Calendar date · July

What happened on July 31

On July 31, -30: Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.

Events

51

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Leo

Featured moment · -30

Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.

The Battle of Alexandria was fought on July 1 to July 30, 30 BC between the forces of Octavian and Mark Antony during the last war of the Roman Republic. In the Battle of Actium, Antony had lost the majority of his fleet and had been forced to abandon the majority of his army in Greece, where without supplies they eventually surrendered. Although Antony's side was hindered by a few desertions, he still managed to narrowly defeat Octavian's forces in his initial defence.

People

Born on July 31

Calvin Ramsay 2003– Scottish footballer (born 2003)
João Gomes 2002– Musical artist
Will Penisini 2002– Tonga rugby league footballer (born 2002)
Kim Sae-ron 2000– South Korean actress (2000–2025)
Rico Rodriguez 1998– American actor (born 1998)
Bobbi Althoff 1997– American podcaster and TikToker (born 1997)
Lil Uzi Vert 1995– American rapper and singer (born 1994 or 1995)
Linus Ullmark 1993– Swedish ice hockey player (born 1993)
José Fernández 1992– Cuban-born American baseball player (1992–2016)
Show 9 more — notable births on July 31
Ryan Johansen 1992– Canadian ice hockey player (born 1992)
Kyle Larson 1992– American racing driver (born 1992)
Réka Luca Jani 1991– Hungarian tennis player (born 1991)
Victoria Azarenka 1989– Belarusian tennis player (born 1989)
Alex Glenn 1988– Cook Islands and New Zealand international rugby league footballer
A. J. Green 1988– American football player (born 1988)
Michael Bradley 1987– American soccer player (born 1987)
Evgeni Malkin 1986– Russian ice hockey player (born 1986)
Brian Orakpo 1986– American football player (born 1986)

People

Died on July 31

Paul Bucha United States Army Medal of Honor recipient
Ismail Haniyeh Palestinian politician (c.1962–2024)
Angus Cloud American actor (1998–2023)
Fidel V. Ramos President of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998
Bill Russell American basketball player and coach (1934–2022)
Alan Parker British filmmaker (1944–2020)
Harold Prince American theatre producer and director (1928–2019)
Tony Bullimore British yachtsman (1939–2018)
Jeanne Moreau French actress, singer, screenwriter, director and socialite (1928–2017)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on July 31
Chiyonofuji Mitsugu Japanese sumo wrestler (1955–2016)
Seymour Papert American computer scientist (1928–2016)
Alan Cheuse Novelist, short story writer, critic
Howard W. Jones American physician (1910–2015)
Billy Pierce American baseball player (1927–2015)
Roddy Piper Canadian professional wrestler and actor (1954–2015)
Richard Schweiker American politician (1926–2015)
Warren Bennis Leadership studies influencer
Nabarun Bhattacharya Indian writer and poet (1948–2014)

Timeline

Every July 31 on record

  1. -30 Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.

    Part of the Last War of the Roman Republic

    The Battle of Alexandria was fought on July 1 to July 30, 30 BC between the forces of Octavian and Mark Antony during the last war of the Roman Republic. In the Battle of Actium, Antony had lost the majority of his fleet and had been forced to abandon the majority of his army in Greece, where without supplies they eventually surrendered. Although Antony's side was hindered by a few desertions, he still managed to narrowly defeat Octavian's forces in his initial defence.

  2. 781 The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: Sixth day of the seventh month of the first year of the Ten'o (天応) era).

    Volcano in Japan

    24 m. It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island, and the seventh-highest peak of an island on Earth. Mount Fuji last erupted from 1707 to 1708.

  3. 1009 Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII.

    Head of the Catholic Church from 1009 to 1012

    Pope Sergius IV was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from 31 July 1009 to his death. His temporal power was eclipsed by the patrician John Crescentius. Sergius IV may have called for the expulsion of Muslims from the Holy Land, but this is disputed.

  4. 1201 Attempted usurpation by John Komnenos the Fat for the throne of Alexios III Angelos.

    Usurper of the Byzantine Empire (died 1201)

    John Komnenos, nicknamed "the Fat", was a Byzantine noble who attempted to usurp the imperial throne from Alexios III Angelos in a short-lived coup in Constantinople on 31 July 1201. The coup drew on opposition to the ruling Angelid dynasty among rival aristocratic families and the common people, who were dissatisfied by the dynasty's failures against external foes. John had previously been an obscure figure, but he became the figurehead of the uprising because of his imperial blood, as he was descended from the illustrious Komnenian dynasty (1081–1185).

  5. 1423 Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant: A Franco-Scottish army is defeated by the Anglo-Burgundians at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.

    Medieval Anglo-French conflicts, 1337–1453

    The Hundred Years' War was a conflict between the kingdoms of England and France and a civil war in France during the late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine and was triggered by a claim to the French throne made by Edward III of England. The war grew into a broader military, economic, and political struggle involving factions from across Western Europe, fuelled by emerging nationalism on both sides.

  6. 1451 Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France.
  7. 1492 All remaining Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.
  8. 1498 On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
  9. 1618 Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions.
  10. 1655 Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.
  11. 1658 Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal emperor of India.
  12. 1703 Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.
  13. 1715 Seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks.
  14. 1741 Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
  15. 1763 Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War.
Show 15 earlier entries from July 31
  1. 1777 The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States."
  2. 1790 The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
  3. 1856 Christchurch, New Zealand, is chartered as a city.
  4. 1865 The first narrow-gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.
  5. 1874 Patrick Francis Healy became the first African-American inaugurated as president of a predominantly white university, Georgetown University.
  6. 1904 Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeat units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation.
  7. 1917 World War I: The Battle of Passchendaele begins near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium.
  8. 1932 The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.
  9. 1938 Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia).
  10. 1938 Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.
  11. 1941 The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question."
  12. 1941 World War II: The Battle of Smolensk concludes with Germany capturing about 300,000 Soviet Red Army prisoners.
  13. 1945 Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.
  14. 1948 At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
  15. 1948 USS Nevada is sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.

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