Calendar date · August

What happened on August 31

On August 31, 1056: After a sudden gastric illness, Byzantine Empress Theodora dies childless, thus ending the Macedonian dynasty.

Events

52

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Virgo

Featured moment · 1056

After a sudden gastric illness, Byzantine Empress Theodora dies childless, thus ending the Macedonian dynasty.

The term Roman empress usually refers to the consorts of the Roman emperors, the rulers of the Roman Empire. The duties, power and influence of empresses varied depending on the time period, contemporary politics and the personalities of their husband and themselves. Empresses were typically highly regarded and respected, and many wielded great influence over imperial affairs.

People

Born on August 31

Jang Won-young 2004– South Korean singer (born 2004)
Amanda Anisimova 2001– American tennis player (born 2001)
Sauce Gardner 2000– American football player (born 2000)
BossMan Dlow 1998– American rapper (born 1998)
Jaylen Barron 1997– American actress (born 1997)
Jalen Brunson 1996– American basketball player (born 1996)
Brittany Mahomes 1995– American sports team owner (born 1995)
Alex Harris 1994– Scottish footballer (born 1994)
Can Aktav 1994– Turkish footballer (born 1994)
Show 9 more — notable births on August 31
Pablo Marí 1993– Spanish footballer (born 1993)
Ilnur Alshin 1993– Russian professional football player
Anna Karnaukh 1993– Russian water polo player
Holly Earl 1992– English actress (born 1992)
Tyler Randell 1992– Australian rugby league footballer
Ragna Sigurðardóttir 1992– Icelandic politician (born 1992)
Nicolás Tagliafico 1992– Argentine footballer (born 1992)
António Félix da Costa 1991– Portuguese racing driver (born 1991)
Cédric Soares 1991– Portuguese footballer (born 1991)

People

Died on August 31

Sol Bamba Football player and manager (1985–2024)
Mahal Filipino actress, comedian, and vlogger (1974–2021)
Francesco Morini Italian footballer (1944–2021)
Michael Constantine American actor (1927–2021)
Geronimo Alpaca in the United Kingdom
Pranab Mukherjee President of India from 2012 to 2017
Tom Seaver American baseball player (1944–2020)
Anthoine Hubert French racing driver (1996–2019)
Alec Holowka Canadian video game developer (1983–2019)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on August 31
Carole Shelley British actress (1939–2018)
Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu English Conservative politician (1926–2015)
Tom Scott American football player (1930–2015)
Bapu India director and artist (1933–2014)
Ștefan Andrei Romanian politician
Stan Goldberg American comics artist (1932–2014)
Carol Vadnais Canadian ice hockey player (1945–2014)
Alan Carrington British chemist (1934–2013)
David Frost British television host and journalist (1939–2013)

Timeline

Every August 31 on record

  1. 1056 After a sudden gastric illness, Byzantine Empress Theodora dies childless, thus ending the Macedonian dynasty.

    The term Roman empress usually refers to the consorts of the Roman emperors, the rulers of the Roman Empire. The duties, power and influence of empresses varied depending on the time period, contemporary politics and the personalities of their husband and themselves. Empresses were typically highly regarded and respected, and many wielded great influence over imperial affairs.

  2. 1218 Al-Kamil becomes sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty.

    Ayyubid sultan of Egypt from 1218 to 1238

    Al-Malik al-Kamil Nasir ad-Din Muhammad, titled Abu al-Maʽali, was an Egyptian ruler and the fourth Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. During his tenure as sultan, the Ayyubids defeated the Fifth Crusade. He was known to the Frankish crusaders as Meledin, a name by which he is referred to in some older western sources.

  3. 1314 King Haakon V moves the capital of Norway from Bergen to Oslo.

    King of Norway from 1299 to 1319

    Haakon V Magnusson was King of Norway from 1299 until 1319.

  4. 1420 The 8.8–9.4 Caldera earthquake shakes Chile's Atacama Region causing tsunami in Chile, Hawaii, and Japan.

