31 July
Notable Births
João Gomes (singer)
b. 2002
Musical artist
Will Penisini
b. 2002
Tonga rugby league footballer (born 2002)
Kim Sae-ron
b. 2000
South Korean actress (2000–2025)
Rico Rodriguez (actor)
b. 1998
American actor (born 1998)
Lil Uzi Vert
b. 1995
American rapper and singer (born 1994)
Linus Ullmark
b. 1993
Swedish ice hockey player (born 1993)
José Fernández (right-handed pitcher)
b. 1992
Cuban-born American baseball player (1992–2016)
Ryan Johansen
b. 1992
Canadian ice hockey player (born 1992)
Kyle Larson
b. 1992
American racing driver (born 1992)
Réka Luca Jani
b. 1991
Hungarian tennis player (born 1991)
Victoria Azarenka
b. 1989
Belarusian tennis player (born 1989)
Alex Glenn
b. 1988
Cook Islands and New Zealand international rugby league footballer
A. J. Green
b. 1988
American football player (born 1988)
Michael Bradley (soccer)
b. 1987
American soccer player (born 1987)
Evgeni Malkin
b. 1986
Russian ice hockey player (born 1986)
Brian Orakpo
b. 1986
American football player (born 1986)
Daniel Ciofani
b. 1985
Italian footballer (born 1985)
Rémy Di Gregorio
b. 1985
French road bicycle racer
Anabel Medina Garrigues
b. 1982
Spanish tennis player and coach
DeMarcus Ware
b. 1982
American football player (born 1982)
Notable Deaths
Paul Bucha
d. 2024
United States Army Medal of Honor recipient
Ismail Haniyeh
d. 2024
Palestinian politician (c.1962–2024)
Angus Cloud
d. 2023
American actor (1998–2023)
Fidel V. Ramos
d. 2022
President of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998
Bill Russell
d. 2022
American basketball player and coach (1934–2022)
Alan Parker
d. 2020
British filmmaker (1944–2020)
Harold Prince
d. 2019
American theatre producer and director (1928–2019)
Jeanne Moreau
d. 2017
French actress, singer, screenwriter and director (1928–2017)
Chiyonofuji Mitsugu
d. 2016
Japanese sumo wrestler (1955–2016)
Seymour Papert
d. 2016
American computer scientist (1928–2016)
Alan Cheuse
d. 2015
Novelist, short story writer, critic
Howard W. Jones
d. 2015
American physician (1910–2015)
Billy Pierce
d. 2015
American baseball player (1927–2015)
Roddy Piper
d. 2015
Canadian professional wrestler and actor (1954–2015)
Richard Schweiker
d. 2015
American politician (1926–2015)
Warren Bennis
d. 2014
Leadership studies influencer
Wilfred Feinberg
d. 2014
American judge
Michael Ansara
d. 2013
American actor (1922–2013)
John Graves (author)
d. 2013
American writer
Alfredo Ramos (Brazilian footballer)
d. 2012
Brazilian footballer and manager (1924-2012)
On This Day in History
All 51 ›
2014
Gas explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung kill at least 20 people and injure more than 270.
2014 Kaohsiung gas explosions
2012
Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.
Michael Phelps
2008
East Coast Jets Flight 81 crashes near Owatonna Degner Regional Airport in Owatonna, Minnesota, killing all eight people on board.
East Coast Jets Flight 81
2007
Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.
Operation Banner
2006
Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother, Raúl.
Fidel Castro
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.
Discovery Program
1997
FedEx Express Flight 14 crashes at Newark International Airport, injuring five.
FedEx Express Flight 14
1992
The nation of Georgia joins the United Nations.
Georgia (country)
1992
Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing all 113 people on board.
Thai Airways International Flight 311
1992
China General Aviation Flight 7552 crashes during takeoff from Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport, killing 108.
China General Aviation Flight 7552
1992
Space Shuttle program: Atlantis is launched on STS-46 to deploy the European Retrievable Carrier and the Tethered Satellite System.
Space Shuttle program
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.
Soviet Union
1988
Thirty-two people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal bridge collapse
1987
A tornado occurs in Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people.
Edmonton tornado
1975
The Troubles: Three members of a popular cabaret band and two gunmen are killed during a botched paramilitary attack in Northern Ireland.
Miami Showband killings
1973
A Delta Air Lines jetliner, flight DL 723 crashes while landing in fog at Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89.
Delta Air Lines
1972
The Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-takes the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It is the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians are killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy.
The Troubles
1971
Apollo program: the Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
Apollo program
1970
Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.
Rum ration
1966
The pleasure cruiser MV Darlwyne disappeared off the Cornwall coast with the loss of all 31 aboard.
Loss of MV Darlwyne