July 31 is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 153 days remaining until the end of the year.
Up to 1900
- 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781)
- 904 – Thessaloniki falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city.
- 1009 – Pietro Boccapecora becomes Pope Sergius IV
- 1423 – Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant – The French army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
- 1492 – Jews are expelled from Spain, when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.
- 1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to land on the island of Trinidad.
- 1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
- 1655 – Russo-Polish War of 1654 to 1667: The Russian army enters the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
- 1658 – Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal Emperor of India.
- 1667 – The Treaty of Breda ends the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The Dutch colony of New Amsterdam gets tranferred to British control, being renamed New York. The Dutch get the previously British colony in present–day Suriname.
- 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.
- 1712 – Great Northern War: Danish and Swedish ships clash in the Baltic Sea, with an inconclusive result.
- 1715 – An 11–ship Spanish treasure fleet is lost in a hurricane between the Florida Keys and Havana, Cuba, killing at least 1,000 people.
- 1741 – Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
- 1763 – Pontiac's War: The Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run.
- 1790 – First US patent issued; granted to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
- 1856 – Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city.
- 1865 – The first Narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.
1901 – 1950
- 1901 – With hot–air balloon Preussen, Arthur Berson and Reinhard Suering reach a record height of 10,800 meters.
- 1913 – The Balkan States sign an armistice in Bucharest.
- 1914 – French Socialist politician Jean Jaurès is assassinated in a Paris café by the Nationalist Raoul Villain.
- 1917 – The Third Battle of Ypres starts in Flanders.
- 1919 – German national assembly adopts the Weimar constitution (to enter into force August 14)
- 1930 – The radio mystery program The Shadow airs for the first time.
- 1932 – Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party wins over 38% of the vote in German elections.
- 1936 – The International Olympic Committee announces that the 1940 Summer Olympics were to be held in Tokyo. However, the games were given back to the IOC after the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, and were eventually cancelled altogether because of World War II.
- 1941 – 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."
- 1945 – Pierre Laval, fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.
- 1948 – At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
1951 – 2000
- 1951 – Japan Airlines is established.
- 1954 – First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio, also involving Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni. The lack of credit given to Walter Bonatti causes a lot of controversy in the years to come.
- 1956 – Jim Laker sets extraordinary record at Old Trafford in the fourth Test of taking nineteen wickets in a first-class match (the previous best was seventeen.
- 1961 – At Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in major league baseball history occurs when the game is stopped in the 9th inning due to rain.
- 1964 – Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close–up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth–bound telescopes).
- 1969 – The Mariner 6 probe flies by Mars and sends photographs to Earth.
- 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
- 1973 – A Delta Air Lines jetliner crashes while landing in fog at Logan Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89
- 1975 – In Detroit, Michigan, Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing.
- 1976 – NASA releases the famous Face on Mars photo, taken by Viking 1.
- 1976 – Flooding on the Big Thompson River in Colorado kills 143 people.
- 1977 – David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam serial killer, carries out his last murder, shooting Stacey Moskowitz.
- 1981 – A 7–week strike by Major League Baseball players ends.
- 1987 – A rare, class F–4 tornado rips through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and causing $330 million in damage.
- 1988 – 32 people are killed when a bridge collapses in Penang, Malaysia.
- 1991 – The United States and Soviet Union sign the START I arms reduction treaty.
- 1991 – A Soviet OMON attacks a Lithuanian customs post in Medininkai.
- 1992 – China General Aviation flight 7552 crashes at take–off from Nanking, to Xiamen.
- 1992 – A Thai Airways Airbus A300–310 crashes into mountain south of Kathmandu, Nepal killing 113.
- 1992 – The Republic of Georgia joins the United Nations.
- 1996 – MIL–STD–1750A is declared inactive for use in new designs.
- 1998 – The United Kingdom imposes a total landmine ban.
- 1999 – NASA intentionally crashes the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface.
- 2000 – The Knesset (Israeli parliament) chooses Moshe Katsav as the next President.
From 2001
- 2006 – Fidel Castro transfers power in Cuba to his brother Raul Castro.
- 2007 – Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest–running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.
- 2008 – Scientists report that the Phoenix spacecraft had confirmed the presence of frozen water on the planet Mars.
- 2012 – Michael Phelps beats Larisa Latynina's record number of Olympic medals.
- 2013 – Zimbabwe holds a Presidential election. The main candidates are long–time President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe's ZANU-PF Party claims a landslide victory, but Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change declares the election null and void on the grounds of vote–rigging.
- 2014 – Shortly before midnight, gas explosions occur in the city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, killing at least 26 people.
- 2015 – Beijing is given the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
- 2017 – Los Angeles, California, volunteers to host the 2028 Summer Olympics, effectively giving the 2024 Summer Olympics to Paris.
- 2017 – US President Donald Trump fires White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, only ten days after giving him the job.
