Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your January 31 shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the January 31 offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of January 31 at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a January 31? Wrong! If the January 31 is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about January 31 then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling January 31? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about January 31 and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your January 31 wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your January 31 then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the January 31 site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about January 31, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your January 31, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
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Events
- 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon.
- 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is executed for his plotting against Parliament and James I of England.
- 1747 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
- 1814 - Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of Argentina.
- 1846 - After the Milwaukee Bridge War, Juneautown and Kilbourntown unified as the City of Milwaukee.
- 1849 - Corn Laws abolished in the United Kingdom (following legislation in 1846).
- 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate States of America General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
- 1867 - Maronite nationalist leader Youssef Karam leaves Lebanon on board of a France ship for Algeria
- 1876 - The United States orders all Native Americans in the United Statess to move into reservations.
- 1900 - Datu Muhammad Salleh is shot dead in Kampung Teboh, Tambuan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion
- 1910 - The Portugal Republicanism revolution broke out in the northern city of Porto.
- 1915 - World War I: Germany uses poison gas against Russians.
- 1917 - World War I: Germany announces its U-boats will engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.
- 1918 - A Battle of May Island on a misty Scotland night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five Great Britain warships.
- 1919 - 1919 Battle of George Square being detained by police during the 1919 Battle of George Square
- 1929 - The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky.
- 1930 - 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
- 1936 - The Green Hornet Old-time radio debuts.
- 1941 - Layforce set sail.
- 1944 - World War II: United States forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
- 1944 - World War II: United States campaign. (Darby's Rangers) 1st Ranger Battalion The entire 6615th Ranger Force (Provisional) was destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Cisterna, Italy.
- 1945 - United States Army private Eddie Slovik is executed, the first United States soldier since the American Civil War to be executed for desertion.
- 1946 - Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's new Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
- 1950 - President of the United States Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
- 1953 - The North Sea flood of 1953 causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands.
- 1956 - Guy Mollet becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 1957 - Three students on a junior high school playground in Pacoima, California are among the eight persons killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet above the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, California.
- 1958 - Explorer program: Explorer I - The first successful launch of an United States satellite into orbit.
- 1958 - James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt.
- 1961 - Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2 - Ham the Chimp travels into Space science.
- 1965 - Dr Umar Alisha was Born at Pithapuram.
- 1968 - Viet Cong attack the United States embassy in Saigon.
- 1968 - Nauru declares independence from Australia.
- 1969 - A Saskatchewan Court convicts 17-year-old hippie David Milgaard of murder; he is sentenced to life in prison. He spent 23 years in jail until April 14, 1992 when DNA evidence proves him innocent of all charges.
- 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 formation on the Moon.
- 1971 - The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by United States and allies in Vietnam, begin in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1980 - Thirty-nine people burn to death in the occupation of the Spain Embassy in Guatemala.
- 1990 - The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow, USSR.
- 1995 - President Bill Clinton authorizes a $20 billion loan to Mexico to stabilize its economics.
- 1996 - An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400.
- 2000 - An Alaska Airlines MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 persons aboard.
- 2001 - In the Netherlands a Scotland court convicts a Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
- 2002 - A large section of the Antarctic Larsen Ice Shelf begins disintegrating, eventually consuming about 3,250 km² (1,254 miles²) over a 35-day period.
- 2003 - Waterfall train disaster, NSW, Australia.
- 2006 - Samuel A. Alito Jr. assumes office as the 110th Supreme Court justice of the United States.
- 2007 - 31 January 2007 Birmingham raid in Birmingham in the UK, accused of plotting the kidnap, holding and eventual beheading of a serving Muslim British soldier in Iraq.
