Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your July 31 shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the July 31 offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of July 31 at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a July 31? Wrong! If the July 31 is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about July 31 then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling July 31? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about July 31 and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your July 31 wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your July 31 then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the July 31 site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about July 31, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your July 31, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
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Events
- 30 BC - Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
- 432 - Election of Pope Sixtus III.
- 781 - The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji (Traditional Japanese calendar: July 6, 781).
- 904 - Thessalonica falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city.
- 1009 - Pietro Boccapecora becomes Pope Sergius IV.
- 1423 - Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant - The France army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
- 1451 - Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France.
- 1498 - On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European ethnic groups to discover the island of Trinidad.
- 1588 - The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
- 1655 - Russo-Polish War (1654-1667): Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.
- 1658 - Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal Empire of India.
- 1667 - Second Anglo-Dutch War: Treaty of Breda (1667) ends the conflict.
- 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.
- 1741 - Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
- 1777 - The United States Congress passes a resolution that the services of Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States."
- 1790 - First U.S. patent is issued; granted to inventor Samuel Hopkins (inventor) 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.
- 1910 - Dr. Crippen is arrested for murdering wife.
- 1913 - The Balkans signs an armistice at Bucarest.
- 1917 - The Third Battle of Ypres starts in Flanders.
- 1919 - Reichstag (institution) adopts the Weimar constitution (to come into force on August 14)
- 1930 - The Radio drama program The Shadow is aired for the first time.
- 1932 - The NSDAP wins more than 38% of the vote in German election, July 1932.
- 1936 - The International Olympic Committee announces that the 1940 Summer Olympics will to be held in Tokyo. However, the games are given back to the IOC after the Second Sino-Japanese War breaks out, and are eventually cancelled altogether because of World War II.
- 1938 - Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanta (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia)
- 1940 - A Doodlebug (rail car) train in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio collides with a multi-car freight train heading the opposite way, killing 43 people.
- 1941 - Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazism official Hermann Göring, orders Schutzstaffel 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 Allies soldiers in Austria.
- 1945 - John K. Giles attempts to escape from Alcatraz prison.
- 1948 - At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
- 1951 - Japan Airlines is established.
- 1954 - First ascent of K2, by an Italy expedition led by Ardito Desio.
- 1956 - Jim Laker sets an extraordinary record at Old Trafford (cricket) in the fourth Test cricket of taking nineteen wickets in a first-class cricket (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 because of 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.
- 1964 - US country singer Jim Reeves is killed in a light airplane crash near Nashville, Tennessee. The crash also claims the life of his manager, and piano player, Dean Manuel.
- 1970 - Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned Rum#Naval rum in the Royal Navy.
- 1971 - Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
- 1972 - Northeast Airlines flies its last flight before being integrated into Delta Air Lines the next day.
- 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 - Viking program: Viking 1 - NASA releases the famous Face on Mars photo.
- 1981 - General Omar Torrijos of Panama dies in a plane crash.
- 1981 - 42-day strike of Major League Baseball ends in the United States.
- 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 and 1,674 injured when a Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal bridge collapse in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
- 1991 - The Medininkai Massacre in Lithuania. Soviet OMON attacks Lithuanian customs post in Medininkai and kills 7 officers, 1 of severely wounded (after a head shot) becomes disabled.
- 1992 - A Thai Airways International Airbus A300-310 crashes into mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing 113.
- 1996 - MIL-STD-1750A is declared inactive for use in new designs.
- 1999 - Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector - NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface.
- 2006 - Fidel Castro hands over power temporarily to brother Raúl Castro. This leads to a celebration in Little Havana Pequeña Habana in Spanish, Miami, Florida, where many Cuban Americans participated.
- 2007 - Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end at midnight.
