July 31
Events
Pre-1600
- 30 BC - Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
- 781 - The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji.
- 1009 - Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII.
- 1201 - Attempted usurpation by John Komnenos the Fat for the throne of Alexios III Angelos.
- 1423 - Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant: A Franco-Scottish army is defeated by the Anglo-Burgundians at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
- 1451 - Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France.
- 1492 - All remaining Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.
- 1498 - On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
1601–1900
- 1618 - Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions.
- 1655 - Russo-Polish War : The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.
- 1658 - Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal emperor of India.
- 1703 - Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.
- 1715 - Seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks.
- 1741 - Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
- 1763 - Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War.
- 1777 - The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States."
- 1790 - The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
- 1856 - Christchurch, New Zealand, is chartered as a city.
- 1865 - The first narrow-gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.
- 1874 - Patrick Francis Healy became the first African-American inaugurated as president of a predominantly white university, Georgetown University.
1901–present
- 1904 - Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeat units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation.
- 1917 - World War I: The Battle of Passchendaele begins near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium.
- 1932 - The NSDAP wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.
- 1938 - Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti.
- 1938 - Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.
- 1941 - The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question."
- 1941 - World War II: The Battle of Smolensk concludes with Germany capturing about 300,000 Soviet Red Army prisoners.
- 1945 - Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.
- 1948 - At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport is dedicated.
- 1948 - is sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs and being used for target practice by three other ships.
- 1964 - Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.
- 1966 - The pleasure cruiser MV Darlwyne disappeared off the Cornwall coast with the loss of all 31 aboard.
- 1970 - Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.
- 1971 - Apollo program: the Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
- 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.
- 1973 - A Delta Air Lines jetliner, flight DL 723 crashes while landing in fog at Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89.
- 1975 - The Troubles: Three members of a popular cabaret band and two gunmen are killed during a botched paramilitary attack in Northern Ireland.
- 1987 - A tornado occurs in Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people.
- 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.
- 1991 - The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce both countries' stockpiles.
- 1992 - The nation of Georgia joins the United Nations.
- 1992 - Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing all 113 people on board.
- 1992 - China General Aviation Flight 7552 crashes during takeoff from Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport, killing 108.
- 1992 - Space Shuttle program: Atlantis is launched on STS-46 to deploy the European Retrievable Carrier and the Tethered Satellite System.
- 1997 - FedEx Express Flight 14 crashes at Newark International Airport, injuring five.
- 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.
- 2006 - Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother, Raúl.
- 2007 - Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.
- 2008 - East Coast Jets Flight 81 crashes near Owatonna Degner Regional Airport in Owatonna, Minnesota, killing all eight people on board.
- 2012 - Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.
- 2014 - Gas explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung kill at least 20 people and injure more than 270.
Births
Pre-1600
- 1143 - Emperor Nijō of Japan
- 1396 - Philip III, Duke of Burgundy
- 1526 - Augustus, Elector of Saxony
- 1527 - Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1595 - Philipp Wolfgang, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg
- 1598 - Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor
1601–1900
- 1686 - Charles of France, Duke of Berry
- 1702 - Jean Denis Attiret, French missionary and painter
- 1704 - Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician and physicist
- 1718 - John Canton, English physicist and academic
- 1724 - Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer and author
- 1759 - Ignaz Anton von Indermauer, Austrian nobleman and government official
- 1777 - Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentine priest and politician
- 1796 - Jean-Gaspard Deburau, Czech-French actor and mime
- 1800 - Friedrich Wöhler, German chemist and academic
- 1803 - John Ericsson, Swedish-American engineer, co-designed the USS Princeton and the Novelty Locomotive
- 1816 - George Henry Thomas, American general
- 1826 - Juhani Aataminpoika, Finnish serial killer
- 1826 - William S. Clark, American colonel and politician
