1931
Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.
January-February
 January 2 - South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics
January 4 - Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa.
January 6 - Thomas Edison submits his last patent application.
January 22 - Sir Isaac Isaacs sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia.
January 25 - Mohandas Gandhi released again.
January 27 - Pierre Laval forms a government in France.
February 3 - Hawke's Bay earthquake - much of the New Zealand city of Napier is destroyed in an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale.
February 10 - New Delhi becomes the capital of India.
February 12 - Radio Vaticana first broadcast.
February 14 - The original film version of Dracula with Bela Lugosi is released.
February 16 - Pehr Evind Svinhufvud elected president of Finland.
February 20 - California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge.
February 21 - Peruvian revolutionaries hijack a Ford Trimotor aeroplane and demand that the pilot drop propaganda leaflets over Lima.
March-April
March 1 - USS Arizona placed back in full commission after a refit.
March 3 - The Star-Spangled Banner is adopted as the United States National anthem.
March 4 - British viceroy of India and Mohandas Gandhi negotiate.
March 7 - New House of Representatives opened in Helsinki, Finland.
March 11 - Ready for Labour and Defence of the USSR programme, abbreviated as GTO, is introduced in the Soviet Union.
March 17 - Nevada legalizes gambling.
March 23 - Revolt for Independent India leaders Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev are hanged by the British Government.
March 25 - The Scottsboro Boys are arrested in Alabama and charged with rape.
March 27 - British writer Arnold Bennett dies in Paris when he drinks local water to prove it is safe to drink - but is poisoned.
March 31 - An earthquake destroys Managua, Nicaragua killing 2000 people.
April 6 - Portuguese government declares martial law in Madeira and in the Azores because of an attempted military takeover in Funchal.
April 9 - Execution of Argentinian anarchist Severino Digiovanni.
April 14 - 2nd Spanish Republic proclaimed in Spain.
April 15 - The Castellemmarese War ends with the assassination of Joe "The Boss" Masseria, briefly leaving Salvatore Maranzano as capo di tutti i capi, "boss of all bosses" and undisputed ruler of the American mafia. Maranzano is himself assassinated less than 6 months later, leading to the establishment of the Five Families.
April 18 - An incorporation of Cheverly, Maryland is made.
April 22 - Austria, Britain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden and USA recognize the Spanish Republic.
May-June
May 1 - Construction of the Empire State Building is completed in New York City.
May 4 - Kemal Atatürk re-elected president of Turkey.
May 13 - Paul Doumer elected president of France.
June 12 - Charlie Parker equals J.T. Hearne's record for the earliest date to reach 100 wickets.
June 14 - Overloaded pleasure craft Saint-Philibert, carrying trippers home to Nantes from Île de Noirmoutier, sinks at the mouth of the river Loire in France - over 450 drown
June 23 - Wiley Post and Harold Gatty take off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in an attempt to accomplish the first round-the-world flight in a single-engine plane. 
July-August
July - John Haven Emerson of Cambridge, Massachusetts perfects the Emerson iron lung just in time for the growing polio epidemic
July 1 - Official opening of Milan Central Station
July 16 - Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia signs the first constitution of Ethiopia
Huang He floods kill between 850,000 and 4,000,000 people - the most deadly historic natural disaster.
August 24 - Labour Government of Ramsay MacDonald resigns in Britain - replaced by National Government of people drawn from all parties also under MacDonald.
August 31 - Yangtze River floods - 23 million made homeless
September-October
September 5 - John Thomson, soccer player, dies in an accident during a Celtic - Rangers match
September 10 - The worst hurricane in Belize history kills an estimated 1,500 people.
September 15 - The Invergordon Mutiny: Strikes in Royal Navy due to decreased salaries
September 18 - Mukden Incident. Later used by Japan to occupy Manchuria.
September 18 - Geli Raubal is found shot dead in Hitler's apartment
October - The Caltech Department of Physics Faculty and graduate students meet with Albert Einstein as a guest.
October 18 - Thomas Edison dies at his home in West Orange, New Jersey.
November-December
November 6 - Indian spiritual leader Meher Baba arrives in America for the first time.
November 7 - Chinese Soviet Republic proclaimed by Mao Zedong.
November 8
*French police launch a large scale raid against Corsican bandits.
*Panama Canal is closed for couple of weeks due to damage caused by a number of earthquakes.
December 10 - Niceto Alcalá-Zamora elected president of Spanish republic.
December 11 - The British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster, which establishes a status of legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa.
December 12 - Eta Chapter of Kappa Delta Phi was founded at The University of Maine at Machias
December 13 - Wakatsuki Reijiro resigned as Prime Minister of Japan.
December 26 - Phi Iota Alpha, the oldest existing Latino fraternity is founded.
Undated
Deuterium discovered by Harold Clayton Urey.
Ust-Abakanskoye becomes Abakan.
National Committee for Modification of the Volstead Act formed to work for repeal of prohibition in United States.
The Persistence of Memory is put on display for the first time in Paris at the Galerie Pierre Colle.
Ongoing
Rise of the NAZI party.
