Year 1561
Bairam Khan, patron of Mughal Emperor Akbar, killed in Patan, Gujarat.
JANUARY 31
Daily Historical Chronicle
UPSC CSE • State PSC • SSC CGL Matrix
31 January: 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 January.
Observances & Special Days
Street Children's Day (Austria)
Year 1893
The Coca-Cola trademark was patented for the first time in the US.
Year 1911
Vinayak Savarkar was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was the only one to be sentenced to life imprisonment twice in the then British Empire.
Year 1915
During World War I, Germany used poisonous gas against Russia.
Year 1929
Leon Trotsky was deported by Soviet Russia.
Year 1946
Dissolution of Yugoslavia into six countries based on the model of the then Soviet Union (Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia).
Year 1950
Dr. Rajendra Prasad addressed Parliament for the first time as the President of India.
Year 1950
US President Harry S. Truman approved plans to build a hydrogen bomb.
Year 1985
Rajya Sabha approved 52nd Constitutional Amendment Bill on anti-defection.
Year 2001
In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
Year 2004
Father of the Pakistani nuclear program Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan was arrested for the transfer of nuclear technology to other countries.
Year 2007
Indian steel company Tata Anglo became the fifth-largest company in the world after the acquisition of Dutch steel company Corus.
Year 2009
In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
Year 2010
The Hollywood film Avatar became the highest-grossing film worldwide, earning two billion dollars.
Year 2018
Both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occur.
Year 2019
Abdullah of Pahang is sworn in as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
Year 2020
The United Kingdom's membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state.
Born 1543
Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder and first shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan.
Born 1865
Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader, founded BAPS (d. 1951)
Born 1896
D. R. Bendre, an Indian-Kannada poet of the Navodaya Period.
Born 1909
Bishnu Prasad Rabha, an Indian cultural figure from Assam, known for his contributions in the fields of music, dance, painting, literature as well as political activism.
Born 1932
Vijay Kumar Chopra, the chief executive officer and editor in chief of the Punjab Kesari print news organization.
Born 1956
Guido van Rossum, a Dutch programmer best known as the creator of the Python programming language.
Born 1966
Umar Alisha, Indian journalist and philanthropist
Born 1974
Rajashree Warrier, a Bharata Natyam dancer, educator, and media person.
Born 1975
Preity Zinta, Indian actress, producer, and television host
Born 1992
Amy Jackson, a British actress, and model, best known for her work in Indian films.
Remembrance
192 AD: Commodus, the Roman emperor.
Died 1961
Krishna Singh, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1887)
Died 1969
Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (b. 1894)
Died 1972
Mahendra, the King of Nepal.
Died 2000
K. N. Singh, an Indian actor.
Died 2001
Harshad Mehta, an Indian stockbroker.
Died 2004
Suraiya Jamal Sheikh, a popular actress and playback singer in India’s Hindi language films.
Died 2012
Mani Ram Bagri, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1920)