Births
- 1512 - King Henry of Portugal (d. 1580)
- 1543 - Tokugawa Ieyasu, Shogun of Japan (d. 1616)
- 1550 - Henry I, Duke of Guise, French Catholic leader (d. 1588)
- 1597 - John Francis Regis, French saint (d. 1640)
- 1624 - Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher (d. 1669)
- 1673 - Louis de Montfort, French catholic priest and saint (d. 1716)
- 1686 - Hans Egede, Norwegian Lutheran missionary (d. 1758)
- 1752 - Gouverneur Morris, American lawmaker and diplomat (d. 1816)
- 1759 - François Devienne, French composer (d. 1803)
- 1797 - Franz Schubert, Austrian composer (d. 1828)
- 1865 - Henri Desgrange, Founder of the Tour-de-France (d. 1940)
- 1865 - Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader (d. 1951)
- 1866 - Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)
- 1868 - Theodore William Richards, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 1928)
- 1872 - Zane Grey, American Western writer (d. 1939)
- 1881 - Irving Langmuir, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 1957)
- 1884 - Theodor Heuss, 1st President of Germany (d. 1963)
- 1889 - Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958)
- 1892 - Eddie Cantor, American actor and singer (d. 1964)
- 1894 - Isham Jones, American musician (d. 1956)
- 1896 - Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician (d. 1966)
- 1902 - Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)
- 1902 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician, Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1986)
- 1905 - John O'Hara, American writer (d. 1970)
- 1911 - Eddie Byrne, British actor (d. 1981)
- 1913 - Don Hutson, American football player (d. 1997)
- 1914 - Carey Loftin, American actor and stuntman (d. 1997)
- 1914 - Sri Daya Mata, Hindu religious figure
- 1914 - Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer (d. 1994)
- 1915 - Alan Lomax, American musicologist (d. 2002)
- 1915 - Thomas Merton, American author and monk (d. 1968)
- 1915 - Garry Moore, American comedian (d. 1993)
- 1919 - Jackie Robinson, American baseball player (d. 1972)
- 1921 - John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1921 - Carol Channing, American actress and singer
- 1921 - E. Fay Jones, American architect (d. 2004)
- 1921 - Mario Lanza, American singer (d. 1959)
- 1922 - Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)
- 1923 - Norman Mailer, American writer and journalist
- 1925 - Benjamin Hooks, American civil rights leader
- 1926 - Tom Alston, American baseball player (d. 1993)
- 1928 - Chuck Willis, American singer and songwriter (d. 1958)
- 1929 - Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics
- 1929 - Jean Simmons, English actress
- 1930 - Lynn Carlin, American actress
- 1931 - Ernie Banks, American baseball player
- 1931 - Christopher Chataway, English athlete, newscaster and politician
- 1933 - Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1997)
- 1934 - James Franciscus, American actor (d. 1991)
- 1934 - Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
- 1935 - Kenzaburo Oe, Japanese writer, Nobel Prize in Literature
- 1937 - Regimantas Adomaitis, Lithuanian actor
- 1937 - Andrée Boucher, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
- 1937 - Philip Glass, American composer
- 1937 - Suzanne Pleshette, American actress
- 1938 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
- 1938 - James G. Watt, American politician
- 1939 - Claude Gauthier (singer), Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1940 - Kitch Christie, South African rugby union coach (d. 1998)
- 1941 - Richard A. Gephardt, American politician
- 1941 - Jessica Walter, American actress
- 1942 - Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
- 1942 - Derek Jarman, British director and writer (d. 1994)
- 1944 - Charlie Musselwhite, American musician
- 1945 - Joseph Kosuth, American conceptual artist
- 1946 - Terry Kath, American musician (Chicago (band)) (d. 1978)
- 1947 - Jonathan Banks, American actor
- 1947 - Nolan Ryan, American baseball player
- 1948 - Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
- 1949 - Ken Wilber, American philosopher
- 1950 - Alexander Korzhakov, Boris Yeltsin's bodyguard
- 1951 - Dave Benton, Aruban-born singer
- 1951 - Harry Wayne Casey, American singer and musician (KC and the Sunshine Band)
- 1951 - Phil Manzanera, English guitarist (Roxy Music, Quiet Sun (band), 801 (band))
- 1952 - Nadya Rusheva, Russian painter (d. 1969)
- 1954 - Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch musician (Whitesnake)
- 1956 - John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten, English singer (Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd.)
- 1959 - Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor
- 1959 - Kelly Lynch, American actress
- 1959 - Kelly Moore, American stock car driver
- 1960 - Grant Morrison, British comic book author
- 1961 - Lloyd Cole, British singer
- 1964 - Sylvie Bernier, Canadian diver
- 1964 - Jeff Hanneman, American musician (Slayer)
- 1964 - Billey Shamrock, Swedish singer
- 1965 - Dr Umar Alisha , A Sufi Master was Born at Pithapuram.