Births
- 1143 - Emperor Nijo of Japan (d. 1165)
- 1396 - Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467)
- 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)
- 1724 - Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer (d. 1801)
- 1803 - John Ericsson, Swedish inventor and engineer (d. 1889)
- 1816 - George Henry Thomas, American general (d. 1870)
- 1835 - Henri Brisson, French statesman (d. 1912)
- 1835 - Paul du Chaillu, French explorer (d. 1903)
- 1843 - Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet (d. 1918)
- 1858 - Richard Dixon Oldham, British geologist (d. 1936)
- 1860 - Mary Vaux Walcott, American artist and naturalist (d. 1940)
- 1867 - Sebastian S. Kresge, American merchant and philanthropist (d. 1966)
- 1880 - Munshi Premchand, Indian poet
- 1883 - Fred Quimby, American film producer (d. 1965)
- 1884 - Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German politician (d. 1945)
- 1887 - Hans Freyer, German sociologist (d. 1969)
- 1892 - Joseph Charbonneau, French Canadian Roman Catholic archbishop of Montreal (d. 1959)
- 1901 - Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)
- 1904 - Brett Halliday, American writer (d. 1977)
- 1911 - George Liberace, American musician (d. 1983)
- 1912 - Bill Brown, Australian cricketer
- 1912 - Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel Prize in Economics (d. 2006)
- 1912 - Irv Kupcinet, American newspaper columnist (d. 2003)
- 1913 - Bryan Hextall, Canadian hockey player (d. 1984)
- 1914 - Louis de Funès, French actor and comedian (d. 1983)
- 1916 - Billy Hitchcock, baseball player, coach, and official (d. 2006)
- 1916 - Bill Todman, American game show producer (d. 1979)
- 1916 - Sibte Hassan, Pakistani activist, journalist, and writer
- 1918 - Paul D. Boyer, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- 1918 - Hank Jones, American pianist
- 1919 - Curt Gowdy, American sports announcer (d. 2006)
- 1919 - Primo Levi, Italian author and chemist (d. 1987)
- 1920 - James E. Faust, American religious leader (d. 2007)
- 1921 - Whitney Young, American civil rights activist (d. 1971)
- 1921 - Peter Benenson, founder of Amnesty International (d. 2005)
- 1923 - Ahmet Ertegün, Turkish-born record company executive (d. 2006)
- 1929 - Don Murray (actor), American actor
- 1929 - José Santamaria, Uruguayan footballer
- 1929 - Lynne Reid Banks, British author
- 1930 - Oleg Popov, Russian clown
- 1931 - Kenny Burrell, American guitarist
- 1931 - Nick Bollettieri, American tennis coach
- 1932 - Ted Cassidy, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1933 - Cees Nooteboom, Dutch writer
- 1935 - Yvon Deschamps, French Canadian author, comedian and humorist
- 1935 - Geoffrey Lewis (actor), American actor
- 1936 - Vic Davalillo, baseball player
- 1936 - Sir Richard Greenbury, British retailing giant
- 1939 - France Nuyen, French actress
- 1941 - Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician
- 1943 - William Bennett, 3rd United States Secretary of Education
- 1943 - Susan Flannery, American actress
- 1943 - Lobo (musician), American singer and songwriter
- 1943 - Sab Shimono, Japanese American actor
- 1944 - Geraldine Chaplin, American actress
- 1944 - Jonathan Dimbleby, U.K. journalist and television presenter
- 1944 - Robert C. Merton, Leading Scholar and Nobel Prize Winner
- 1945 - Gary Lewis (musician), American drummer and vocalist (Gary Lewis & the Playboys)
- 1946 - Bob Welch (musician), American musician
- 1946 - Karen Zerby, current leader of Children of God
- 1950 - Lane Davies, American actor
- 1950 - Steve Miller (writer), American writer
- 1951 - Evonne Goolagong, Australian tennis player
- 1951 - Barry Van Dyke, American actor
- 1952 - Chris Ahrens, American ice hockey player
- 1952 - Alan Autry, American football player, actor and politician
- 1952 - Helmuts Balderis, Latvian hockey player
- 1952 - João Barreiros, Portuguese writer
- 1953 - James Read, American actor
- 1954 - Derek Smith (ice hockey), Canadian ice hockey player
- 1956 - Michael Biehn, American actor
- 1957 - Daniel Ash, British musician (Bauhaus (band))
