31 January
Notable Births
Sára Bejlek
b. 2006
Czech tennis player (born 2006)
Hong Ye-ji
b. 2002
South Korean actress (born 2002)
Beñat Turrientes
b. 2002
Spanish footballer (born 2002)
Julián Alvarez
b. 2000
Argentine footballer (born 2000)
Beto (footballer, born 1998)
b. 1998
Portugal-born Bissau-Guinean footballer (born 1998)
Jalen McDaniels
b. 1998
American basketball player (born 1998)
Arnaut Danjuma
b. 1997
Netherlands international footballer (born 1997)
Donte DiVincenzo
b. 1997
American basketball player (born 1997)
Miyeon
b. 1997
South Korean singer and actress (born 1997)
Joel Courtney
b. 1996
American actor (born 1996)
Nikita Dragun
b. 1996
American internet personality (born 1996)
Kenneth Zohore
b. 1994
Danish professional footballer (born 1994)
Qiu Bo
b. 1993
Chinese diver (born 1993)
Tyler Seguin
b. 1992
Canadian ice hockey player (born 1992)
Cro (musician)
b. 1990
German rapper (born 1990)
Nicolás Laprovíttola
b. 1990
Argentine basketball player (born 1990)
Tommy La Stella
b. 1989
American baseball player (born 1989)
Brett Pitman
b. 1988
Jèrriais footballer (born 1988)
Taijo Teniste
b. 1988
Estonian footballer
Alan Lomax
b. 1915
American musicologist (1915–2002)
Notable Deaths
Rasual Butler
d. 2018
American basketball player (1979–2018)
Leah LaBelle
d. 2018
American singer (1986–2018)
Rob Stewart (filmmaker)
d. 2017
Canadian photographer, filmmaker and shark conservationist
Terry Wogan
d. 2016
Irish-British radio and television broadcaster (1938–2016)
Udo Lattek
d. 2015
German football player and coach (1935–2015)
Lizabeth Scott
d. 2015
American actress and singer (1921–2015)
Richard von Weizsäcker
d. 2015
President of Germany from 1984 to 1994
Abdirizak Haji Hussein
d. 2014
Prime Minister of Somalia
Miklós Jancsó
d. 2014
Hungarian film director and screenwriter (1921–2014)
Rubén Bonifaz Nuño
d. 2013
Mexican poet and scholar (1923–2013)
Hassan Habibi
d. 2013
Vice President of Iran from 1989 to 2001
Mani Ram Bagri
d. 2012
Indian politician (1920–2012)
Dorothea Tanning
d. 2012
American painter, printmaker, sculptor, writer, and poet (1910–2012)
Molly Ivins
d. 2007
American newspaper columnist (1944–2007)
Adelaide Tambo
d. 2007
South African anti-apartheid activist and political exile
Moira Shearer
d. 2006
Scottish ballerina and actress (1926–2006)
Eleanor Holm
d. 2004
American swimmer (1912–2004)
Suraiya
d. 2004
Indian actress and playback singer (1929–2004)
Gabby Gabreski
d. 2002
American flying ace (1919–2002)
John Mott
d. 1955
American ecumenical Christian awarded Nobel Peace Prize (1865–1955)
On This Day in History
All 57 ›
2025
Med Jets Flight 056 crashes near Roosevelt Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, killing 8 people and injuring 23.
Med Jets Flight 056
2023
The last Boeing 747, the first wide-body airliner, is delivered to Atlas Air and operated for ApexLogistics. The aircraft was registered as N863GT and named "Empower".
Boeing 747
2022
Sue Gray, a senior civil servant in the United Kingdom, publishes an initial version of her report on the Downing Street Partygate controversy.
Sue Gray, Baroness Gray of Tottenham
2020
The United Kingdom's membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state.
United Kingdom
2019
Abdullah of Pahang is sworn in as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
Abdullah of Pahang
2009
At least 113 people are killed in Kenya and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
Kenya
2007
Emergency officials in Boston mistakenly identify battery-powered LED placards depicting characters from Aqua Teen Hunger Force as Improvised explosive devices (IEDs), causing a panic.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
2003
The Waterfall rail accident occurs near Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia.
Waterfall rail accident
2001
In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
Libya
2001
Two Japan Airlines planes nearly collide over Suruga Bay in Japan.
Japan Airlines
2000
Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash: An MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 aboard.
Alaska Airlines Flight 261
1996
An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, killing at least 86 people and injuring 1,400.
Colombo Central Bank bombing
1988
Doug Williams becomes the first African American quarterback to play in a Super Bowl and leads the Washington Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII.
Doug Williams (quarterback)
1978
The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) goes on public display after being returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.
Holy Crown of Hungary
1971
Apollo program: Apollo 14: Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.
Apollo program
1971
The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize alleged war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begins in Detroit.
Winter Soldier Investigation
1968
Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive.
Vietnam War
1966
The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program.
Soviet Union
1961
Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2: The chimpanzee Ham travels into outer space.
Project Mercury
1958
Cold War: Space Race: The Explorer 1, the first successful American satellite, detects the Van Allen radiation belt.
Space Race