According to Gregory calendar, January 31, the day number 365 in a year and if it is a leap year then the day number is 366. January 31 has its own special significance in India and world history.
Here you will find some important events that happened today in Indian and world History on January 31. Read on to know more about this day.
List of Important Historical events of 31st January:
- 1599: Britain’s first East India Company was established in India at the behest of Queen Elizabeth I of Britain.
- 1747: The Bengal Disease Clinic opened for the first time at the London Lock Hospital.
- 1801: John Marshall is appointed Chief Justice of the United States.
- 1814: Gervacio Antonio de Posadas was elected chief director of Argentina.
- 1850: The largest mass movement called Tae Pingha started in China.
- 1897: Kajekoslav Trade Union Association established in Prague.
- 1915: During World War I, Germany used poisonous gas against Russia.
- 1946: Yugoslavia disintegrates into six countries (Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia) based on the model of the then Soviet Union.
- 1951: The United States’ last narrow gauge passenger train “San Juan Express” service was terminated.
- 1953: 130 passengers and sailors died in a ferry accident in the Irish Sea.
- 1958: The first American satellite Explorer I is placed in Earth’s orbit.
- 1963: Peacock was declared the national bird of India.
- 1971: Telephone service re-established after a gap of 19 years between East and West Berlin.
- 1972: Birendra Bir Bikram Shah became the 12th King of Nepal.
- 1983: Access to seatbelt drivers and front seat passengers was made mandatory in the United Kingdom.
- 1987: Ohrbach’s department store closed in New York City after 64 years of operation.
- 1990: The world’s largest Macdonald store opened in Moscow, the capital of Russia.
- 1996: A suicide attack in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo killed 91 people and injured more than 1,400.
- 2000: Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashes in California, Pacific Ocean, killing 88 people.
- 2004: Famous playback singer and actress Suraiya Jamal Sheikh passed away.
- 2007: Indian steel company Tata Anglo becomes fifth largest company in the world after acquisition of Dutch steel company Corus.
- 2013: Around 300 people were injured in a train accident in Pretoria in South Africa.