- 1835 - Henri Brisson, French lawyer and politician, 50th Prime Minister of France
- 1835 - Paul Du Chaillu, French-American anthropologist and explorer
- 1836 - Vasily Sleptsov, Russian author and activist
- 1837 - William Quantrill, American captain
- 1839 - Ignacio Andrade, Venezuelan general and politician, 25th President of Venezuela
- 1843 - Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet and author
- 1847 - Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer
- 1854 - José Canalejas, Spanish academic and politician, Prime Minister of Spain
- 1854 - Arthur Barclay, 15th president of Liberia
- 1858 - Richard Dixon Oldham, English seismologist and geologist
- 1858 - Marion Talbot, influential American educator
- 1860 - Mary Vaux Walcott, American painter and illustrator
- 1867 - S. S. Kresge, American businessman, founded Kmart
- 1875 - Jacques Villon, French painter
- 1877 - Louisa Bolus, South African botanist and taxonomist
- 1880 - Premchand, Indian author and playwright
- 1883 - Ramón Fonst, Cuban fencer
- 1884 - Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, Polish-German economist and politician
- 1886 - Salvatore Maranzano, Italian-American mob boss
- 1886 - Fred Quimby, American animation producer
- 1887 - Hans Freyer, German sociologist and philosopher
- 1892 - Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist and publisher, founded Worldwide Church of God
- 1892 - Joseph Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop
- 1894 - Fred Keenor, Welsh footballer
1901–present
- 1901 - Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor
- 1902 - Gubby Allen, Australian-English cricketer and soldier
- 1904 - Brett Halliday, American engineer, surveyor, and author
- 1909 - Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Austrian theorist and author
- 1911 - George Liberace, American violinist
- 1912 - Bill Brown, Australian cricketer
- 1912 - Milton Friedman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1912 - Irv Kupcinet, American football player and journalist
- 1913 - Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1914 - Paul J. Christiansen, American conductor and composer
- 1914 - Mario Bava, Italian director and screenwriter
- 1914 - Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter
- 1916 - Sibte Hassan, Pakistani journalist, scholar, and activist
- 1916 - Billy Hitchcock, American baseball player, coach, and manager
- 1916 - Bill Todman, American screenwriter and producer
- 1918 - Paul D. Boyer, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1918 - Hank Jones, American pianist, composer, and bandleader
- 1918 - Frank Renouf, New Zealand businessman and financier
- 1919 - Hemu Adhikari, Indian cricketer
- 1919 - Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster and actor
- 1919 - Primo Levi, Italian chemist and author
- 1920 - James E. Faust, American religious leader, lawyer, and politician
- 1921 - Peter Benenson, English lawyer and activist, founded Amnesty International
- 1921 - Donald Malarkey, American sergeant and author
- 1921 - Whitney Young, American activist
- 1922 - Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager
- 1923 - Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American songwriter and producer, founded Atlantic Records
- 1923 - Stephanie Kwolek, American chemist and engineer, invented Kevlar
- 1924 - Jimmy Evert, American tennis player and coach
- 1925 - Carmel Quinn, Irish singer, actress and writer
- 1925 - John Swainson, Canadian-American jurist and politician, 42nd Governor of Michigan
- 1926 - Bernard Nathanson, American physician and activist
- 1926 - Hilary Putnam, American mathematician, computer scientist, and philosopher
- 1927 - Peter Nichols, English author and playwright
- 1928 - Bill Frenzel, American lieutenant and politician
- 1929 - Lynne Reid Banks, English author
- 1929 - Gilles Carle, Canadian director and screenwriter
- 1929 - Don Murray, American actor
- 1929 - José Santamaría, Uruguayan footballer and manager
- 1931 - Nick Bollettieri, American tennis player and coach
- 1931 - Kenny Burrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1932 - Ted Cassidy, American actor and screenwriter
- 1932 - John Searle, American philosopher and academic
- 1933 - Cees Nooteboom, Dutch journalist, author, and poet
- 1935 - Yvon Deschamps, Canadian comedian, actor, and producer
- 1935 - Geoffrey Lewis, American actor and screenwriter
- 1939 - Steuart Bedford, English pianist and conductor
- 1939 - Susan Flannery, American actress
- 1939 - France Nuyen, Vietnamese-French actress
- 1940 - Stanley R. Jaffe, American film producer and director
- 1941 - Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat
- 1943 - William Bennett, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Education
- 1943 - Lobo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1944 - Geraldine Chaplin, American actress and screenwriter
- 1944 - Jonathan Dimbleby, English journalist and author
- 1944 - Sherry Lansing, American film producer
- 1944 - Robert C. Merton, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1944 - David Norris, Irish scholar and politician
- 1945 - William Weld, American lawyer and politician, 68th Governor of Massachusetts
- 1946 - Gary Lewis, American pop-rock musician
- 1947 - Karl Green, English bass player and songwriter
- 1947 - Richard Griffiths, English actor
- 1947 - Mumtaz, Indian actress
- 1947 - Hubert Védrine, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1947 - Ian Beck, English children's illustrator and author
- 1948 - Russell Morris, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1949 - Mike Jackson, American basketball player
- 1949 - Alan Meale, English journalist and politician
