On This Day — 31 May

2019

A shooting occurs inside a municipal building at Virginia Beach, Virginia, leaving 13 people dead, including the shooter, and four others injured.

2019 Virginia Beach shooting

2017

A car bomb explodes in a crowded intersection in Kabul near the German embassy during rush hour, killing over 90 and injuring 463.

May 2017 Kabul bombing

2016

Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launch the Manbij offensive, in order to capture the city of Manbij from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Syrian civil war

2013

The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon make their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.

Asteroid

2010

Israeli Shayetet 13 commandos boarded the Gaza Freedom Flotilla while still in international waters trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip; nine Turkish citizens on the flotilla were killed in the ensuing violent affray.

Shayetet 13

2008

Usain Bolt breaks the world record in the 100m sprint, with a wind-legal (+1.7 m/s) 9.72 seconds.

Usain Bolt

2008

Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-124 carrying the second portion of the Japanese Kibō module to the International Space Station.

Space Shuttle Discovery

2005

Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was "Deep Throat".

Vanity Fair (magazine)

2003

Air France retires its fleet of Concorde aircraft.

Air France

1997

The Confederation Bridge opens, linking Prince Edward Island with mainland New Brunswick.

Confederation Bridge

1991

Bicesse Accords in Angola lay out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations' UNAVEM II peacekeeping mission.

Bicesse Accords

1985

United States–Canada tornado outbreak: Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.

1985 United States–Canada tornado outbreak

1977

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System

1973

The United States Senate votes to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of the Cambodian Civil War.

United States Senate

1973

Indian Airlines Flight 440 crashes near Palam Airport in Delhi, killing 48.

Indian Airlines Flight 440

1971

In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.

Uniform Monday Holiday Act

1970

The 7.9 Mw  Ancash earthquake shakes Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) and a landslide buries the town of Yungay, Peru. Between 66,794 and 70,000 were killed and 50,000 were injured.

1970 Ancash earthquake

1962

The West Indies Federation dissolves.

West Indies Federation

1961

The South African Constitution of 1961 becomes effective, thus creating the Republic of South Africa, which remains outside the Commonwealth of Nations until 1 June 1994, when South Africa is returned to Commonwealth membership.

South African Constitution of 1961

1961

In Moscow City Court, the Rokotov–Faibishenko show trial begins, despite the Khrushchev Thaw to reverse Stalinist elements in Soviet society.

Moscow City Court

1955

The U.S. Supreme Court expands on its Brown v. Board of Education decision by ordering district courts and school districts to enforce educational desegregation "at all deliberate speed."

Supreme Court of the United States

1951

The Uniform Code of Military Justice takes effect as the legal system of the United States Armed Forces.

Uniform Code of Military Justice

1947

Ferenc Nagy, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Hungary, resigns from office after blackmail from the Hungarian Communist Party accusing him of being part of a plot against the state. This grants the Communists effective control of the Hungarian government.

Ferenc Nagy

1942

World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.

World War II

1941

Anglo-Iraqi War: The United Kingdom completes the re-occupation of Iraq and returns 'Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.

Anglo-Iraqi War

1935

A 7.7 Mw  earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan killing 40,000.

1935 Quetta earthquake

1924

Hope Development School fire kills 24 people, mostly disabled children.

Hope Development School fire

1921

The Tulsa race massacre kills at least 39, but other estimates of black fatalities vary from 55 to about 300.

Tulsa race massacre

1916

World War I: Battle of Jutland: The British Grand Fleet engages the High Seas Fleet in the largest naval battle of the war, which proves indecisive.

World War I

1911

The RMS Titanic is launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Titanic

1911

The President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz flees the country during the Mexican Revolution.

President of Mexico

1910

The South Africa Act comes into force, establishing the Union of South Africa.

South Africa Act 1909

1909

The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), convenes for the first time.

National Negro Committee

1906

The attempted regicide of Spanish King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie on their wedding day instead kills 24

Morral affair

1902

Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.

Second Boer War

1889

Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people die after a dam fails and sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Johnstown Flood

1884

The arrival at Plymouth of Tāwhiao, King of Maoris, to claim the protection of Queen Victoria.

Plymouth

1879

Gilmore's Garden in New York City is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.

Madison Square Garden (1879)

1864

American Civil War: Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor: The Army of Northern Virginia engages the Army of the Potomac.

Overland Campaign

1862

American Civil War: Peninsula Campaign: Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston and G.W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.

American Civil War

1859

The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, starts keeping time.

Palace of Westminster

1847

Qajar Iran and the Ottoman Empire determine their international boundary in the second treaty of Erzurum.

Qajar Iran

1813

In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth reach Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains.

William Lawson (explorer)

1805

French and Spanish forces begin the assault against British forces occupying Diamond Rock, Martinique.

Battle of Diamond Rock

1795

French Revolution: The Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed.

French Revolution

1790

Manuel Quimper explores the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Manuel Quimper

1790

The United States enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.

Copyright law of the United States

1775

American Revolution: The Mecklenburg Resolves are adopted in the Province of North Carolina.

American Revolution

1669

Citing poor eyesight as a reason, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary.

Samuel Pepys

1610

The pageant London's Love to Prince Henry on the River Thames celebrates the creation of Prince Henry as Prince of Wales.

London's Love to Prince Henry

1578

King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), the oldest bridge of Paris, France.

Henry III of France

1293

Mongols depart Java after the failed Mongol invasion against King Kertanegara of Singhasari.

Mongols

1223

Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River: Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus' and Cumans.

Battle of the Kalka River

1215

Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu.

Zhongdu

455

Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome.

Petronius Maximus