    Earthquake and tsunami in Chile

    The 1420 Caldera earthquake was a pre-Columbian earthquake that shook the southern portion of Atacama Desert in the early morning of 31 August 1420 and caused tsunamis in Chile as well as Hawaii and the towns of Japan. 4 Mw. Historical records of the tsunami exist for the Japanese harbours of Kawarago and Aiga where confused residents saw the water recede in the morning of 1 September, without any sign of an earthquake.

  5. 1422 King Henry V of England dies of dysentery while in France and his son, Henry VI, becomes king at the age of nine months.

    King of England from 1413 to 1422

    Henry V, also called Henry of Monmouth and the Hammer of the Gauls, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years' War against France made England one of the strongest military powers in Europe. Immortalised in Shakespeare's Henriad plays, Henry is known and celebrated as one of the greatest warrior-kings of medieval England.

  6. 1483 Under the influence of the Ottoman government, patriarch Symeon I convenes a synod of the Eastern Orthodox Churches in Constantinople which defines the ritual for admitting Catholics to the Eastern Orthodox Churches and condemns the church union of Ferrara-Florence.
  7. 1776 William Livingston, the first Governor of New Jersey, begins serving his first term.
  8. 1795 War of the First Coalition: The British capture Trincomalee (present-day Sri Lanka) from the Dutch in order to keep it out of French hands.
  9. 1798 Irish Rebellion: Irish rebels, with French assistance, establish the short-lived Republic of Connacht.
  10. 1813 Peninsular War: Spanish troops repel a French attack in the Battle of San Marcial.
  11. 1864 American Civil War: The Battle of Jonesborough, the culmination of the Atlanta campaign, begins as Union forces under General William T. Sherman clash with Confederate troops under General William J. Hardee south of Atlanta.
  12. 1876 Ottoman Sultan Murad V is deposed and succeeded by his brother, Abdul Hamid II.
  13. 1886 The 7.0 Mw  Charleston earthquake strikes southeastern South Carolina with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing 60 people and causing damage worth an estimated at $5 to $6 million.
  14. 1888 Mary Ann Nichols, the first of Jack the Ripper's confirmed victims, is murdered.
  15. 1895 German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his navigable balloon.
Show 15 earlier entries from August 31
  1. 1907 Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Anglo-Russian Convention, by which the UK recognizes Russian preeminence in northern Persia, while Russia recognizes British preeminence in southeastern Persia and Afghanistan. Both powers pledge not to interfere in Tibet.
  2. 1918 World War I: Start of the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin, a successful assault by the Australian Corps during the Hundred Days Offensive.
  3. 1920 Polish–Soviet War: A decisive Polish victory in the Battle of Komarów.
  4. 1933 The Integral Nationalist Group wins the 1933 Andorran parliamentary election, the first election in Andorra held with universal male suffrage.
  5. 1935 In an attempt to stay out of the growing tensions concerning Germany and Japan, the United States passes the first of its Neutrality Acts.
  6. 1936 Radio Prague, now the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic, goes on the air.
  7. 1939 Nazi Germany mounts a false flag attack on the Gleiwitz radio station, creating an excuse to attack Poland the following day, thus starting World War II in Europe.
  8. 1940 Pennsylvania Central Airlines Trip 19 crashes near Lovettsville, Virginia. The CAB investigation of the accident is the first investigation to be conducted under the Bureau of Air Commerce act of 1938.
  9. 1941 World War II: Serbian paramilitary forces defeat Germans in the Battle of Loznica.
  10. 1943 USS Harmon, the first U.S. Navy ship to be named after a black person, is commissioned.
  11. 1949 The retreat of the Democratic Army of Greece into Albania after its defeat on Gramos mountain marks the end of the Greek Civil War.
  12. 1950 TWA Flight 903 crashes near Itay El Barud, Egypt, killing all 55 aboard.
  13. 1957 The Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
  14. 1959 A parcel bomb sent by Ngô Đình Nhu, younger brother and chief adviser of South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm, fails to kill King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
  15. 1962 Trinidad and Tobago becomes independent.

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