Calendar date · March

What happened on March 31

On March 31, 307: After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman emperor Maximian.

Events

58

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Aries

Featured moment · 307

After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman emperor Maximian.

Minervina was either the first wife or concubine of Constantine I, and the mother of his eldest son and future caesar Crispus. Little is known of her life. Her birth and death dates are unknown.

People

Born on March 31

Reed Baker-Whiting 2005– American soccer player (born 2005)
Samson Baidoo 2004– Austrian footballer (born 2004)
Mateo Sanabria 2004– Argentine footballer
Alex Luna 2004– Argentine professional footballer
Japhet Tanganga 1999– English footballer (born 1999)
Brooke Scullion 1999– Irish singer (born 1999)
Jens Odgaard 1999– Danish footballer (born 1999)
Denys Strekalin 1999– Ukrainian-French pair skater (born 1999)
Adam Chrzanowski 1999– Polish professional footballer (born 1999)
Show 9 more — notable births on March 31
Santiago Chocobares 1999– Argentine rugby union player
Ballou Tabla 1999– Canadian soccer player
Elžbieta Kropa 1999– Lithuanian figure skater
Edon Zhegrova 1999– Footballer (born 1999)
Shiann Salmon 1999– Jamaican athlete (born 1999)
Ben Williams 1999– Welsh footballer
Luca Pizzul 1999– Italian footballer
Sander Raieste 1999– Estonian basketball player
Jonas Røndbjerg 1999– Danish ice hockey player (born 1999)

People

Died on March 31

Stephen Lewis Canadian politician (1937–2026)
Sian Barbara Allen American television actress (1946–2025)
Betty Webb English code breaker (1923–2025)
Barbara Rush American actress (1927–2024)
Shirley Burkovich American baseball player (1933–2022)
Patrick Demarchelier French photographer (1943–2022)
Moana Jackson New Zealand Māori lawyer (1945–2022)
Tullio Moneta Italian actor and mercenary (1937–2022)
Ken Reitz American baseball player (1951–2021)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on March 31
Muhammad Wakkas Bangladeshi politician (1952–2021)
Gita Ramjee Ugandan-South African medical researcher (1956–2020)
Nipsey Hussle American rapper (1985–2019)
Nick Newton inventor of the Newton Starting Blocks (born 1933)
Gilbert Baker American artist and activist (1951–2017)
James Rosenquist American painter (1933–2017)
Ronnie Corbett Scottish comedian and actor (1930–2016)
Hans-Dietrich Genscher German politician (1927–2016)
Zaha Hadid Iraqi and British architect (1950–2016)

Timeline

Every March 31 on record

  1. 307 After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman emperor Maximian.

    Wife or concubine of Constantine I

    Minervina was either the first wife or concubine of Constantine I, and the mother of his eldest son and future caesar Crispus. Little is known of her life. Her birth and death dates are unknown.

  2. 1146 Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade.

    Burgundian saint, abbot and theologian (1090–1153)

    , venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templar, and a major leader in the reform of the Benedictines through the nascent Cistercian Order.

  3. 1174 A conspiracy against Saladin, aiming to restore the Fatimid Caliphate, is revealed in Cairo, involving senior figures of the former Fatimid regime and the poet Umara al-Yamani. Modern historians doubt the extent and danger of the conspiracy reported in official sources, but its ringleaders will be publicly executed over the following weeks.

    1173–1174 conspiracy in Cairo, Egypt

    In 1173–1174, a conspiracy took place in Cairo in favour of restoring the Isma'ili Shi'a Fatimid Caliphate, which had been abolished in 1171 by Saladin, the first Ayyubid ruler of Egypt. The conspiracy, which is known only from sources favourable to Saladin, was led by elites of the fallen Fatimid regime, and aimed to seize control over Cairo by taking advantage of Saladin's absence from the city on campaign. To this end, they are alleged to have contacted the Crusaders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, inviting them to invade Egypt in order to lure Saladin away.

  4. 1272 Pope Gregory X calls for a General Church Council to discuss reunion of Churches, Crusade to the Holy Land and Church reform.

    Head of the Catholic Church from 1271 to 1276

    Pope Gregory X was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 September 1271 to his death and was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis. He was elected at the conclusion of a papal election that ran from 1268 to 1271, the longest papal election in the history of the Catholic Church.

  5. 1492 Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile sign the Edict of Expulsion of the Jews from Spain, ordering all Jews in their kingdoms to either convert to Christianity or leave the country.

    King of Aragon from 1479 to 1516

    Ferdinand II was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband and co-ruler of Queen Isabella I of Castile, he was also King of Castile from 1475 to 1504. He reigned jointly with Isabella over a dynastically unified Spain; together, they are known as the Catholic Monarchs.

  6. 1521 Ferdinand Magellan and fifty of his men came ashore to present-day Limasawa to participate in the first Catholic mass in the Philippines.
  7. 1657 The Long Parliament presents the Humble Petition and Advice offering Oliver Cromwell the British throne, which he eventually declines.
  8. 1706 The last session of history of the Catalan Courts, the parliament of the Principality of Catalonia, ends. Catalonia's constitutional modernisation passed by the Courts aims to improve the guarantee of individual, political and economic rights (such as the secrecy of correspondence).
  9. 1717 A sermon on "The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ" by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, preached in the presence of King George I of Great Britain, provokes the Bangorian Controversy.
  10. 1761 The 1761 Lisbon earthquake strikes off the Iberian Peninsula with an estimated magnitude of 8.5, six years after another quake destroyed the city.
  11. 1774 American Revolution: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act.
  12. 1814 The Sixth Coalition occupies Paris after Napoleon's Grande Armée capitulates.
  13. 1854 Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Convention of Kanagawa with the Tokugawa Shogunate, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
  14. 1885 The United Kingdom establishes the Bechuanaland Protectorate.
  15. 1889 The Eiffel Tower is officially opened.
Show 15 earlier entries from March 31
  1. 1899 Philippine–American War: Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, is captured by American forces.
  2. 1901 Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák premieres at the National Opera House in Prague.
  3. 1905 Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany declares his support for Moroccan independence in Tangier, beginning the First Moroccan Crisis.
  4. 1906 The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for college sports in the United States.
  5. 1909 Serbia formally withdraws its opposition to Austro-Hungarian actions in the Bosnian Crisis.
  6. 1913 The Vienna Concert Society rioted during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Anton von Webern, causing a premature end to the concert due to violence; this concert became known as the Skandalkonzert.
  7. 1917 According to the terms of the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, the islands become American possessions.
  8. 1918 Massacre of ethnic Azerbaijanis is committed by allied armed groups of Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks. Nearly 12,000 Azerbaijani Muslims are killed.
  9. 1918 Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States for the first time.
  10. 1921 The Royal Australian Air Force is formed.
  11. 1930 The Motion Picture Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film, in the U.S., for the next thirty-eight years.
  12. 1931 An earthquake in Nicaragua destroys Managua; killing 2,000.
  13. 1931 A Transcontinental & Western Air airliner crashes near Bazaar, Kansas, killing eight, including University of Notre Dame head football coach Knute Rockne.
  14. 1933 The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission of relieving rampant unemployment in the United States.
  15. 1939 Events preceding World War II in Europe: Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain pledges British military support to the Second Polish Republic in the event of an invasion by Nazi Germany.

Around the world

Holidays on March 31

Keep going

More to explore

The zodiac sign covering March 31 Aries Browse the calendar Every day in March Browse the calendar Every day in March