Up to 1900
- 1143 – Emperor Nijo of Japan (d. 1165)
- 1396 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467)
- 1443 – Albert III, Duke of Saxony (d. 1500)
- 1526 – Augustus, Elector of Saxony (d. 1586)
- 1527 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1576)
- 1598 – Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor and architect (d. 1654)
- 1702 – Jean Denis Attiret, French Jesuit missionary and painter (d. 1768)
- 1704 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (d. 1752)
- 1718 – John Canton, English physicist (d. 1772)
- 1720 – Emmanuel-Armand de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon, French soldier and statesman (d. 1788)
- 1724 – Noël-François de Wailly, French lexicographer (d. 1801)
- 1737 – Princess Augusta of Great Britain (d. 1813) (sources vary between July 31 and August 31)
- 1777 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentine statesman and priest (d. 1849)
- 1800 – Friedrich Wöhler, German chemist (d. 1882)
- 1803 – John Ericsson, Swedish engineer (d. 1889)
- 1804 – George Baxter, English engraver and printer (d. 1867)
- 1812 – Amélie of Leuchtenberg, Empress of Brazil (d. 1873)
- 1816 – Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of the Two Sicilies (d. 1867)
- 1816 – George Henry Thomas, American general (d. 1870)
- 1822 – Abram Stevens Hewitt, Mayor of New York City (d. 1903)
- 1824 – Antoine, Duke of Montpensier, French aristocrat (d. 1890)
- 1825 – William S. Clark, American senator and scholar (d. 1885)
- 1826 – George Hoadly, 36th Governor of Ohio (d. 1902)
- 1828 – François-Auguste Gevaert, Belgian composer (d. 1908)
- 1831 – Ilya Ulyanov, Russian teacher and father of Vladimir Lenin (d. 1886)
- 1835 – Henri Brisson, French politician (d. 1912)
- 1839 – Ignacio Andrade, 25th President of Venezuela (d. 1925)
- 1843 – Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet (d. 1918)
- 1847 – Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1905)
- 1854 – José Canalejas, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1912)
- 1858 – Richard Dixon Oldham, English geologist (d. 1936)
- 1863 – Sidney Johnston Catts, 22nd Governor of Florida (d. 1936)
- 1875 – Jacques Villon, French painter and printmaker (d. 1963)
- 1875 – Kunio Yanagita, Japanese scholar (d. 1962)
- 1877 – Louisa Bolus, South African botanist and taxonomist (d. 1970)
- 1880 – Munshi Premchand, Indian writer (d. 1936)
- 1886 – Fred Quimby, American movie producer (d. 1965)
- 1886 – Harry Tate, American soccer player (d. 1954)
- 1892 – Joseph Charbonneau, French–Canadian Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1959)
- 1892 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist (d. 1986)
1901 – 1950
- 1901 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)
- 1902 – Gubby Allen, Australian–English cricketer (d. 1989)
- 1904 – John Carberry, American cardinal (d. 1998)
- 1907 – Roy Milton, American jump blues singer, drummer and bandleader (d. 1983)
- 1908 – Franz Meyers, German politician (d. 2002)
- 1911 – George Liberace, American musician (d. 1983)
- 1912 – Milton Friedman, American economist (d. 2006)
- 1912 – Irv Kupcinet, American columnist (d. 2003)
- 1913 – Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)
- 1914 – Louis de Funès, French actor and comedian (d. 1983)
- 1914 – Mario Bava, Italian movie director, cameraman and screenwriter (d. 1980)
- 1914 – Raymond Aubrac, French Resistance activist (d. 2012)
- 1916 – Bill Todman, American game show producer (d. 1979)
- 1918 – Paul D. Boyer, American chemist (d. 2018)
- 1918 – Hank Jones, American pianist (d. 2010)
- 1919 – Primo Levi, Italian writer and chemist (d. 1987)
- 1919 – Robert Morgenthau, American lawyer (d. 2019)
- 1921 – Peter Benenson, British founder of Amnesty International (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Lorenzo Antonetti, Italian cardinal (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Ahmet Ertegün, Turkish–born record company executive (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Jimmy Evert, American tennis player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1923 – Stephanie Kwolek, American chemist, engineer and inventor of Kevlar (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Hilary Putnam, American philosopher (d. 2016)
- 1927 – Bunny Carr, Irish television presenter (d. 2018)
- 1928 – Bill Frenzel, American politician (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Don Murray, American actor
- 1929 – José Santamaría, Uruguayan footballer
- 1930 – Oleg Popov, Russian clown (d. 2016)
- 1931 – Nick Bollettieri, American tennis coach
- 1931 – Ivan Rebroff, German singer (d. 2008)
- 1932 – Ted Cassidy, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1932 – John Searle, American philosopher