- 1967 - Fat Mike, American musician
- 1967 - Irene Wan, Hong Kong actress
- 1967 - Joey Wong, Taiwanese actress
- 1970 - Minnie Driver, British actress
- 1971 - Lee Young Ae, South Korean actress
- 1971 - Patrick Kielty, Northern Irish comedian
- 1971 - Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer
- 1973 - Portia de Rossi, Australian actress
- 1974 - Wil Anderson, Australian comedian
- 1974 - Ariel Pestano, Cuban baseball player
- 1975 - Jackie O (radio host), Australian radio host
- 1975 - Preity Zinta, Indian actress
- 1976 - Traianos Dellas, Greek footballer
- 1976 - Buddy Rice, American race car driver
- 1977 - Mark Dutiaume, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 - Shingo Katori, Japanese actor and singer (SMAP)
- 1977 - Jim Kleinsasser, American football player
- 1977 - Kerry Washington, American actress
- 1978 - Ray Shah, Irish DJ, TV, radio presenter
- 1978 - Brad Rutter, Jeopardy! champion
- 1979 - Daniel Tammet, British autistic savant
- 1980 - Tiffany Limos, American actress
- 1981 - Julio Arca, Argentinian footballer
- 1981 - Justin Timberlake, American singer
- 1982 - Yuniesky Betancourt, Cuban baseball player
- 1982 - Andreas Görlitz, German footballer
- 1982 - Bruno Nogueira, Portuguese actor, comedian and TV host
- 1982 - Helena Paparizou, Greek singer
- 1982 - Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player
- 1982 - Brad Thompson, American baseball player
- 1983 - James Sutton (actor), British television actor
- 1984 - Jeremy Wariner, American 400m runner
Deaths
- 743 - Muhammad al-Baqir, Shia Imam (b. 676)
- 1398 - Emperor Sukō (b. 1334)
- 1435 - Xuande, Emperor of China (b. 1398)
- 1561 - Bairam Khan, Great Mughal General, regent for Akbar
- 1561 - Menno Simons, Dutch Mennonite leader (b. 1496)
- 1580 - Henry of Portugal (b. 1512)
- 1606 - Gunpowder Plot conspirators:
- 1615 - Claudio Aquaviva, Italian Jesuit (b. 1543)
- 1632 - Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (b. 1552)
- 1665 - Johannes Clauberg, German theologian and philosopher (b. 1622)
- 1686 - Jean Mairet, French dramatist (b. 1604)
- 1720 - Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English privy councillor (c. 1654)
- 1729 - Jakob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (b. 1659)
- 1736 - Filippo Juvara, Italian architect (b. 1678)
- 1788 - Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (b. 1720)
- 1790 - Thomas Lewis (Virginia), Irish-born Virginia settler (b. 1718)
- 1794 - Marriott Arbuthnot, British admiral (b. 1711)
- 1815 - José Félix Ribas, Venezuelan independentist leader (b. 1775)
- 1844 - Henri Gratien, Comte Bertrand, French general (b. 1773)
- 1888 - John Bosco, Italian priest, youth worker, educator, founder of the Salesian Society (b. 1815)
- 1892 - Charles Spurgeon, English preacher and evangelist (b. 1834)
- 1907 - Timothy Eaton, Canadian department store founder (b. 1834)
- 1923 - Eligiusz Niewiadomski, assassin of Gabriel Narutowicz (b. 1869)
- 1933 - John Galsworthy, English writer, Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1867)
- 1942 - Henry Larkin, Baseball player (b. 1860)
- 1944 - Jean Giraudoux, French writer (b. 1882)
- 1945 - Eddie Slovik, American soldier (b. 1920)
- 1954 - Edwin Howard Armstrong, American electrical engineer and inventor of the Frequency modulation radio (b. 1890)
- 1955 - John Mott, American YMCA leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1865)
- 1956 - A. A. Milne, English author (b. 1882)
- 1966 - General Arthur Ernest Percival, British Army Officer (b. 1887)
- 1967 - Eddie Tolan, American athlete (b. 1908)
- 1969 - Meher Baba, Indian guru (b. 1894)
- 1970 - Slim Harpo, American singer (b. 1924)
- 1971 - Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky, Russian literary historian, linguist (b. 1891)
- 1973 - Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch, Norwegian economist, Nobel Prize in Economics (b. 1895)
- 1974 - Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-born film studio executive (b. 1882)
- 1976 - Ernesto Miranda, American litigant (b. 1941)
- 1981 - Cozy Cole, American jazz drummer (b. 1909)
- 1987 - Yves Allégret, French film director (b. 1907)
- 1990 - Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-born imam (b. 1935)
- 1995 - George Abbott, American stage director and producer (b. 1887)
- 1997 - John Joseph Scanlan, Irish Catholic prelate (b. 1930)
- 1999 - Norm Zauchin, American baseball player (b. 1929)
- 2000 - Gil Kane, Latvian-born comic book writer (b. 1926)
- 2001 - Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian writer (b. 1923)
- 2004 - Eleanor Holm, American swimmer (b. 1913)
