March 31

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining.

[edit] Events

• 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian.
• 1717 - A sermon on "The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ" by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, provoked the Bangorian Controversy.
• 1774 - American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed in the Boston Port Act.
• 1854 - Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese government, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
• 1866 - The Spanish Navy bombs the harbour of Valparaíso, Chile..
• 1885 - The United Kingdom establishes a protectorate over Bechuanaland.
• 1889 - The Eiffel Tower is inaugurated.
• 1906 - The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for amateur sports in the United States.
• 1909 - Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
• 1917 - The United States takes possession of the Danish West Indies after paying $25 million to Denmark, and renames the territory the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• 1918 - Daylight Savings Time goes into effect in the United States for the first time.
• 1930 - The Motion Pictures Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in motion pictures for the next forty years.
• 1931 - An earthquake destroys Managua Nicaragua, killing 2,000.
• 1933 - The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission to relieve rampant unemployment.
• 1942 - In World War II, Japanese forces invade Christmas Island, then a British possession.
• 1942 - Holocaust in Ivano-Frankivsk (then called Stanislawow), western Ukraine. German Gestapo organise the first deportation of 5.000 Jews from Stanislawow ghetto to Belzec death camp. It was one of the biggest transports to Belzec in the first phase of the camp.
• 1949 - The Dominion of Newfoundland joins Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada.
• 1957 - Elections to the Territorial Assembly of the French colony Upper Volta. After the elections PDU and MDV form a government.
• 1959 - The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
• 1964 - The Dictatorship in Brazil, under the aegis of general Castello Branco, begins.
• 1965 - Iberia Airlines Convair 440, crashed into the sea on approach to Tangier killing 47 of 51 occupants.
• 1966 - The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first spaceprobe to enter orbit around the Moon.
• 1968 - President Lyndon Johnson announces he will not run for re-election.
• 1970 - Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth's atmosphere (after 12 years in orbit).
• 1970 - Eight terrorists from the Japanese Red Army hijacked a Japan Airlines Boeing 727 at Tokyo International Airport, wielding samurai swords and carrying a bomb.
• 1979 - The last British soldier leaves the Maltese Islands. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).
• 1986 - A Mexicana Boeing 727 en route to Puerto Vallarta erupts in flames and crashes in the mountains northwest of Mexico City, killing 166.
• 1986 - Six metropolitan county councils are abolished in England.
• 1992 - USS Missouri (BB-63), the last active US Navy Battleship, is decommissioned in Long Beach, California.
• 1994 - The journal Nature reports the finding in Ethiopia of the first complete Australopithecus afarensis skull (see Human evolution).
• 1998 - Netscape releases the code base of its browser under an open-source license agreement; the project is given the code name Mozilla and would eventually be spun off into the non-profit Mozilla Foundation.
• 2004 - In Fallujah, Iraq, 4 American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed and their bodies mutilated after being ambushed.
• 2005 - The Kuiper Belt object 2005 FY₉ is discovered.