- 1932 – Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Cees Nooteboom, Dutch writer
- 1935 – Yvon Deschamps, Canadian comedian, actor and author
- 1935 – Geoffrey Lewis, American actor (d. 2015)
- 1937 – Isabelle Daniels, American sprinter (d. 2017)
- 1938 – Saeed Saleh, Egyptian actor (d. 2014)
- 1939 – Ignacio Zoco, Spanish footballer (d. 2015)
- 1939 – France Nuyen, French actress
- 1940 – Roy Walker, Irish comedian, actor and television host
- 1941 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician (d. 2004)
- 1943 – Lobo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1943 – William Bennett, American politician
- 1944 – Jonathan Dimbleby, British journalist and TV presenter
- 1944 – Robert C. Merton, American economist
- 1944 – Geraldine Chaplin, American–British actress
- 1944 – David Norris, Irish scholar, senator and activist
- 1945 – William Weld, 68th Governor of Massachusetts
- 1947 – Richard Griffiths, British actor (d. 2013)
- 1947 – Hubert Védrine, French politician
- 1948 – Russell Morris, Australian singer
- 1950 – Richard Berry, French actor, director and singer
1951 – 1975
- 1951 – Evonne Goolagong, Australian tennis player
- 1951 – Barry Van Dyke, American actor
- 1952 – Alan Autry, American football player, actor and politician
- 1952 – Helmuts Balderis, Latvian ice hockey player
- 1952 – Faye Kellerman, American author
- 1953 – Ted Baillieu, Australian politician
- 1956 – Deval Patrick, American politician, 71st Governor of Massachusetts
- 1956 – Mark Arden, British actor
- 1956 – Michael Biehn, American actor and movie producer
- 1957 – Mark Thompson, English media executive, former Director–General of the BBC
- 1957 – Daniel Ash, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1958 – Bill Berry, American musician in band R.E.M.
- 1959 – Andrew Marr, British broadcast journalist
- 1959 – Stanley Jordan, American jazz guitarist
- 1960 – Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1961 – Frank Gardner, English journalist and correspondent
- 1961 – Peter O'Brien, American drummer (Orleans)
- 1962 – Jackie Bird, Scottish broadcast journalist
- 1962 – Stanley Jordan, American jazz guitarist
- 1962 – Wesley Snipes, American actor
- 1963 – Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1963 – Fatboy Slim, English DJ and musician
- 1964 – Wendell Alexis, American basketball player
- 1964 – Jean-Paul Vonderburg, Swedish footballer
- 1964 – Jim Corr, Irish musician
- 1965 – J. K. Rowling, British writer (Harry Potter)
- 1965 – Pat Finn, American actor
- 1965 – Scott Brooks, American basketball coach
- 1965 – Mario Von Appen, German canoeist
- 1966 – Tatsuya Ishihara, Japanese animator and director
- 1966 – Yoshiyuki Matsuyama, Japanese footballer
- 1966 – Dean Cain, American actor
- 1966 – Valdas Ivanauskas, Lithuanian footballer and football manager
- 1967 – Minako Honda, Japanese singer and musical actress (d. 2005)
- 1969 – Antonio Conte, Italian footballer
- 1969 – Loren Dean, American actor
- 1970 – Ben Chaplin, English actor
- 1971 – Christina Cox, Canadian actress
- 1971 – Elivélton, Brazilian footballer
- 1973 – Jacob Aagaard, Danish–Scottish chess player
- 1973 – Abdulaziz Khathron, Saudi Arabian footballer
- 1973 – Wail al-Shehri, Saudi Arabian terrorist (d. 2001)
- 1974 – Emilia Fox, British actress
- 1975 – Ruben Patterson, American basketball player
From 1976
- 1976 – Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer
- 1978 – Will Champion, English musician (Coldplay)
- 1978 – Justin Wilson, English racing driver (d. 2015)
- 1978 – Zac Brown, American country music singer
- 1979 – Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer
- 1979 – B. J. Novak, American actor, comedian, screenwriter and director
- 1980 – Mils Muliaina, New Zealand rugby player
- 1981 – Clemente Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
- 1981 – Titus Bramble, English footballer
- 1981 – M. Shadows, American musician (Avenged Sevenfold)
- 1982 – Hayuma Tanaka, Japanese footballer
- 1982 – Mira Craig, Norwegian singer
- 1982 – Michael Jung, German equestrian
- 1982 – DeMarcus Ware, American football player
- 1984 – Joseph Benavidez, American mixed martial artist
- 1985 – Alissa White-Gluz, Canadian singer
- 1986 – Shinzo Koroki, Japanese footballer
- 1987 – Michael Bradley, American footballer
- 1987 – Brittany Byrnes, American actress
- 1988 – Krystal Meyers, American singer-songwriter
- 1988 – Michelle Sabogal, Colombian actress
- 1989 – Victoria Azarenka, Belarusian tennis player
- 1989 – Zelda Williams, American actress
- 1990 – Besart Abdurahimi, Macedonian footballer
- 1992 – Lizzy, South Korean singer, dancer and actress
- 1992 – Kyle Larson, American racing driver
