Year 1897
Thomas Edison patented the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.
AUGUST 31
Daily Historical Chronicle
UPSC CSE • State PSC • SSC CGL Matrix
31 August: What Happened On This Day in History
Curated historical timeline of momentous political pacts, freedom struggle uprisings, constitutional developments, scientific breakthroughs, and prominent birthdays recorded on 31 August.
Year 1920
Khilafat movement started in India. It was a pan-Islamist political protest campaign launched by Muslims of British India.
Year 1936
Radio Prague, the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic, went on the air.
Year 1947
Indian Standard Time (IST) was decided. Indian Standard Time is calculated based on 82.5°E longitude in the city of Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. Which is situated approximately on the corresponding longitude reference line.
Year 1956
The then President of India Rajendra Prasad approved the State Reorganization Bill.
Year 1957
The Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
Year 1962
Trinidad and Tobago became independent.
Year 1968
Successfully launched two-stage rounding rocket Rohini-MSV-1 in India.
Year 1970
Memorial of Swami Vivekananda was inaugurated by contemporaneous President of India V.V. Giri at Kanyakumari.
Year 1971
David Scott became the seventh person to walk on the Moon.
Year 1983
India’s satellite INSAT-1B is launched from the US space shuttle Challenger.
Year 1996
Pandurang Shastri Athavale was honored with Raman Magsaysay Award.
Year 2008
Government of India settled Amarnath land dispute.
Born 1569
Jahangir, 4th Mughal Emperor.
Born 1870
Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, and educator.
Born 1888
Kanailal Dutta, Indian revolutionary freedom fighter.
Born 1907
Ramon Magsaysay, Pilipino captain, engineer, and politician. 7th president of Philipines.
Born 1919
Amrita Pritam, Indian author, poet, and essay writer.
Born 1940
Shivaji Samant, Indian author. Famous for his novel “Mrutyunjay” based on Mahabharata.
Born 1942
Bubu Imam, Indian environmental activist.
Born 1963
Rituparno Ghosh, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
Born 1969
Javagal Shrinath, Indian Cricketer.
Born 1979
Yuvan Shankar Raja, Indian singer-songwriter and producer
Born 1987
Kavin Bharati Mittal, Indian entrepreneur. Founder and CEO of Hike Messenger, the world’s sixth-largest mobile messaging application.
Died 1422
Henry V of England.
Died 1995
Sardar Biyant Singh, Former Chief Minister of Punjab, India.
Died 1997
Princess Dianna, Princess of Wales.
Died 2002
Martin D Kamen, Canadian physicist. He discovered the Carbon-14 element, which allows biologists to look inside the chemistry of living cells.
Died 2012
Kashiram Rana, Indian lawyer and politician.
Died 2014
Bapu, Indian film director, and screenwriter.
Died 2014
Jimi Jamison, a Pop singer from Mississippi.
Died 2020
Pranab Mukharjee, Indian politician, 13th President of India.