- 1957 - Leon Durham, American baseball player
- 1957 - Dirk Blocker, American actor
- 1958 - Bill Berry, American drummer (R.E.M. (band))
- 1958 - Mark Cuban, American businessman, producer, and basketball team owner
- 1959 - Stanley Jordan, American jazz guitarist
- 1960 - Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1962 - John Chiang (California politician), American politician
- 1962 - Kevin Greene, American football player
- 1962 - Wesley Snipes, American actor
- 1963 - Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1963 - Fatboy Slim, British musician
- 1964 - Jim Corr, Irish singer and musician (The Corrs)
- 1965 - John Laurinaitis, American professional wrestler
- 1965 - J. K. Rowling, British writer
- 1965 - Scott Brooks, American basketball player
- 1966 - Dean Cain, American actor
- 1967 - Minako Honda, Japanese singer and musical actress (d. 2005)
- 1968 - Julian Richards (director), Welsh film director
- 1969 - David Cash, American professional wrestler
- 1969 - Loren Dean, American actor
- 1969 - Kenneth D. Schisler, American politician
- 1971 - Gus Frerotte, American football player
- 1971 - John Lowery (John 5), American guitarist
- 1973 - Chandra North, American supermodel
- 1974 - Emilia Fox, English actress
- 1974 - Jonathan Ogden, American football player
- 1975 - Simon Hirst, British radio DJ
- 1975 - Allan von Schenkel, American musician
- 1975 - Bloodshed (rapper) American rapper (d. 1997)
- 1975 - Randy Flores, American baseball player
- 1975 - Mike Lincoln, American baseball player
- 1976 - Joshua Cain, American guitarist (Motion City Soundtrack)
- 1976 - Annie Parisse, American actress
- 1976 - Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer
- 1977 - Tim Couch, American football player
- 1978 - Justin Wilson, English race car driver
- 1978 - Will Champion, English drummer (Coldplay)
- 1979 - Jade Kwan, Hong Kong singer
- 1979 - Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer
- 1979 - J. J. Furmaniak, American baseball player
- 1979 - Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer
- 1979 - B. J. Novak, American actor
- 1980 - Mils Muliaina, New Zealand and Waikato rugby player
- 1981 - Eric Lively, American actor
- 1981 - Ira Losco, Maltese singer
- 1981 - M. Shadows, American singer (Avenged Sevenfold)
- 1982 - Blessing Mahwire, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1982 - Melanie Vallejo, Australian TV actress
- 1986 - Evgeni Malkin, Russian hockey player
- 1990 - Olga Galchenko, Russian juggler
Deaths
- 855 - Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Muslim Jurisprudent (b. 780)
- 1099 - El Cid, Spanish warrior (b. 1044)
- 1396 - William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1342)
- 1508 - Na'od, Emperor of Ethiopia (killed in battle) (b. 1494)
- 1556 - Ignatius Loyola, Spanish priest and founder of the Jesuits
- 1653 - Thomas Dudley, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1576)
- 1726 - Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1695)
- 1750 - King John V of Portugal (b. 1689)
- 1784 - Denis Diderot, French philosopher and encylopedist (b. 1713)
- 1864 - Louis Hachette, French publisher (b. 1800)
- 1875 - Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)
- 1886 - Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer (b. 1811)
- 1914 - Jean Jaurès, French politician (d. 1859)
- 1917 - Francis Ledwidge, Irish poet (b. 1881)
- 1917 - Hedd Wyn (Ellis Humphrey Evans), Welsh poet (b. 1887)
- 1944 - Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French pilot and writer (b. 1900)
- 1953 - Robert Taft, United States Congressional Delegations from Ohio and Presidential candidate (b. 1889)
- 1943 - Hedley Verity, English Test cricketer (b. 1905)
- 1954 - Onofre Marimón, Argentine racing driver (b. 1923)
- 1964 - Jim Reeves, American singer (b. 1923)
- 1966 - Bud Powell, American jazz pianist (b. 1924)
- 1972 - Paul-Henri Spaak, Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)
- 1980 - Pascual Jordan, German physicist (b. 1902)
- 1980 - Mohd. Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924)