- 1996 – Blake Michael, American actor, director and producer
- 2000 – Kim Sae-ron, South Korean actress
Up to 1900
- 54 BC – Aurelia Cotta, mother of Julius Caesar (b. 120 BC)
- 855 – Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Arab scholar and theologian (b. 780)
- 1099 – El Cid, Spanish warrior (b. 1044)
- 1396 – William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1508 – Na'od, Emperor of Ethiopia (killed in battle)
- 1556 – Ignatius Loyola, Spanish priest, founder of the Jesuits (b. 1491)
- 1726 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1695)
- 1750 – King John V of Portugal (b. 1689)
- 1784 – Denis Diderot, French philosopher and encyclopedist (b. 1713)
- 1805 – Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian soldier (b. 1756)
- 1849 – Sandor Petofi, Hungarian poet (b. 1823)
- 1875 – Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)
- 1884 – Kien Phuc, Vietnamese Emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty (b. 1869)
- 1886 – Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer (b. 1811)
1901 – 2000
- 1914 – Jean Jaurès, French politician (b. 1859)
- 1917 – Francis Ledwidge, Irish poet (b. 1881)
- 1920 – Ion Dragoumis, Greek diplomat, writer and revolutionary (b. 1878)
- 1929 – José de Castro, Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1868)
- 1940 – Udham Singh, Indian revolutionary (b. 1899)
- 1944 – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and writer disappeared (b. 1900)
- 1952 – Waldemar Bonsels, German writer (b. 1880)
- 1953 – Robert Taft, U.S. Senator from Ohio and Presidential candidate (b. 1889)
- 1966 – Bud Powell, American pianist (b. 1924)
- 1969 – Charles Edison, Governor of New Jersey (b. 1890)
- 1971 – Walter P. Carter, American activist (b. 1923)
- 1972 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)
- 1973 – Azumafuji Kin'ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1921)
- 1980 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924)
- 1980 – Pascual Jordan, German physicist (b. 1902)
- 1981 – Omar Torrijos, military leader of Panama (b. 1929)
- 1986 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)
- 1990 – Albert Leduc, French–Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
- 1993 – King Baudouin I of Belgium (b. 1930)
From 2001
- 2001 – Poul Anderson, science fiction writer (b. 1926)
- 2001 – Francisco da Costa Gomes, 16th President of Portugal (b. 1914)
- 2003 – Guido Crepax, Italian comics artist (b. 1933)
- 2004 – Laura Betti, Italian actress and singer (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1907)
- 2005 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch banker and economist (b. 1935)
- 2009 – Bobby Robson, English footballer and manager (b. 1933)
- 2010 – Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Italian screenwriter (b. 1914)
- 2010 – Mitch Miller, American entertainer (b. 1911)
- 2011 – Eliseo Alberto, Cuban–Mexican writer (b. 1951)
- 2012 – Alfredo Ramos de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Gore Vidal, American writer (b. 1925)
- 2013 – John Graves, American writer (b. 1920)
- 2013 – Michael Ansara, Syrian–American actor (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Jorge Jacobson, Argentine journalist (b. 1936)
- 2014 – Kenny Ireland, Scottish actor (b. 1945)
- 2014 – Warren Bennis, American scholar and academic (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Mukku Raju, Indian actor (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Nabarun Bhattacharya, Indian author (b. 1948)
- 2015 – Billy Pierce, American baseball player (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Alan Cheuse, American writer and critic (b. 1940)
- 2015 – Roddy Piper, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1954)
- 2015 – Howard W. Jones, American physician (b. 1910)
- 2015 – Richard Schweiker, American politician (b. 1926)
- 2016 – Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1955)
- 2016 – Fazil Iskander, Abkhazian writer (b. 1929)
- 2016 – Seymour Papert, South African–American mathematician and computer scientist (b. 1928)
- 2016 – Destin Onka Malonga, Congolese footballer (b. 1988)
- 2017 – Liu Wen-hsiung, Taiwanese politician (b. 1954)
- 2017 – Jeanne Moreau, French actress (b. 1928)
- 2017 – Les Murray, Hungarian–Australian broadcaster (b. 1945)
- 2017 – Francesco La Macchia, Italian sprint canoeist (b. 1938)
- 2018 – Hélio Bicudo, Brazilian politician (b. 1922)
- 2018 – Alex Fergusson, Scottish politician (b. 1949)
- 2018 – Bassano Staffieri, Italian Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1931)
- 2019 – Harold Prince, American theatre director and producer (b. 1928)
- Ka Hae Hawaii Day
- Ignatius of Loyola (Roman Catholicism)
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