On this Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on January 31:
1601 Pieter de Bloot Dutch landscape painter
1623 François-Xavier de Laval Montmorency, consecrated the first bishop of Québec Canada in 1674
1734 Robert Morris merchant (signed Declaration of Independence)
1797 Franz Peter Schubert Lichtenthal Austria, composer (Unfinished Symphony)
1810 Daniel Ruggles Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1897
1812 John Randolph Tucker Capt (Confederate Navy), died in 1883
1817 Antony Winkler Prins Dutch writer (Groiler Encyclopaedia)
1818 William Raine Peck Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1871
1868 Theodore William Richards chemist (atomic weights, Nobel-1914)
1872 Zane Grey American West novelist (Riders of the Purple Sage, Spirit of the Border)
1881 Irving Langmuir physical chemist/colloid researcher/inventor (tungsten filament lamp/Nobel 1932)
1886 Alfonso Lopez Colombia, statesman (President UN security council-1948)
1892 Eddie Cantor New York City NY, comedian (Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater)
1903 Gardner Cowles Iowa, publisher/founder (Look Magazine)
1903 Tallulah Bankhead Huntsville AL, actress (Lifeboat, Die Die Darling)
1905 John Henry O'Hara Pottsville PA, novelist (Butterfield 8, Pal Joey, Appointment at Samarra)
1914 "Jersey" Joe Walcott heavyweight boxing champ (1951-52)
1915 Thomas Merton France, Trappist monk/poet/essayist (7 Storey Mt)
1915 Garry Moore [Thomas Garrison Morfit], Baltimore MD, TV host (Garry Moore Show, I've Got a Secret)
1919 Jackie Robinson Georgia, 1st black major league baseball player (Dodgers)
1920 Stewart L Udall St Johns AZ, US Secretary of Interior (1961-69)
1921 Carol Channing Seattle WA, actress (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Hello Dolly)
1921 John Agar Chicago IL, actor (Fort Apache, Sands of Iwo Jima)
1921 Mario Lanza Philadelphia PA, actor/singer (Great Caruso, Toast of New Orleans)
1923 Norman Mailer New Jersey, New York City NY mayoral candidate/novelist (Naked & the Dead)
1925 Benjamin Hooks civil rights leader
1931 Ernie "Mr Cubs" Banks Chicago Cubs, Hall-of-Famer (1st baseman)
1937 Philip Glass Baltimore MD, composer (Einstein on the Beach)
1937 Steve Karmen Bronx NY, jingle writer (I Love NY, This Bud's for You)
1937 Suzanne Pleshette New York City NY, actress (The Birds, Emily-Bob Newhart Show)
1938 Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard queen of Netherlands (1980- )
1938 James G Watt Colorado, US Secretary of Interior (1981-83)
1940 Stuart Margolin Davenport IA, actor (Pockford Files, Love American Style)
1941 Richard A Gephardt (Representative-D-MO, 1977- )
1944 Charley Musselwhite blues musician (Stand Back, Louisiana Fog)
1947 Nolan Ryan pitcher (Mets, Angels, Astros) (7 no-hitters, 5,714 Ks)
1951 Phil Manzanera rock guitarist (The Doors)
1956 Johnny Rotten [John Lydon], rocker (Sex Pistols-God Save the Queen)
1971 Brandi Sherwood Miss Idaho-USA (1997, 2nd, succeeded Brook Lee)
Deaths which occurred on January 31:
1606 Guy Fawkes convicted in the "Gunpowder Plot", executed at 35
1788 [Bonnie Prince] Charles E Stuart English pretender, dies at 67
1864 Hamilton Rowan Gamble US judge/Governor of Missouri (1861-64), dies
1891 Ernest Meissonier French painter/etcher/sculptor, dies at 75
1900 Sir John Sholto Douglas (56), 8th Marquis of Queensberry, died. He supervised the formulation by John Graham chambers of the rules of boxing, which became known as the Queensberry Rules
1945 Eddie Slovik 1st US soldier executed for desertion since Civil War at 25
1954 Edwin H Armstrong US radio inventor (FM), commits suicide at 63
1955 John R Mott US theologist/founder (YMCA, Nobel 1946), dies at 89
1967 Chief Thundercloud actor (Ambush, Colt 45, Typhoon), dies at 100
1972 Bir Bikram Shah Deva Mahendra king of Nepal (1955-72), dies at 51
1974 Samuel Goldwyn Polish/English/US film magnate (MGM), dies at 91
1989 Jack Douglas humorist (My Brother Was an Only Child), dies at 80
1995 George Abbott playwright/actor/producer (Damn Yankees), dies at 105
Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1966 HAMILTON EUGENE DAVID---PEPPERALL AL.