[edit] Births

• 250 - Constantius Chlorus, Roman Emperor (d. 306)
• 1499 - Pope Pius IV (d. 1565)
• 1504 - Guru Angad Dev, second Sikh guru (d. 1552)
• 1519 - King Henry II of France (d. 1559)
• 1536 - Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shogun (d. 1565)
• 1596 - René Descartes, French mathematician (d. 1650)
• 1621 - Andrew Marvell, English poet (d. 1678)
• 1651 - Karl II, Elector Palatine (d. 1685)
• 1675 - Pope Benedict XIV (d. 1758)
• 1718 - Marianne Victoria of Borbón, queen regent of Portugal (d. 1781)
• 1723 - King Frederick V of Denmark (d. 1766)
• 1730 - Étienne Bézout, French mathematician (d. 1783)
• 1732 - Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1809)
• 1777 - Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist (d. 1859)
• 1778 - Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist (d. 1858)
• 1794 - Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American politician (d. 1852)
• 1809 - Edward FitzGerald, English poet (d. 1883)
• 1811 - Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, German chemist and inventor (d. 1899)
• 1819 - Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1901)
• 1847 - Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician (d. 1878)
• 1871 - Arthur Griffith, President of Ireland (d. 1922)
• 1872 - Alexandra Kollontai, Russian ambassador to Norway (d.1952)
• 1878 - Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946)
• 1885 - Pascin, Bulgarian painter (d. 1930)
• 1890 - William Lawrence Bragg, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
• 1891 - Victor Varconi, Hungarian film actor (d. 1976)
• 1906 - Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
• 1907 - Eddie Quillan, American actor (d. 1990)
• 1911 - Elisabeth Grümmer, Alsatian soprano (d. 1986)
• 1914 - Octavio Paz, Mexican diplomat and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
• 1915 - Albert Hourani, English historian (d. 1993)
• 1916 - John H. Wood, Jr., American federal judge (d. 1979)
• 1922 - Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (d. 1999)
• 1924 - Leo Buscaglia, American author (d. 1998)
• 1924 - Charles Guggenheim, American film director/producer (d. 2002)
• 1926 - John Fowles, English author (d. 2005)
• 1927 - César Chávez, American labor activist (d. 1993)
• 1927 - William Daniels, American actor
• 1928 - Lefty Frizzell, American singer and songwriter (d. 1975)
• 1928 - Gordie Howe, Canadian hockey player
• 1929 - Lucille Bliss, American voice actress
• 1929 - Liz Claiborne, Belgian fashion designer
• 1929 - Bertram Fields, American lawyer
• 1931 - Miller Barber, American professional golfer
• 1933 - Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet (d. 1983)
• 1934 - Richard Chamberlain, American actor
• 1934 - Shirley Jones, American singer and actress
• 1934 - Carlo Rubbia, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1935 - Herb Alpert, American trumpeter and band leader
• 1935 - Judith Rossner, American author
• 1936 - Bob Pulford, Canadian hockey player
• 1936 - Marge Piercy, American writer
• 1938 - Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi
• 1938 - David Steel, Scottish politician
• 1939 - Zviad Gamsakhurdia, first President of Georgia (d. 1993)
• 1939 - Volker Schlöndorff, German film director
• 1940 - Patrick Leahy, U.S. Senator from Vermont
• 1940 - Barney Frank, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts
• 1942 - Michael Savage, talk radio host and commentator
• 1943 - Christopher Walken, American actor
• 1945 - Valerie Curtin, American actress, writer, and producer
• 1945 - Gabe Kaplan, American actor and comedian
• 1946 - Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (d. 1984)
• 1947 - Cesar Gaviria Trujillo, President of Colombia
• 1948 - Al Gore, Vice President of the United States
• 1948 - Rhea Perlman, American actress
• 1950 - Ed Marinaro, American football player and actor
• 1950 - Andras Adorjan, Hungarian chess player
• 1952 - Adrian Walker, Winemaker & cyclist
• 1955 - Angus Young, Scottish-born musician (AC/DC)
• 1957 - Marc McClure, American actor
• 1957 - Alan Duncan, British Conservative Politician
• 1963 - Paul Mercurio, Australian actor/dancer
• 1964 - Paul Wong Koon-Chung, Hong Kong composer, songwriter, singer and the lead guitarist of the Hong Kong rock band Beyond
• 1965 - Tom Barrasso, American hockey player
• 1966 - Roger Black, British athlete
• 1969 - Samantha Brown, American television host
• 1971 - Pavel Bure, Russian hockey player
• 1971 - Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor
• 1973 - Bold Forbes, Puerto Rican racehorse (d. 2000)
• 1974 - Stefan Olsdal, Swedish bassist (Placebo)
• 1974 - Benjamin Eicher, Swiss film director
• 1976 - Josh Saviano, American actor
• 1978 - Stephen Clemence, English footballer
• 1978 - Jérôme Rothen, French footballer
• 1978 - Tony Yayo, American rapper
• 1979 - Josh Kinney, baseball player
• 1980 - Chien-Ming Wang, Taiwanese Major League Baseball player
• 1982 - Philippe Mexès, French footballer
• 1983 - Paddy McCarthy, Irish footballer

