Year (''' MCMXXXI ''') was a Common Year Starting On Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar .
: Gandhi freed.]]
- March 1 - USS ''Arizona'' 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 11 - '' Ready For Labour And Defence Of The USSR '' programme, abbreviated as GTO, is introduced in the Soviet Union .
- March 17 - Nevada legalizes Gambling .
- March 23 - Revolt for Independent India leaders Bhagat Singh , Rajguru and Sukhdev are hanged by the British Government.
- March 25 - The Scottsboro Boys are arrested in Alabama and charged with Rape .
- March 27 - British writer Arnold Bennett 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 2000 people.
- 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 Argentinian anarchist Severino Digiovanni .
- April 14 - 2nd Spanish Republic proclaimed in Spain .
- April 15 - The Castellemmarese War ends with the assassination of Joe "The Boss" Masseria , briefly leaving Salvatore Maranzano as ''capo di tutti i capi'', "boss of all bosses" and undisputed ruler of the American Mafia . Maranzano is himself assassinated less than 6 months later, leading to the establishment of the Five Families .
- April 18 - An incorporation of Cheverly, Maryland is made.
- April 22 - Austria , Britain , Denmark , Germany , Italy , Sweden and USA recognize the Spanish Republic .
: Empire State Building is completed.]]
- January 5
- --- Alvin Ailey , American choreographer (d. 1989 )
- --- Alfred Brendel , Austrian pianist
- --- 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 12 - Roland Alphonso , Jamaican musician (d. 1998 )
- January 13 - Charles Nelson Reilly , American actor (d. 2007 )
- 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 - Robert MacNeil , Canadian journalist
- January 20 - David Lee , American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- January 22 - Sam Cooke , American singer (d. 1964 )
- January 26 - Alfred Lynch , English actor (d. 2003 )
- 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 1 - Boris Yeltsin , President Of Russia (d. 2007 )
- February 2
- --- Dries Van Agt , Dutch politician
- --- Les Dawson , British comedian (d. 1993 )
- 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 , American author and boxing commentator
- February 13 - Geoff Edwards , American actor and game show host
- February 16 - Ken Takakura , Japanese actor
- February 18 - Johnny Hart , American cartoonist (d. 2007 )
- February 18 - Toni Morrison , American writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- February 18 - Bob St. Clair , American football player
- February 24 - Brian Close , British cricketer
- February 26 - Ally McLeod , Scottish football manager
- February 28 - Dean Smith , American basketball coach
- March 2
- --- Mikhail Gorbachev , President Of The Soviet Union , recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- March 4
- --- Wally Bruner , American journalist and television host (d. 1997 )
- --- William Henry Keeler , American Roman Catholic Archbishop and Cardinal
- --- Alice Rivlin , American economist
- March 11 - Rupert Murdoch , Australian-born publisher
- March 22
- --- Burton Richter , American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- --- William Shatner , Canadian actor
- March 26 - Leonard Nimoy , American actor and director
- March 29 - Aleksei Gubarev , cosmonaut
- April 1 - Rolf Hochhuth , German writer
- April 11 - Johnny Sheffield , American actor
- April 27 - Igor Oistrakh , Ukrainian violinist
- April 29
- --- Frank Auerbach , German-born painter
- --- Lonnie Donegan , Scottish musician (d. 2002 )
- May 6 - Willie Mays , baseball player
- May 7 - Teresa Brewer , American singer
- May 13
- --- Jim Jones , American cult leader (d. 1978 )
- --- Jiri Petr , Czech university president
- May 14 - Alvin Lucier , American composer
- May 15
- --- Joseph A. Califano, Jr. , Chairman of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
- --- 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
- --- Shirley Verrett , American mezzo-soprano
- June 3 - Lindy Remigino , American athlete
- June 7 - Malcolm Morley , English-born painter
- June 9 - Joe Santos , American actor
- June 13 - Moysés Baumstein , Brazilian Holographer and artist
- June 14 - Ross Higgins , Australian actor
- June 27 - Martinus J. G. Veltman , Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 1 - Leslie Caron , French actress
- July 4 - Stephen Boyd , Irish actor (d. 1977 )
- July 6 - Della Reese , American singer and actress
- July 10 - Alice Munro , Canadian writer