- 1981 - Omar Torrijos, Panamanian military leader
- 1986 - Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)
- 1986 - Teddy Wilson, American jazz pianist (b. 1912)
- 1990 - Albert Leduc, French Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
- 1993 - King Baudouin I of Belgium (b. 1930)
- 2001 - Poul Anderson, American author (b. 1926)
- 2003 - Guido Crepax, Italian comics artist (b. 1933)
- 2004 - Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1917)
- 2004 - Laura Betti, Italian actress (b. 1927)
- 2005 - Wim Duisenberg, Dutch banker (b. 1935)
- 2006 - Paul Eells, "Voice of the Arkansas Razorbacks" sportscaster (b. 1935)
- 2007 - Maarten Stekelenburg, Dutch football player. (b. 1982)
Holidays and observances
Liturgical feasts
Roman Catholicism
External links
- BBC: On This Day
-
- On This Day in Canada
{| style="float:right;"|-||-||}
Events
- 30 BC - Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
- 432 - Election of Pope Sixtus III.
- 781 - The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji (Traditional Japanese calendar: July 6, 781).
- 904 - Thessalonica falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city.
- 1009 - Pietro Boccapecora becomes Pope Sergius IV.
- 1423 - Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant - The France army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
- 1451 - Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France.
- 1498 - On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European ethnic groups to discover the island of Trinidad.
- 1588 - The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
- 1655 - Russo-Polish War (1654-1667): Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.
- 1658 - Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal Empire of India.
- 1667 - Second Anglo-Dutch War: Treaty of Breda (1667) ends the conflict.
- 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.
- 1741 - Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
- 1777 - The United States Congress passes a resolution that the services of Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States."
- 1790 - First U.S. patent is issued; granted to inventor Samuel Hopkins (inventor) 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.
- 1910 - Dr. Crippen is arrested for murdering wife.
- 1913 - The Balkans signs an armistice at Bucarest.
- 1917 - The Third Battle of Ypres starts in Flanders.
- 1919 - Reichstag (institution) adopts the Weimar constitution (to come into force on August 14)
- 1930 - The Radio drama program The Shadow is aired for the first time.
- 1932 - The NSDAP wins more than 38% of the vote in German election, July 1932.
- 1936 - The International Olympic Committee announces that the 1940 Summer Olympics will to be held in Tokyo. However, the games are given back to the IOC after the Second Sino-Japanese War breaks out, and are eventually cancelled altogether because of World War II.
- 1938 - Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanta (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia)
- 1940 - A Doodlebug (rail car) train in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio collides with a multi-car freight train heading the opposite way, killing 43 people.
- 1941 - Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazism official Hermann Göring, orders Schutzstaffel 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 Allies soldiers in Austria.
- 1945 - John K. Giles attempts to escape from Alcatraz prison.
- 1948 - At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
- 1951 - Japan Airlines is established.
- 1954 - First ascent of K2, by an Italy expedition led by Ardito Desio.
- 1956 - Jim Laker sets an extraordinary record at Old Trafford (cricket) in the fourth Test cricket of taking nineteen wickets in a first-class cricket (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 because of 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.
- 1964 - US country singer Jim Reeves is killed in a light airplane crash near Nashville, Tennessee. The crash also claims the life of his manager, and piano player, Dean Manuel.