[edit] Deaths

• 1204 - Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France and England (b. 1121)
• 1340 - Ivan I of Russia, Prince of Moscow (b. 1288)
• 1567 - Philipp I of Hesse (b. 1504)
• 1621 - Philip III of Spain (b. 1578)
• 1631 - John Donne, English writer and prelate (b. 1572)
• 1671 - Anne Hyde, wife of James II of England (b. 1637)
• 1703 - Johann Christoph Bach, German composer (b. 1642)
• 1723 - Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, British-born American statesman (b. 1661)
• 1727 - Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1643)
• 1741 - Pieter Burmann the Elder, Dutch classical scholar (b. 1668)
• 1783 - Nikita Ivanovich Panin, Russian statesman (b. 1718)
• 1837 - John Constable, English painter (b. 1776)
• 1855 - Charlotte Brontë, English author (b. 1816)
• 1877 - Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician (b. 1801)
• 1880 - Henryk Wieniawski, Polish composer (b. 1835)
• 1885 - Franz Wilhelm Abt, German composer (b. 1819)
• 1913 - John Pierpont Morgan, American financier (b. 1837)
• 1917 - Emil Adolf von Behring, German physician, Nobel laureate (b. 1854)
• 1915 - Wyndham Halswelle, British runner (b. 1882)
• 1931 - Knute Rockne, American football coach (b. 1888)
• 1945 - Hans Fischer, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1881)
• 1945 - Anne Frank, German-born diarist (b. 1929)
• 1952 - Wallace H. White, Jr., American politician (b. 1877)
• 1954 - Edwin Armstrong, American electrical engineer (b. 1890)
• 1956 - Ralph DePalma, Italian-born race car driver (b. 1884)
• 1968 - Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (b. 1885)
• 1978 - Charles Best, Canadian medical scientist (b. 1899)
• 1980 - Vladimír Holan, Czech poet (b. 1905)
• 1980 - Jesse Owens, American athlete (b. 1913)
• 1981 - Enid Bagnold, British playwright (b. 1889)
• 1984 - Ronald Clark O'Bryan, American murderer (b. 1944)
• 1984 - Srinivasan Mohanathas, British Priminster (b. 1948)
• 1985 - Jeanine Deckers, Belgian nun (b. 1933)
• 1988 - William McMahon, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)
• 1993 - Brandon Lee, American actor (b. 1965)
• 1995 - Selena, Mexican-American singer (b. 1971)
• 1996 - Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer member of The Gun Club (b. 1958)
• 1998 - Bella Abzug, American politician (b. 1920)
• 1998 - Tim Flock, American race car driver
• 1999 - Yuri Knorosov, Russian linguist (b. 1922)
• 2001 - Clifford Shull, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1915)
• 2002 - Barry Took, British comedian (b. 1928)
• 2003 - H.S.M. Coxeter, English-born geometer (b. 1907)
• 2003 - Tommy Seebach, Danish singer (b. 1949)
• 2005 - Stanley J. Korsmeyer, American oncologist (b. 1951)
• 2005 - Frank Perdue, American poultry farmer (b. 1920)
• 2005 - Terri Schiavo
• 2006 - Jackie McLean, American jazz saxophonist

[edit] Holidays and observances

• New Jersey - Thomas Mundy Peterson Day.
• César Chávez Day - official holiday in five states and many cities across the U.S.
• Freedom Day in Malta.

[edit] Liturgical feasts

• Saint Amos
• Saint Benjamin gray
• Blessed Hendrik Werner
• Saint of Rome
• Saint Cornelia

[edit] External links

• BBC: On This Day
• New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

March 30 - April 1 - February 28 - February 29 - (February 30) - April 30 -- listing of all days