January-February
January 5
*Alvin Ailey, American choreographer (d. 1989)
*Alfred Brendel, Austrian pianist
*Robert Duvall, American actor and director
January 6 - E. L. Doctorow, American author
January 8 - Bill Graham, German concert promoter (d. 1991)
January 10 - Peter Barnes, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 2004)
January 12 - Roland Alphonso, Jamaican musician (d. 1998)
January 13 - Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor (d. 2007)
January 14 - Caterina Valente, French singer and actress
January 16 - Johannes Rau, President of Germany (d. 2006)
January 17 - James Earl Jones, American actor
January 19 - Robert MacNeil, Canadian journalist
January 20 - David Lee, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
January 22 - Sam Cooke, American singer (d. 1964)
January 26 - Alfred Lynch, English actor (d. 2003)
January 27 - Mordecai Richler, Canadian author (d. 2001)
January 30 - Allan W. Eckert, American historian, naturalist, and author
January 31 - Ernie Banks, baseball player
February 1 - Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia (d. 2007)
February 2
*Dries van Agt, Dutch politician
*Les Dawson, British comedian (d. 1993)
February 6 - Rip Torn, American actor and director
February 8 - James Dean, American actor (d. 1955)
February 9 - Thomas Bernhard, Dutch author (d. 1989)
February 11 - Larry Merchant, American author and boxing commentator
February 13 - Geoff Edwards, American actor and game show host
February 16
*George E. Sangmeister, American politician (d. 2007)
*Ken Takakura, Japanese actor
February 18 - Johnny Hart, American cartoonist (d. 2007)
February 18 - Toni Morrison, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate
February 18 - Bob St. Clair, American football player
February 24 - Brian Close, British cricketer
February 25 - Eric Edgar Cooke, Western Australian Murderer (d. 1964)
February 26 - Ally McLeod, Scottish football manager
February 28 - Dean Smith, American basketball coach
March-April
March 2
*Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
March 4
*Wally Bruner, American journalist and television host (d. 1997)
*William Henry Keeler, American Roman Catholic Archbishop and Cardinal
*Alice Rivlin, American economist
March 8 - Neil Postman, American media theorist and cultural critic
March 11 - Rupert Murdoch, Australian-born publisher
March 22
*Burton Richter, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
*William Shatner, Canadian actor
March 26 - Leonard Nimoy, American actor and director
March 29
*Aleksei Gubarev, cosmonaut
*Norman Tebbit, British politician
April 1 -
*Rolf Hochhuth, German writer
*Ita Ever, Estonian actress
April 6 - Suchitra Sen (Roma Dasgupta), the legendary Bengali Actress, is born in Pabna (now in Bangladesh).
April 11 - Johnny Sheffield, American actor
April 27 - Igor Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist
April 29
*Frank Auerbach, German-born painter
*Lonnie Donegan, Scottish musician (d. 2002)
May-June
May 6 - Willie Mays, baseball player
May 7 - Teresa Brewer, American pop and jazz singer (d. 2007)
May 13
*Jim Jones, American cult leader (d. 1978)
*Jiri Petr, Czech university president
May 14 - Alvin Lucier, American composer
May 15
*Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Chairman of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
*Ken Venturi, American golfer
May 16 - Natwar Singh, Indian politician
May 18 - Robert Morse, American actor
May 19 - Eric Tappy, Swiss tenor
May 20 - Ken Boyer, baseball player (d. 1982)
May 25 - Georgi Grechko, cosmonaut
May 30 - Fr. John O'Brien, Irish priest and musician (d. 2008)
May 31
*John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
*Shirley Verrett, American mezzo-soprano
June 3 - Lindy Remigino, American athlete
June 7 - Malcolm Morley, English-born painter
June 9 - Jackie Mason, American comedian
June 9 - Joe Santos, American actor
June 13 - Moysés Baumstein, Brazilian Holographer and artist
June 14 - Ross Higgins, Australian actor
June 27 - Martinus J. G. Veltman, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
July-August
July 1 - Leslie Caron, French actress'
July 4 - Stephen Boyd, Irish actor (d. 1977)
July 5 - Ismail Mahomed South African and Namibian Chief Justice (d. 2000)
July 6 - Della Reese, American singer and actress
July 10 - Alice Munro, Canadian writer
July 23 - Te Atairangi Kaahu, Maori Queen (d. 2006)
July 26 - Fred Foster, American songwriter and record producer
July 27 - Jerry Van Dyke, American comedian and actor
August 7 - Charles E. "Charlie" Rice, Legal Scholar and Author
August 12 - William Goldman, American author
August 15 - Joe Feeney, American singer (d. 2008)
August 15 - Florian ZaBach, American musician and TV personality (d. 2006)
August 18 - Bramwell Tillsley, General of The Salvation Army
August 19 - Willie Shoemaker, American jockey (d. 2003)
August 23 - Hamilton O. Smith, American microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
August 25 - Hal Fishman, Los Angeles based local news anchor. (d. 2007)
August 25 - Regis Philbin, American television personality
August 28 - John Shirley-Quirk, English bass-baritone
August 30 - Jack Swigert, American astronaut (d. 1982)
August 31 - Jean Béliveau, Canadian hockey player
September-October
