Calendar date · January

What happened on January 31

On January 31, 314: Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.

Events

57

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Aquarius

Featured moment · 314

Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.

Pope Sylvester I was the bishop of Rome from 31 January 314 until his death on 31 December 335. He filled the See of Rome at an important era in the history of the Western Church, though very little is known of his life.

People

Born on January 31

Sára Bejlek 2006– Czech tennis player (born 2006)
Gianluca Prestianni 2006– Argentine footballer (born 2006)
Hong Ye-ji 2002– South Korean actress (born 2002)
Beñat Turrientes 2002– Spanish footballer (born 2002)
Julián Alvarez 2000– Argentine footballer (born 2000)
Beto 1998– Bissau-Guinean footballer (born 1998)
Jalen McDaniels 1998– American basketball player (born 1998)
Arnaut Danjuma 1997– Netherlands international footballer (born 1997)
Donte DiVincenzo 1997– American basketball player (born 1997)
Show 9 more — notable births on January 31
Miyeon 1997– South Korean singer and actress (born 1997)
Joel Courtney 1996– American actor (born 1996)
Nikita Dragun 1996– American internet personality (born 1996)
Kenneth Zohore 1994– Danish professional footballer (born 1994)
Qiu Bo 1993– Chinese diver (born 1993)
Tyler Seguin 1992– Canadian ice hockey player (born 1992)
Cro 1990– German rapper (born 1990)
Nicolás Laprovíttola 1990– Argentine basketball player (born 1990)
Tommy La Stella 1989– American baseball player (born 1989)

People

Died on January 31

Rasual Butler American basketball player (1979–2018)
Leah LaBelle American singer (1986–2018)
Rob Stewart Canadian photographer, filmmaker and shark conservationist
Terry Wogan Irish-British radio and television broadcaster (1938–2016)
Vic Howe Canadian ice hockey player
Udo Lattek German football player and coach (1935–2015)
Lizabeth Scott American actress and singer (1921–2015)
Richard von Weizsäcker President of Germany from 1984 to 1994
Anna Gordy Gaye American record executive (1922–2014)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on January 31
Abdirizak Haji Hussein Prime Minister of Somalia
Miklós Jancsó Hungarian film director and screenwriter (1921–2014)
Rubén Bonifaz Nuño Mexican poet and scholar (1923–2013)
Hassan Habibi Vice President of Iran from 1989 to 2001
Mani Ram Bagri Indian politician (1920–2012)
Dorothea Tanning American painter, printmaker, sculptor, writer, and poet (1910–2012)
Bartolomeu Anania Romanian Orthodox bishop, translator and writer
František Čapek Czech canoeist (born 1914)
Molly Ivins American newspaper columnist (1944–2007)

Timeline

Every January 31 on record

  1. 314 Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.

    Head of the Catholic Church from 314 to 335

    Pope Sylvester I was the bishop of Rome from 31 January 314 until his death on 31 December 335. He filled the See of Rome at an important era in the history of the Western Church, though very little is known of his life.

  2. 1208 The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the throne as King Eric X of Sweden.

    Medieval battle over the throne of Sweden

    The Battle of Lena occurred on 31 January 1208 and probably took place near Kungslena, in the Tidaholm Municipality in Västergötland, Sweden. It was an important battle between the Danish-backed King Sverker II of Sweden and Prince Eric. Eric's forces won a crushing victory; however, in July 1210, Sverker returned with a second army and was killed in the Battle of Gestilren.

  3. 1266 The Mudéjar of Murcia, who had rebelled against the Crown of Castile during the Mudéjar revolt of 1264–1266, surrender the city to James I of Aragon after a siege lasting a month.

    Muslims living under Christian rule on the Iberian Peninsula during the Reconquista

    Mudéjar were Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period following the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for Mudéjar art, which was greatly influenced by Islamic art, but produced typically by Christian craftsmen for Christian patrons. Mudéjar was used in contrast to both Muslims in Muslim-ruled areas and Moriscos, who were often forcibly converted and may or may not have continued to secretly practice Islam.

  4. 1504 The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples.

    Second and third phase of the Italian Wars (1499–1504)

    The Italian Wars of 1499–1504 are divided into two connected, but distinct, phases: the Second Italian War (1499–1501), sometimes known as Louis XII's Italian War, and the Third Italian War (1502–1504) or War over Naples. The first phase was fought for control of the Duchy of Milan by an alliance of Louis XII of France and the Republic of Venice against Ludovico Sforza, the second between Louis and Ferdinand II of Aragon for possession of the Kingdom of Naples.

  5. 1578 Eighty Years' War and Anglo-Spanish War: The Battle of Gembloux is a victory for Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria over a rebel army of Dutch, Flemish, English, Scottish, German, French and Walloons.

    c. 1566/1568–1648 war in Habsburg Netherlands

    The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Reformation, centralisation, excessive taxation, and the rights and privileges of the Dutch nobility and cities.

  6. 1606 Gunpowder Plot: Four of the conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by hanging, drawing and quartering, for plotting against Parliament and King James.
  7. 1609 Wisselbank of Amsterdam established
  8. 1703 Forty-seven rōnin, under the command of Ōishi Kuranosuke, avenged the death of their master, by killing Kira Yoshinaka.
  9. 1747 The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
  10. 1814 Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (present-day Argentina).
  11. 1846 After the Milwaukee Bridge War, the United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee.
  12. 1848 John C. Frémont is court-martialed for mutiny and disobeying orders.
  13. 1862 Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an 18.5-inch (47 cm) telescope now located at Northwestern University.
  14. 1865 American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery, and submits it to the states for ratification.
  15. 1865 American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief of all Confederate armies.
Show 15 earlier entries from January 31
  1. 1891 History of Portugal: The first attempt at a Portuguese republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto.
  2. 1900 Datu Muhammad Salleh is killed in Kampung Teboh, Tambunan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion.
  3. 1901 Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters premieres at Moscow Art Theatre in Russia.
  4. 1915 World War I: Germany is the first to make large-scale use of poison gas in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russia.
  5. 1917 World War I: Kaiser Wilhelm II orders the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare.
  6. 1918 A series of accidental collisions due to poor visibility leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
  7. 1918 Finnish Civil War: The Suinula massacre, which changes the nature of the war in a more hostile direction, takes place in Kangasala.
  8. 1919 The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, during a campaign for shorter working hours.
  9. 1928 Leon Trotsky is exiled to Alma-Ata.
  10. 1942 World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to Singapore.
  11. 1943 World War II: German field marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad, followed two days later by the remainder of his Sixth Army, ending one of the war's fiercest battles.
  12. 1944 World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
  13. 1944 World War II: During the Anzio campaign, the 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby's Rangers) is destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy.
  14. 1945 US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War.
  15. 1945 World War II: About 3,000 inmates from the Stutthof concentration camp are forcibly marched into the Baltic Sea at Palmnicken (now Yantarny, Russia) and executed.

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