  • 1948
    At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
  • 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.
  • 1970
    Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.
  • 1987
    A rare, class F4 tornado rips through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and causing $330 million in damage.
  • 1992
    Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing all 113 people on board.
  • 2007
    Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.

Who were born on July 31?

  • 1737
    Princess Augusta of Great Britain (d. 1813)
  • 1847
    Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1905)
  • 1886
    Fred Quimby, American film producer (d. 1965)
  • 1916
    Bill Todman, American game show producer (d. 1979)
  • 1922
    Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
  • 1944
    Geraldine Chaplin, American actress
  • 1953
    James Read, American actor
  • 1953
    Ted Baillieu, Australian politician
  • 1958
    Bill Berry, American musician (R.E.M.)
  • 1973
    Fabulous Flournoy American basketball player and coach Newcastle Eagles

Who died on July 31?

  • 1726
    Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1695)
  • 1875
    Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)
  • 1914
    Jean Jaurès, French politician (d. 1859)
  • 1944
    Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and writer (b. 1900)
  • 1963
    Sir Robert Chapman, British soldier and politician (b. 1880)
  • 1972
    Paul-Henri Spaak, Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)
  • 1986
    Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)
  • 2001
    Poul Anderson, American author (b. 1926)
  • 2006
    Paul Eells, American sportscaster (b. 1935)
  • 2009
    Harry Alan Towers, English film producer and screenwriter (b. 1920)

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