- July 23 - Te Atairangi Kaahu , Māori Queen (d. 2006 )
- July 26 - Fred Foster , American songwriter and record producer
- August 7 - Charles E. "Charlie" Rice , Legal Scholar and Author
- August 12 - William Goldman , American author
- August 15 - Joe Feeney , American singer
- August 18 - Bramwell Tillsley , 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 - Hal Fishman , Los Angeles based local news anchor. (d. 2007 )
- August 25 - Regis Philbin , American television personality
- August 28 - John Shirley-Quirk , English bass-baritone
- August 31 - Jean Béliveau , Canadian hockey player
- September 8 - Jack Rosenthal , English playwright (d. 2004 )
- September 12 - George Jones , American singer and songwriter, king of country music
- September 17 - Anne Bancroft , American actress (d. 2005 )
- September 21 - Larry Hagman , American actor
- September 22
- --- Fay Weldon , British author
- --- George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger Of Leckie , British politician (d. 2003 )
- September 23 - Gerald Stairs Merrithew , Canadian educator and statesman (d. 2004 )
- September 29
- --- James Watson Cronin , American nuclear physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- --- Anita Ekberg , Swedish actress
- September 30
- --- Angie Dickinson , American actress
- --- Wesley L. Fox , U.S. Marine Corps officer
- October 6 - Riccardo Giacconi , Italian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 7
- --- Cotton Fitzsimmons , American basketball coach (d. 2004 )
- --- Desmond Tutu , South African Anglican archbishop and activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- October 13 - Eddie Mathews , baseball player (d. 2001 )
- October 15 - Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam , President of India
- October 16 - James Chace , American historian (d. 2004 )
- October 17 - Ernst Hinterberger , Austrian writer
- October 19 - John Le Carré , English novelist
- October 20 - Mickey Mantle , baseball player (d. 1995 )
- October 23
- --- Jim Bunning , baseball player and U.S. Senator
- --- Diana Dors , English actress (d. 1984 )
- October 25 - Jimmy McIlroy , Irish footballer and football manager
- October 31 - Dan Rather , American television news reporter
- April 20 - Michael Fu Tieshan , Chinese bishop (d. 2007 )
- November 5 - Ike Turner , American singer and songwriter
- November 7 - G. Edward Griffin , American political commentator, writer and documentary filmmaker
- November 15 - Mwai Kibaki , third President Of Kenya
- November 21
- --- Malcolm Williamson , Australian composer (d. 2003 )
- --- Revaz Dogonadze , Georgian physicist (d. 1985 )
- November 23 - Dervla Murphy , Irish author
- November 26 - Adolfo Pérez Esquivel , Argentine activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- November 28 - Hope Lange , American actress (d. 2003 )
- December 1
- --- Jimmy Lyons , American musician (d. 1986 )
- --- Jim Nesbitt , singer
- December 2
- --- Edwin Meese , American attorney general
- --- Nigel Calder , British Science Writer
- December 11 - Rita Moreno , Academy award-winning Puerto Rican actress
- December 12 - Lionel Blair , British actor, choreographer, tap dancer, headmaster and TV presenter
- December 23 - Ronnie Schell , American actor
- December 24 - Mauricio Kagel , Argentine composer
- December 30 - Skeeter Davis , American singer (d. 2004 )
- December 31 - Bob Shaw , Irish writer (d. 1996 )
- January 11 - James Milton Carroll , Baptist pastor, historian, and author (b. 1852 )
- January 14 - Hardy Richardson , baseball player (b. 1855 )
- January 22 - Alma Rubens , American actress (b. 1897 )
- 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 23 - Dame Nellie Melba , Australian soprano (b. 1861 )
- February 26 - Otto Wallach , German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1847 )
- March 5 - Arthur Tooth , Anglican clergyman (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 27 - Arnold Bennett , novelist (b. 1867 )
- 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 26 - Hamaguchi Osachi , 27th Prime Minister Of Japan (b. 1870 )
- August 27
- --- Frank Harris , Irish author and editor (b. 1856 )
- --- Francis Marion Smith , American businessman (b. 1846 )
- September 5 - John Thomson , Scottish footballer (b. 1909 )
- 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 )
- December 5 - Vachel Lindsay , American poet (b. 1879 )
- ''date unknown'' - Joseph Tabrar , British songwriter (b. 1857 )
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