| in?=
| cp=19th century
| c=20th century
| cf=21st century
| yp1=1928
| yp2=1929
| yp3=1930
| year=1931
| ya1=1932
| ya2=1933
| ya3=1934
| dp3=1900s
| dp2=1910s
| dp1=1920s
| d=1930s
| dn1=1940s
| dn2=1950s
| dn3=1960s
}}
1931 (''' MCMXXXI ''') was a Common Year Starting On Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar).
Events
January-February
- March 1 - Henry Pu Yi , former Emperor Of China , is proclaimed King of the Puppet State of Manchukuo by Japan .
- March 1 - USS Arizona (BB-39) placed back in full commission after a refit
- March 3 - The Star-Spangled Banner is adopted as the United States National Anthem .
- March 4 - British Viceroy of India and Mohandas Gandhi negotiate
- March 7 - New House of Representatives opened in Helsinki , Finland
- March 17 - Nevada legalizes Gambling
- March 25 - The Scottsboro Boys are arrested in Alabama and charged with Rape .
- March 27 - British writer Arnold Bennet dies in Paris when he drinks local water to prove it safe to drink - but is Poisoned
- March 31 - An Earthquake destroys Managua , Nicaragua killing 2,000.
- April 6 - Portuguese government declares martial law in Madeira and in the Azores because of an attempted military takeover in Funchal
- April 9 - Execution of Argentinean anarchist Severino Digiovanni
- April 14 - 2nd Spanish Republic proclaimed in Spain
- April 22 - Austria , Britain , Denmark , Germany , Italy , Sweden and USA recognize the Spanish Republic
May-August
September-December
Undated
Births
January
- January 5 - Alvin Ailey , American choreographer (d. 1989 )
- January 5 - Alfred Brendel , Austrian pianist
- January 5 - Robert Duvall , American actor and director
- January 6 - E. L. Doctorow , American author
- January 8 - Bill Graham , German concert promoter (d. 1991 )
- January 10 - Peter Barnes , English playwright and screenwriter (d. 2004 )
- January 13 - Charles Nelson Reilly , American actor
- January 14 - Caterina Valente , French singer and actress
- January 16 - Johannes Rau , President Of Germany (d. 2006 )
- January 17 - James Earl Jones , American actor
- January 19 - Tippi Hedren , American actress
- January 19 - Robert MacNeil , Canadian journalist
- January 20 - David Lee , American physicist, Nobe Prize laureate
- January 22 - Sam Cooke , American singer (d. 1964 )
- January 27 - Mordecai Richler , Canadian author (d. 2001 )
- January 30 - Allan W. Eckert , American historian, naturalist, and author
- January 31 - Ernie Banks , baseball player
February
- February 1 - Boris Yeltsin , President Of Russia
- February 2 - Dries Van Agt , Dutch politician
- February 6 - Rip Torn , American actor and director
- February 8 - James Dean , American actor (d. 1955 )
- February 10 - Thomas Bernhard , Dutch author (d. 1989 )
- February 11 - Larry Merchant , author and boxing commentator
- February 16 - Louis Absnaider , American VFW District Commander
- February 18 - Johnny Hart , American cartoonist
- February 18 - Toni Morrison , American writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- February 18 - Bob St. Clair , American football star
- February 24 - Brian Close , British cricket player
- February 26 - Ally McLeod , Scottish football manager
- February 28 - Dean Smith , American basketball coach
March
April
May
- May 6 - Willie Mays , baseball player
- May 7 - Teresa Brewer , American singer
- May 13 - Jim Jones , American cult leader (d. 1978 )
- May 14 - Alvin Lucier , American composer
- May 15 - Ken Venturi , American golfer
- May 16 - Natwar Singh , Indian politician
- May 18 - Robert Morse , American actor
- May 19 - Eric Tappy , Swiss tenor
- May 20 - Ken Boyer , baseball player (d. 1982 )
- May 25 - Georgi Grechko , cosmonaut
- May 31 - John Robert Schrieffer , American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- May 31 - Shirley Verrett , American mezzo-soprano
June
July
August