September 8 - Jack Rosenthal, English playwright (d. 2004)
September 12 - George Jones, American singer and songwriter, king of country music
September 17 - Anne Bancroft, American actress (d. 2005)
September 21 - Larry Hagman, American actor
September 22
*Fay Weldon, British author
*George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, British politician (d. 2003)
September 23 - Gerald Stairs Merrithew, Canadian educator and statesman (d. 2004)
September 29
*James Watson Cronin, American nuclear physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
*Anita Ekberg, Swedish actress
September 30
*Angie Dickinson, American actress
*Wesley L. Fox, U.S. Marine Corps officer
October 6 - Riccardo Giacconi, Italian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
October 7
*Cotton Fitzsimmons, American basketball coach (d. 2004)
*Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican archbishop and activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
October 13 - Eddie Mathews, baseball player (d. 2001)
October 15 - Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, President of India
October 16
*James Chace, American historian (d. 2004)
*Charles Colson, American Watergate conspirator
*Rosa Rosal, Filipino actress and humanitarian
October 17 - Ernst Hinterberger, Austrian writer
October 19 - John le Carré, English novelist
October 20 - Mickey Mantle, baseball player (d. 1995)
October 23
*Jim Bunning, baseball player and U.S. Senator
*Diana Dors, English actress (d. 1984)
October 25 - Jimmy McIlroy, Irish footballer and football manager
October 31 - Dan Rather, American television news reporter
November-December
November 3 - Michael Fu Tieshan, Chinese bishop (d. 2007)
November 5 - Ike Turner, American singer and songwriter (d. 2007)
November 15 - Mwai Kibaki, third President of Kenya
November 21
*Malcolm Williamson, Australian composer (d. 2003)
*Revaz Dogonadze, Georgian physicist (d. 1985)
November 23 - Dervla Murphy, Irish author
November 26 - Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Argentine activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
November 28 - Hope Lange, American actress (d. 2003)
December 1
*Jimmy Lyons, American musician (d. 1986)
*Jim Nesbitt, singer
December 2
*Edwin Meese, American attorney general
*Nigel Calder, British science writer
December 11 - Rita Moreno, Academy award-winning Puerto Rican actress
December 12 - Lionel Blair, British actor, choreographer, tap dancer, headmaster and TV presenter
December 23 - Ronnie Schell, American actor
December 24 - Mauricio Kagel, Argentine composer
December 30 - Skeeter Davis, American singer (d. 2004)
December 31 - Bob Shaw, Irish writer (d. 1996)
January - June
January 11 - James Milton Carroll, Baptist pastor, historian, and author (b. 1852)
January 14 - Hardy Richardson, baseball player (b. 1855)
January 22 - Alma Rubens, American actress (b. 1897)
January 23 - Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina (b. 1881)
February 11 - Charles Algernon Parsons, British inventor (b. 1854)
February 16 - Wilhelm von Gloeden, German photographer (b. 1856)
February 23 - Dame Nellie Melba, Australian soprano (b. 1861)
February 26 - Otto Wallach, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1847)
March 5 - Arthur Tooth, Anglican clergyman (b. 1839)
March 7 - Akseli Gallén-Kallela, Finnish painter (b. 1865)
March 11 - F.W. Murnau, German director (b. 1888)
March 20 - Hermann Müller, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
March 21 - Bhagat Singh, Indian revolutionary (b. 1908)
March 27 - Arnold Bennett, novelist (b. 1867)
March 31 - Knute Rockne, American football coach (b. 1888)
April 8 - Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864)
April 10 - Khalil Gibran, Lebanese poet and painter (b. 1883)
April 30 - Sammy Woods, English cricketer (b. 1867)
May 9 - Albert Abraham Michelson, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
May 14 - David Belasco, American writer (b. 1853)
July - December
July 4 - Buddie Petit, American jazz musician
July 12 - Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1866)
August 6 - Bix Beiderbecke, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1903)
August 26 - Hamaguchi Osachi, 27th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1870)
August 27
*Frank Harris, Irish author and editor (b. 1856)
*Francis Marion Smith, American businessman (b. 1846)
September 5 - John Thomson, Scottish footballer (b. 1909)
October 13 - Ernst Didring, Swedish writer (b. 1868)
October 18 - Thomas Edison, American inventor (b. 1847)
November 11 - Shibusawa Eiichi, Japanese industrialist (b. 1840)
December 2 - Vincent d'Indy, French composer (b. 1851)
December 5 - Vachel Lindsay, American poet (b. 1879)
date unknown - Joseph Tabrar, British songwriter (b. 1857)
Nobel prizes
Physics - not awarded
Chemistry - Carl Bosch, Friedrich Bergius
Physiology or Medicine - Otto Heinrich Warburg
Literature - Erik Axel Karlfeldt
Peace - Jane Addams, Nicholas Murray Butler
Ship events
List of ship launches in 1931
List of ship commissionings in 1931
List of ship decommissionings in 1931
List of shipwrecks in 1931
See also
20th century
External links
The 1930s Timeline: 1931 — from American Studies Programs at The University of Virginia
Table of Contents
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