- 1970 - Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned Rum#Naval rum in the Royal Navy.
- 1971 - Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
- 1972 - Northeast Airlines flies its last flight before being integrated into Delta Air Lines the next day.
- 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 - Viking program: Viking 1 - NASA releases the famous Face on Mars photo.
- 1981 - General Omar Torrijos of Panama dies in a plane crash.
- 1981 - 42-day strike of Major League Baseball ends in the United States.
- 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 and 1,674 injured when a Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal bridge collapse in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
- 1991 - The Medininkai Massacre in Lithuania. Soviet OMON attacks Lithuanian customs post in Medininkai and kills 7 officers, 1 of severely wounded (after a head shot) becomes disabled.
- 1992 - A Thai Airways International Airbus A300-310 crashes into mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing 113.
- 1996 - MIL-STD-1750A is declared inactive for use in new designs.
- 1999 - Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector - NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface.
- 2006 - Fidel Castro hands over power temporarily to brother Raúl Castro. This leads to a celebration in Little Havana Pequeña Habana in Spanish, Miami, Florida, where many Cuban Americans participated.
- 2007 - Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end at midnight.
Births
- 1143 - Emperor Nijo of Japan (d. 1165)
- 1396 - Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467)
- 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)
- 1724 - Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer (d. 1801)
- 1803 - John Ericsson, Swedish inventor and engineer (d. 1889)
- 1816 - George Henry Thomas, American general (d. 1870)
- 1835 - Henri Brisson, French statesman (d. 1912)
- 1835 - Paul du Chaillu, French explorer (d. 1903)
- 1843 - Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet (d. 1918)
- 1858 - Richard Dixon Oldham, British geologist (d. 1936)
- 1860 - Mary Vaux Walcott, American artist and naturalist (d. 1940)
- 1867 - Sebastian S. Kresge, American merchant and philanthropist (d. 1966)
- 1880 - Munshi Premchand, Indian poet
- 1883 - Fred Quimby, American film producer (d. 1965)
- 1884 - Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German politician (d. 1945)
- 1887 - Hans Freyer, German sociologist (d. 1969)
- 1892 - Joseph Charbonneau, French Canadian Roman Catholic archbishop of Montreal (d. 1959)
- 1901 - Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)
- 1904 - Brett Halliday, American writer (d. 1977)
- 1911 - George Liberace, American musician (d. 1983)
- 1912 - Bill Brown, Australian cricketer
- 1912 - Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel Prize in Economics (d. 2006)
- 1912 - Irv Kupcinet, American newspaper columnist (d. 2003)
- 1913 - Bryan Hextall, Canadian hockey player (d. 1984)
- 1914 - Louis de Funès, French actor and comedian (d. 1983)
- 1916 - Billy Hitchcock, baseball player, coach, and official (d. 2006)
- 1916 - Bill Todman, American game show producer (d. 1979)
- 1916 - Sibte Hassan, Pakistani activist, journalist, and writer
- 1918 - Paul D. Boyer, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- 1918 - Hank Jones, American pianist
- 1919 - Curt Gowdy, American sports announcer (d. 2006)
- 1919 - Primo Levi, Italian author and chemist (d. 1987)
- 1920 - James E. Faust, American religious leader (d. 2007)
- 1921 - Whitney Young, American civil rights activist (d. 1971)
- 1921 - Peter Benenson, founder of Amnesty International (d. 2005)
- 1923 - Ahmet Ertegün, Turkish-born record company executive (d. 2006)
- 1929 - Don Murray (actor), American actor
- 1929 - José Santamaria, Uruguayan footballer
- 1929 - Lynne Reid Banks, British author