- 2006 - Moira Shearer, Scottish actress (The Red Shoes (film)) and ballerina (b. 1926)
- 2007 - Kirka Babitzin, Finnish singer (b. 1950)
- 2007 - Molly Ivins, American political columnist and author (b. 1944)
- 2007 - Lee Bergere, American actor (b. 1924)
- 2007 - Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Saudi brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden (b. 1957)
- 2007 - Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and wife of Oliver Tambo (b. 1929)
Holidays and observances
External links
- BBC: On This Day
-
- On this day in Canada
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Events
- 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon.
- 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is executed for his plotting against Parliament and James I of England.
- 1747 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
- 1814 - Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of Argentina.
- 1846 - After the Milwaukee Bridge War, Juneautown and Kilbourntown unified as the City of Milwaukee.
- 1849 - Corn Laws abolished in the United Kingdom (following legislation in 1846).
- 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate States of America General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
- 1867 - Maronite nationalist leader Youssef Karam leaves Lebanon on board of a France ship for Algeria
- 1876 - The United States orders all Native Americans in the United Statess to move into reservations.
- 1900 - Datu Muhammad Salleh is shot dead in Kampung Teboh, Tambuan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion
- 1910 - The Portugal Republicanism revolution broke out in the northern city of Porto.
- 1915 - World War I: Germany uses poison gas against Russians.
- 1917 - World War I: Germany announces its U-boats will engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.
- 1918 - A Battle of May Island on a misty Scotland night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five Great Britain warships.
- 1919 - 1919 Battle of George Square being detained by police during the 1919 Battle of George Square
- 1929 - The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky.
- 1930 - 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
- 1936 - The Green Hornet Old-time radio debuts.
- 1941 - Layforce set sail.
- 1944 - World War II: United States forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
- 1944 - World War II: United States campaign. (Darby's Rangers) 1st Ranger Battalion The entire 6615th Ranger Force (Provisional) was destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Cisterna, Italy.
- 1945 - United States Army private Eddie Slovik is executed, the first United States soldier since the American Civil War to be executed for desertion.
- 1946 - Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's new Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
- 1950 - President of the United States Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
- 1953 - The North Sea flood of 1953 causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands.
- 1956 - Guy Mollet becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 1957 - Three students on a junior high school playground in Pacoima, California are among the eight persons killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet above the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, California.
- 1958 - Explorer program: Explorer I - The first successful launch of an United States satellite into orbit.
- 1958 - James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt.
- 1961 - Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2 - Ham the Chimp travels into Space science.
- 1965 - Dr Umar Alisha was Born at Pithapuram.
- 1968 - Viet Cong attack the United States embassy in Saigon.
- 1968 - Nauru declares independence from Australia.
- 1969 - A Saskatchewan Court convicts 17-year-old hippie David Milgaard of murder; he is sentenced to life in prison. He spent 23 years in jail until April 14, 1992 when DNA evidence proves him innocent of all charges.
- 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 formation on the Moon.
- 1971 - The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by United States and allies in Vietnam, begin in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1980 - Thirty-nine people burn to death in the occupation of the Spain Embassy in Guatemala.
- 1990 - The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow, USSR.
- 1995 - President Bill Clinton authorizes a $20 billion loan to Mexico to stabilize its economics.