- 1950 - Richard Berry, French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1951 - Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Australian tennis player
- 1952 - Chris Ahrens, American ice hockey player
- 1952 - Alan Autry, American football player, actor, and politician, 23rd Mayor of Fresno, California
- 1952 - Helmuts Balderis, Latvian ice hockey player and coach
- 1952 - João Barreiros, Portuguese author and critic
- 1952 - Faye Kellerman, American author
- 1953 - Ted Baillieu, Australian architect and politician, 46th Premier of Victoria
- 1953 - Jimmy Cook, South African cricketer and coach
- 1953 - Hugh McDowell, English cellist
- 1954 - Derek Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1956 - Michael Biehn, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1956 - Bill Callahan, American football player and coach
- 1956 - Ron Kuby, American lawyer and radio host
- 1956 - Deval Patrick, American lawyer and politician, 71st Governor of Massachusetts
- 1956 - Lynne Rae Perkins, American author and illustrator
- 1956 - Lynn "Lynja" Yamada Davis, American online celebrity chef
- 1957 - Daniel Ash, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1957 - Mark Thompson, English business executive
- 1958 - Bill Berry, American drummer and songwriter
- 1958 - Mark Cuban, American businessman and television personality
- 1958 - Suzanne Giraud, French music editor and composer
- 1959 - Stanley Jordan, American guitarist, pianist, and songwriter
- 1959 - Andrew Marr, Scottish journalist and author
- 1959 - Kim Newman, English journalist and author
- 1960 - Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1960 - Malcolm Ross, Scottish guitarist and songwriter
- 1961 - Frank Gardner, English captain and journalist
- 1961 - Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Nigerian banker, royal
- 1962 - John Chiang, American lawyer and politician, 31st California State Controller
- 1962 - Kevin Greene, American football player and coach
- 1962 - Wesley Snipes, American actor and producer
- 1963 - Norman Cook, English DJ and musician
- 1963 - Fergus Henderson, English chef and author
- 1963 - Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1964 - Jim Corr, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1964 - Urmas Hepner, Estonian footballer and coach
- 1965 - Scott Brooks, American basketball player and coach
- 1965 - John Laurinaitis, American wrestler and producer
- 1965 - Ian Roberts, English-Australian rugby league player and actor
- 1965 - J. K. Rowling, English author and film producer
- 1966 - Dean Cain, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1967 - Tony Massenburg, American basketball player
- 1967 - Tim Wright, Welsh composer
- 1968 - Saeed-Al-Saffar, Emirati cricketer
- 1968 - Julian Richards, Welsh director and producer
- 1969 - Antonio Conte, Italian footballer and manager
- 1969 - Loren Dean, American actor
- 1969 - Kenneth D. Schisler, American lawyer and politician
- 1970 - Ahmad Akbarpour, Iranian author and poet
- 1970 - Ben Chaplin, English actor
- 1970 - Andrzej Kobylański, Polish footballer and manager
- 1970 - Giorgos Sigalas, Greek basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1971 - Gus Frerotte, American football player and coach
- 1973 - Nathan Brown, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1974 - Emilia Fox, English actress
- 1974 - Leona Naess, American-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1974 - Jonathan Ogden, American football player
- 1975 - Randy Flores, American baseball player and coach
- 1975 - Andrew Hall, South African cricketer
- 1975 - Gabe Kapler, American baseball player and manager
- 1976 - Joshua Cain, American guitarist and producer
- 1976 - Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer and manager
- 1978 - Zac Brown, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 - Will Champion, English drummer
- 1978 - Nick Sorensen, American football player and sportscaster
- 1978 - Justin Wilson, English race car driver
- 1979 - Jaco Erasmus, South African-Italian rugby player
- 1979 - J. J. Furmaniak, American baseball player
- 1979 - Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer
- 1979 - Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer
- 1979 - B. J. Novak, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1980 - Mikko Hirvonen, Finnish race car driver
- 1980 - Mils Muliaina, New Zealand rugby player
- 1981 - Titus Bramble, English footballer
- 1981 - Vernon Carey, American football player
- 1981 - Paul Whatuira, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1982 - Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spanish tennis player
- 1982 - DeMarcus Ware, American football player
- 1985 - Daniel Ciofani, Italian footballer
- 1985 - Rémy Di Gregorio, French cyclist
- 1986 - Evgeni Malkin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1986 - Brian Orakpo, American football player
- 1987 - Michael Bradley, American soccer player
- 1988 - Alex Glenn, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1988 - A. J. Green, American football player
- 1989 - Victoria Azarenka, Belarusian tennis player
- 1991 - Réka Luca Jani, Hungarian tennis player
- 1992 - José Fernández, Cuban-American baseball player
- 1992 - Ryan Johansen, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 - Kyle Larson, American race car driver
- 1993 - Linus Ullmark, Swedish professional hockey player
- 1995 - Lil Uzi Vert, American hip hop artist
- 1997 - Bobbi Althoff, American podcaster and influencer
- 1998 - Rico Rodriguez, American actor
- 2000 - Kim Sae-ron, South Korean actress
- 2002 - João Gomes, Brazilian singer
- 2002 - Will Penisini, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
- 2003 - Calvin Ramsay, Scottish footballer