- August 12 - William Goldman , American author
- August 15 - Joe Feeney , American singer, '' The Lawrence Welk Show ''
- August 18 - Bramwell Tillsley , the 14th General of The Salvation Army
- August 19 - Willie Shoemaker , American jockey (d. 2003 )
- August 23 - Hamilton O. Smith , American microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize In Physiology Or Medicine
- August 25 - Regis Philbin , American television personality
- August 28 - John Shirley-Quirk , English bass-baritone
- August 31 - Jean Béliveau , Canadian hockey player
September
- September 17 - Anne Bancroft , American actress (d. 2005 )
- September 21 - Larry Hagman , American actor
- September 22 - Fay Weldon , British author
- September 22 - George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger Of Leckie , British politician (d. 2003 )
- September 23 - Gerald Stairs Merrithew , Canadian educator and statesman (d. 2004 )
- September 25 - Barbara Walters , American television journalist
- September 29 - James Watson Cronin , American nuclear physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- September 29 - Anita Ekberg , Swedish actress
- September 30 - Angie Dickinson , American actress
- September 30 - Wesley L. Fox , U.S. Marine Corps officer
October
- October 6 - Riccardo Giacconi , Italian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 7 - Cotton Fitzsimmons , American basketball coach (d. 2004 )
- October 7 - Desmond Tutu , South African Anglican archbishop and activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- October 13 - Eddie Mathews , baseball player (d. 2001 )
- October 20 - Mickey Mantle , baseball player (d. 1995 )
- October 23 - Jim Bunning , baseball player and U.S. Senator
- October 23 - Diana Dors , English actress (d. 1984 )
- October 25 - Jimmy McIlroy , Northern Irish footballer and football manager
- October 31 - Dan Rather , American television news reporter
November
December
Month/day unknown
Deaths
- January 11 - James Milton Carroll , was a Baptist pastor, leader, historian, and author (b. 1852 )
- January 14 - Hardy Richardson , baseball player (b. 1855 )
- January 23 - Anna Pavlova , Russian ballerina (b. 1881 )
- February 11 - Charles Algernon Parsons , British inventor (b. 1854 )
- February 16 - Wilhelm Von Gloeden , German photographer (b. 1856 )
- February 26 - Otto Wallach , German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1847 )
- March 5 - Arthur Tooth , Anglican Clergyman prosecuted for Ritualist practices in the 1870's (b. 1839 )
- March 7 - Akseli Gallén-Kallela , Finnish painter (b. 1865 )
- March 11 - F.W. Murnau , German director (b. 1888 )
- March 20 - Hermann Müller , Chancellor Of Germany (b. 1876 )
- March 21 - Bhagat Singh , Indian revolutionary (b. 1908 )
- March 31 - Knute Rockne , American football coach (b. 1888 )
- April 8 - Erik Axel Karlfeldt , Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864 )
- April 10 - Khalil Gibran Lebanese poet and painter (b. 1883 )
- April 30 - Sammy Woods , English cricketer (b. 1867 )
- May 9 - Albert Abraham Michelson , German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852 )
- May 14 - David Belasco , American writer (b. 1853 )
- July 4 - Buddie Petit , American jazz musician
- July 12 - Nathan Söderblom , Swedish archbishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1866 )
- August 6 - Bix Beiderbecke , American jazz trumpeter (b. 1903 )
- August 27 - Frank Harris , Irish author and editor (b. 1856 )
- August 27 - Francis Marion Smith , American borax magnate (b. 1846 )
- October 13 - Ernst Didring , Swedish writer (b. 1868 )
- October 18 - Thomas Edison , American inventor (b. 1847 )
- November 11 - Shibusawa Eiichi , Japanese industrialist (b. 1840 )
- December 2 - Vincent D'Indy , French composer (b. 1851 )
Undated
Nobel prizes
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