1967 BARDEN HOWARD L.---CAYAHOGA FALLS OH.
[CRASH SURVIV POSS BUT NO SIGN]
1967 BULLOCK LARRY A.---SOMERSET KY.
1967 KUBLEY ROY R.---GLIDDEN WI
[CRASH SURVIV POSS BUT NO SIGN]
1967 MIYAZAKI RONALD K.---WAIALUA HI.
[CRASH SURVIV POSS BUT NO SIGN]
1967 MULHAUSER HARVEY---CHARLOTTESVILLE VA
[CRASH SURVIV POSS BUT NO SIGN]
1967 WALKER LLOYD F.---MT ANGEL OR.
[CRASH SURVIV POSS BUT NO SIGN]
1968 BADUA CANDIDO C.---PHILIPPINES
[RELEASED MARCH 1973 NOT ON DIA LIST]
1968 COCHEO RICHARD N.
1968 KJOME MICHAEL
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY PRG INJURED, 1986 DECEASED]
1968 LACEY RICHARD J.---PITTSBURGH PA.
1968 YOUNG JOHN A.---CHICAGO IL.
03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG]
1971 CARTWRIGHT PATRICK G.---RENO NV.
POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.
On this day...
0314 St Silvester I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1504 By treaty of Lyons, French cede Naples to Ferdinand of Aragon
1578 Battle of Gembloers
1620 Virginia colony leaders wrote to the Virginia Company in England, asking for more orphaned apprentices for employment
1627 Spanish government goes bankrupt
1675 Cornelia/Dina Olfaarts found not guilty of witchcraft
1696 Revolt of undertakers after funeral reforms (Amsterdam)
1779 Charles Messier adds M57 (Ring Nebula in Lyra) to his catalog
1842 John Tyler's daughter Elizabeth marries in the White House
1849 Corn Laws abolished in Britain
1851 San Francisco Orphan's Asylum, 1st in California founded
1851 Gail Borden announces invention of evaporated milk
1861 State of Louisiana takes over US Mint at New Orleans
1862 Telescope maker Alvin Clark discovers dwarf companion of Sirius
1863 1st black Civil War regiment, SC Volunteers, mustered into US army
1865 Congress passes 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in America (121-24)
1871 Millions of birds fly over western San Francisco, darken the sky
1874 Jesse James gang robs train at Gads Hill MO
1895 José Martí & others leave New York City NY for invasion of Spanish Cuba
1901 Boer General John Smuts & De la Rey conqueror Mud river Transvaal
1902 Tax freedom day, the day by which citizens met their financial obligations to the government.
1905 1st auto to exceed 100 mph (161 kph), A G MacDonald, Daytona Beach
1906 Strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake, Colombia, 8.6 Richter
1915 1st (German) poison gas attack, against Russians
1917 Germany notifies US that U-boats will attack neutral merchant ship
1925 Premier Ahmed Zogu (Zogu I) becomes President of Albania
1927 International allies military command in Germany disbands
1927 National League President John Heydler rules Roger Hornsby can't hold stock in the Cardinals & play for the Giants
1928 Scotch tape 1st marketed by 3-M Company
1929 Leon Trotsky expelled from Russia to Turkey
1932 US railway unions accept 10% wage reduction
1933 French government of Daladier takes power
1933 Hitler promises parliamentary democracy
1934 FDR devalues the dollar in relation to gold at $35 per ounce
1936 "Green Hornet" radio show is 1st heard on WXYZ Radio in Detroit
1941 Anti-German demonstration in Haarlem Netherlands
1941 Joe Louis KOs Red Burman in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
1943 General Friedrich von Paul surrenders to Russian troops at Stalingrad
1944 Operation-Overlord (D-Day) postponed until June
1944 U-592 sunk off Ireland
1944 US forces invade Kwajalein Atoll
1945 Eddie Slovik, 1st American executed for desertion since Civil War
1946 Yugoslavia adopts new constitution, becomes a federal republic
1948 Magnetic tape recorder developed by Wireway
1949 1st daytime soap on TV "These Are My Children" (NBC in Chicago)
1950 President Truman reveals that he ordered the Atomic Energy Commission to develop the hydrogen bomb
1953 Hurricane-like winds flood Netherlands drowning nearly 2,000
1955 RCA demonstrates 1st music synthesizer
1957 Liz Taylor's 2nd divorce (Michael Wilding)
1957 Trans-Iranian oil pipe line finished
1958 "Jackpot Bowling" premieres on NBC with Leo Durocher as host