- 1996 - An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400.
- 2000 - An Alaska Airlines MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 persons aboard.
- 2001 - In the Netherlands a Scotland court convicts a Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
- 2002 - A large section of the Antarctic Larsen Ice Shelf begins disintegrating, eventually consuming about 3,250 km² (1,254 miles²) over a 35-day period.
- 2003 - Waterfall train disaster, NSW, Australia.
- 2006 - Samuel A. Alito Jr. assumes office as the 110th Supreme Court justice of the United States.
- 2007 - 31 January 2007 Birmingham raid in Birmingham in the UK, accused of plotting the kidnap, holding and eventual beheading of a serving Muslim British soldier in Iraq.
Births
- 1512 - King Henry of Portugal (d. 1580)
- 1543 - Tokugawa Ieyasu, Shogun of Japan (d. 1616)
- 1550 - Henry I, Duke of Guise, French Catholic leader (d. 1588)
- 1597 - John Francis Regis, French saint (d. 1640)
- 1624 - Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher (d. 1669)
- 1673 - Louis de Montfort, French catholic priest and saint (d. 1716)
- 1686 - Hans Egede, Norwegian Lutheran missionary (d. 1758)
- 1752 - Gouverneur Morris, American lawmaker and diplomat (d. 1816)
- 1759 - François Devienne, French composer (d. 1803)
- 1797 - Franz Schubert, Austrian composer (d. 1828)
- 1865 - Henri Desgrange, Founder of the Tour-de-France (d. 1940)
- 1865 - Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader (d. 1951)
- 1866 - Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)
- 1868 - Theodore William Richards, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 1928)
- 1872 - Zane Grey, American Western writer (d. 1939)
- 1881 - Irving Langmuir, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 1957)
- 1884 - Theodor Heuss, 1st President of Germany (d. 1963)
- 1889 - Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958)
- 1892 - Eddie Cantor, American actor and singer (d. 1964)
- 1894 - Isham Jones, American musician (d. 1956)
- 1896 - Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician (d. 1966)
- 1902 - Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)
- 1902 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician, Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1986)
- 1905 - John O'Hara, American writer (d. 1970)
- 1911 - Eddie Byrne, British actor (d. 1981)
- 1913 - Don Hutson, American football player (d. 1997)
- 1914 - Carey Loftin, American actor and stuntman (d. 1997)
- 1914 - Sri Daya Mata, Hindu religious figure
- 1914 - Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer (d. 1994)
- 1915 - Alan Lomax, American musicologist (d. 2002)
- 1915 - Thomas Merton, American author and monk (d. 1968)
- 1915 - Garry Moore, American comedian (d. 1993)
- 1919 - Jackie Robinson, American baseball player (d. 1972)
- 1921 - John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1921 - Carol Channing, American actress and singer
- 1921 - E. Fay Jones, American architect (d. 2004)
- 1921 - Mario Lanza, American singer (d. 1959)
- 1922 - Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)
- 1923 - Norman Mailer, American writer and journalist
- 1925 - Benjamin Hooks, American civil rights leader
- 1926 - Tom Alston, American baseball player (d. 1993)
- 1928 - Chuck Willis, American singer and songwriter (d. 1958)
- 1929 - Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics
- 1929 - Jean Simmons, English actress
- 1930 - Lynn Carlin, American actress
- 1931 - Ernie Banks, American baseball player
- 1931 - Christopher Chataway, English athlete, newscaster and politician
- 1933 - Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1997)
- 1934 - James Franciscus, American actor (d. 1991)
- 1934 - Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
- 1935 - Kenzaburo Oe, Japanese writer, Nobel Prize in Literature
- 1937 - Regimantas Adomaitis, Lithuanian actor
- 1937 - Andrée Boucher, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
- 1937 - Philip Glass, American composer
- 1937 - Suzanne Pleshette, American actress
- 1938 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
- 1938 - James G. Watt, American politician
- 1939 - Claude Gauthier (singer), Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1940 - Kitch Christie, South African rugby union coach (d. 1998)
- 1941 - Richard A. Gephardt, American politician
- 1941 - Jessica Walter, American actress
- 1942 - Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
- 1942 - Derek Jarman, British director and writer (d. 1994)
- 1944 - Charlie Musselwhite, American musician
- 1945 - Joseph Kosuth, American conceptual artist
- 1946 - Terry Kath, American musician (Chicago (band)) (d. 1978)
- 1947 - Jonathan Banks, American actor
- 1947 - Nolan Ryan, American baseball player
- 1948 - Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
- 1949 - Ken Wilber, American philosopher
- 1950 - Alexander Korzhakov, Boris Yeltsin's bodyguard
- 1951 - Dave Benton, Aruban-born singer
- 1951 - Harry Wayne Casey, American singer and musician (KC and the Sunshine Band)
- 1951 - Phil Manzanera, English guitarist (Roxy Music, Quiet Sun (band), 801 (band))
- 1952 - Nadya Rusheva, Russian painter (d. 1969)
- 1954 - Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch musician (Whitesnake)
- 1956 - John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten, English singer (Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd.)
- 1959 - Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor
- 1959 - Kelly Lynch, American actress
- 1959 - Kelly Moore, American stock car driver
- 1960 - Grant Morrison, British comic book author
- 1961 - Lloyd Cole, British singer
- 1964 - Sylvie Bernier, Canadian diver
- 1964 - Jeff Hanneman, American musician (Slayer)
- 1964 - Billey Shamrock, Swedish singer
- 1965 - Dr Umar Alisha , A Sufi Master was Born at Pithapuram.
- 1967 - Fat Mike, American musician
- 1967 - Irene Wan, Hong Kong actress
- 1967 - Joey Wong, Taiwanese actress
- 1970 - Minnie Driver, British actress
- 1971 - Lee Young Ae, South Korean actress
- 1971 - Patrick Kielty, Northern Irish comedian
- 1971 - Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer
- 1973 - Portia de Rossi, Australian actress
- 1974 - Wil Anderson, Australian comedian
- 1974 - Ariel Pestano, Cuban baseball player
- 1975 - Jackie O (radio host), Australian radio host
- 1975 - Preity Zinta, Indian actress
- 1976 - Traianos Dellas, Greek footballer
- 1976 - Buddy Rice, American race car driver
- 1977 - Mark Dutiaume, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 - Shingo Katori, Japanese actor and singer (SMAP)
- 1977 - Jim Kleinsasser, American football player
- 1977 - Kerry Washington, American actress
- 1978 - Ray Shah, Irish DJ, TV, radio presenter
- 1978 - Brad Rutter, Jeopardy! champion
- 1979 - Daniel Tammet, British autistic savant
- 1980 - Tiffany Limos, American actress
- 1981 - Julio Arca, Argentinian footballer
- 1981 - Justin Timberlake, American singer
- 1982 - Yuniesky Betancourt, Cuban baseball player
- 1982 - Andreas Görlitz, German footballer
- 1982 - Bruno Nogueira, Portuguese actor, comedian and TV host
- 1982 - Helena Paparizou, Greek singer
- 1982 - Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player
- 1982 - Brad Thompson, American baseball player
- 1983 - James Sutton (actor), British television actor
- 1984 - Jeremy Wariner, American 400m runner
Deaths
- 743 - Muhammad al-Baqir, Shia Imam (b. 676)
- 1398 - Emperor Sukō (b. 1334)
- 1435 - Xuande, Emperor of China (b. 1398)
- 1561 - Bairam Khan, Great Mughal General, regent for Akbar
- 1561 - Menno Simons, Dutch Mennonite leader (b. 1496)
- 1580 - Henry of Portugal (b. 1512)
- 1606 - Gunpowder Plot conspirators:
- 1615 - Claudio Aquaviva, Italian Jesuit (b. 1543)
- 1632 - Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (b. 1552)
- 1665 - Johannes Clauberg, German theologian and philosopher (b. 1622)
- 1686 - Jean Mairet, French dramatist (b. 1604)
- 1720 - Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English privy councillor (c. 1654)
- 1729 - Jakob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (b. 1659)
- 1736 - Filippo Juvara, Italian architect (b. 1678)
- 1788 - Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (b. 1720)
- 1790 - Thomas Lewis (Virginia), Irish-born Virginia settler (b. 1718)
- 1794 - Marriott Arbuthnot, British admiral (b. 1711)
- 1815 - José Félix Ribas, Venezuelan independentist leader (b. 1775)
- 1844 - Henri Gratien, Comte Bertrand, French general (b. 1773)
- 1888 - John Bosco, Italian priest, youth worker, educator, founder of the Salesian Society (b. 1815)
- 1892 - Charles Spurgeon, English preacher and evangelist (b. 1834)
- 1907 - Timothy Eaton, Canadian department store founder (b. 1834)
- 1923 - Eligiusz Niewiadomski, assassin of Gabriel Narutowicz (b. 1869)
- 1933 - John Galsworthy, English writer, Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1867)
- 1942 - Henry Larkin, Baseball player (b. 1860)
- 1944 - Jean Giraudoux, French writer (b. 1882)