1958 James van Allen discovers radiation belt
1958 US launches their 1st artificial satellite, Explorer 1
1961 Ham is 1st primate in space (158 miles) aboard Mercury/Redstone 2
1961 USAF launches Samos spy satellite to replace U-2 flights
1961 David Ben-Gurion resigns as premier of Israel
1961 Houston voters approve bond to finance luxury domed stadium
1964 US report "Smoking & Health" connects smoking to lung cancer
1968 Record high barometric pressure (1083.8 mb, 32"), at Agata, USSR
1968 Jan 31, In Vietnam, the Tet Offensive began as Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers attacked strategic and civilian locations throughout South Vietnam. The Viet Cong seized part of the US embassy in Saigon for 6 hours. During the Tet Offensive, the Communist troops who took control of the ancient capital of Hue killed an estimated 6,000 civilians before they again lost control of the city. It was completely overshadowed by a similar but much smaller atrocity committed by U.S. troops at My Lai. Today, the village of My Lai has a memorial to the victims and a museum. The victims of Hue are largely forgotten.
1970 Grateful Dead members busted on LSD charges(SHOCKING NEWS!)
1971 Apollo 14 launched, 1st landing in lunar highlands
1974 McDonald's founder Ray Kroc buys San Diego Padres
1975 Barry Manilow's "Mandy" goes gold
1978 Israel turns 3 military outposts in West Bank into civilian settlements
1981 38th Golden Globes Ordinary People, Coal Miner's Daughter
1982 10 Arabian oryx (extinct except in zoos) released in Oman
1985 South African President PW Botha offers to free Mandela if he denounces violence
1990 1st McDonald's in Russia opens in Moscow, world's biggest McDonald's
1992 Sportscaster Howard Cosell retires
1999 Kofi Annan called on large corporations to enact and uphold standards of conduct for themselves and sub-contractors for investments and operations in poor countries.
2002 Israeli PM Ariel Sharon said that he regrets that Israel failed to take the opportunity to kill Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat in Lebanon 20 years ago
2004 The Mars rover Opportunity rolled off its landing pad onto the surface of Mars
Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Lerwick, Shetland Islands : Up-Helly-Aa/Norse fire festival
Nauru : Independence Day (1968)
Surrey England : Dicing for Maid's Money Day
US : Westerns Are Wonderful Day
USA] Meat Week Ends
Wheat Bread Month
Religious Observances
Roman Catholic:Feast of St Marcella
Roman Catholic:Commemoration of St Peter Nolasco, French founder
Roman Catholic:Commemoration of St Francis Xavier Bianchi, Apostle of Naples
Roman Catholic:Memorial of St John Bosco, confessor/priest
Religious History
1538 French reformer John Calvin wrote in a letter: 'I pray the Lord to keep you in His holy protection, and so to direct you that you may not go astray in that slippery path whereon you are, until He shall have manifested to you His complete deliverance.'
1752 The profession ceremony for Sister St. Martha Turpin was held at Ursuline Convent in New Orleans, LA. She was the first American-born woman to become a nun in the Catholic Church.
1839 Two months before his premature death at age 39, Church of Scotland clergyman Robert Murray McCheyne wrote in a letter: 'Is not a Christian's darkest hour calmer than the world's brightest?'
1911 In Falcon, NC, the Fire-Baptized Holiness Church (FBHC) and the Pentecostal Holiness Church (PHC) officially merged. In 1915, the Tabernacle Pentecostal Church (TPC) joined the merger. In 1975, the name of this body officially became the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC).
1949 American missionary and Auca Indian martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'One does not surrender a life in an instant Ä that which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime.'
Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Thought for the day :
"A cynic is a person searching for an honest man, with a stolen lantern."