- 1945 - Eddie Slovik, American soldier (b. 1920)
- 1954 - Edwin Howard Armstrong, American electrical engineer and inventor of the Frequency modulation radio (b. 1890)
- 1955 - John Mott, American YMCA leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1865)
- 1956 - A. A. Milne, English author (b. 1882)
- 1966 - General Arthur Ernest Percival, British Army Officer (b. 1887)
- 1967 - Eddie Tolan, American athlete (b. 1908)
- 1969 - Meher Baba, Indian guru (b. 1894)
- 1970 - Slim Harpo, American singer (b. 1924)
- 1971 - Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky, Russian literary historian, linguist (b. 1891)
- 1973 - Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch, Norwegian economist, Nobel Prize in Economics (b. 1895)
- 1974 - Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-born film studio executive (b. 1882)
- 1976 - Ernesto Miranda, American litigant (b. 1941)
- 1981 - Cozy Cole, American jazz drummer (b. 1909)
- 1987 - Yves Allégret, French film director (b. 1907)
- 1990 - Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-born imam (b. 1935)
- 1995 - George Abbott, American stage director and producer (b. 1887)
- 1997 - John Joseph Scanlan, Irish Catholic prelate (b. 1930)
- 1999 - Norm Zauchin, American baseball player (b. 1929)
- 2000 - Gil Kane, Latvian-born comic book writer (b. 1926)
- 2001 - Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian writer (b. 1923)
- 2004 - Eleanor Holm, American swimmer (b. 1913)
- 2006 - Moira Shearer, Scottish actress (The Red Shoes (film)) and ballerina (b. 1926)
- 2007 - Kirka Babitzin, Finnish singer (b. 1950)
- 2007 - Molly Ivins, American political columnist and author (b. 1944)
- 2007 - Lee Bergere, American actor (b. 1924)
- 2007 - Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Saudi brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden (b. 1957)
- 2007 - Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and wife of Oliver Tambo (b. 1929)
Holidays and observances
External links
- BBC: On This Day
-
- On this day in Canada
January 31 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 334 days remaining until the end of the year (335 in leap years).
Iraq timeline: July 16 1979 to January 31 2004 | Iraq | guardian.co ...
January 31 2004 Twelve people died and at least 50 were injured yesterday in two attacks by Iraqi insurgents in northern Iraq. Nine killed in bomb attack on Iraq police
BBC - Press Office - 31 January 2008
Press Releases ... Press Releases & Press Packs 31 January 2008
Sporting birthdays: January 31 | Mail Online
Sporting stars who are celebrating their birthday on January 31 ... Chris Chataway (athletics) - first BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1954, born 1931.
Work - Thursday, January 31
Thursday, January 31 Work Calendar «
Work - Saturday, January 31
Saturday, January 31 Work Calendar «
BBC NEWS | Talk about Newsnight | Thursday, 31 January, 2008
Visit BBC News for up-to-the-minute news, breaking news, video, audio and feature stories. BBC News provides trusted World and UK news as well as local and regional perspectives.
BBC ON THIS DAY | 31
2000: Life for serial killer Shipman. Family GP Dr Harold Shipman is jailed for life for murdering 15 of his patients, making him Britain's most prolific convicted serial killer.
BBC ON THIS DAY | 31 | 1996: Fifty dead in Sri Lanka suicide bombing
A lorry carrying heavy explosives crashes into a bank in Colombo bank killing more than 50 people.
Dept_Diary - Thursday, January 31
Thursday, January 31 Dept_Diary Calendar «