- 1930 - Oleg Popov, Russian clown
- 1931 - Kenny Burrell, American guitarist
- 1931 - Nick Bollettieri, American tennis coach
- 1932 - Ted Cassidy, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1933 - Cees Nooteboom, Dutch writer
- 1935 - Yvon Deschamps, French Canadian author, comedian and humorist
- 1935 - Geoffrey Lewis (actor), American actor
- 1936 - Vic Davalillo, baseball player
- 1936 - Sir Richard Greenbury, British retailing giant
- 1939 - France Nuyen, French actress
- 1941 - Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician
- 1943 - William Bennett, 3rd United States Secretary of Education
- 1943 - Susan Flannery, American actress
- 1943 - Lobo (musician), American singer and songwriter
- 1943 - Sab Shimono, Japanese American actor
- 1944 - Geraldine Chaplin, American actress
- 1944 - Jonathan Dimbleby, U.K. journalist and television presenter
- 1944 - Robert C. Merton, Leading Scholar and Nobel Prize Winner
- 1945 - Gary Lewis (musician), American drummer and vocalist (Gary Lewis & the Playboys)
- 1946 - Bob Welch (musician), American musician
- 1946 - Karen Zerby, current leader of Children of God
- 1950 - Lane Davies, American actor
- 1950 - Steve Miller (writer), American writer
- 1951 - Evonne Goolagong, Australian tennis player
- 1951 - Barry Van Dyke, American actor
- 1952 - Chris Ahrens, American ice hockey player
- 1952 - Alan Autry, American football player, actor and politician
- 1952 - Helmuts Balderis, Latvian hockey player
- 1952 - João Barreiros, Portuguese writer
- 1953 - James Read, American actor
- 1954 - Derek Smith (ice hockey), Canadian ice hockey player
- 1956 - Michael Biehn, American actor
- 1957 - Daniel Ash, British musician (Bauhaus (band))
- 1957 - Leon Durham, American baseball player
- 1957 - Dirk Blocker, American actor
- 1958 - Bill Berry, American drummer (R.E.M. (band))
- 1958 - Mark Cuban, American businessman, producer, and basketball team owner
- 1959 - Stanley Jordan, American jazz guitarist
- 1960 - Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1962 - John Chiang (California politician), American politician
- 1962 - Kevin Greene, American football player
- 1962 - Wesley Snipes, American actor
- 1963 - Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1963 - Fatboy Slim, British musician
- 1964 - Jim Corr, Irish singer and musician (The Corrs)
- 1965 - John Laurinaitis, American professional wrestler
- 1965 - J. K. Rowling, British writer
- 1965 - Scott Brooks, American basketball player
- 1966 - Dean Cain, American actor
- 1967 - Minako Honda, Japanese singer and musical actress (d. 2005)
- 1968 - Julian Richards (director), Welsh film director
- 1969 - David Cash, American professional wrestler
- 1969 - Loren Dean, American actor
- 1969 - Kenneth D. Schisler, American politician
- 1971 - Gus Frerotte, American football player
- 1971 - John Lowery (John 5), American guitarist
- 1973 - Chandra North, American supermodel
- 1974 - Emilia Fox, English actress
- 1974 - Jonathan Ogden, American football player
- 1975 - Simon Hirst, British radio DJ
- 1975 - Allan von Schenkel, American musician
- 1975 - Bloodshed (rapper) American rapper (d. 1997)
- 1975 - Randy Flores, American baseball player
- 1975 - Mike Lincoln, American baseball player
- 1976 - Joshua Cain, American guitarist (Motion City Soundtrack)
- 1976 - Annie Parisse, American actress
- 1976 - Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer
- 1977 - Tim Couch, American football player
- 1978 - Justin Wilson, English race car driver
- 1978 - Will Champion, English drummer (Coldplay)
- 1979 - Jade Kwan, Hong Kong singer
- 1979 - Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer
- 1979 - J. J. Furmaniak, American baseball player
- 1979 - Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer
- 1979 - B. J. Novak, American actor
- 1980 - Mils Muliaina, New Zealand and Waikato rugby player
- 1981 - Eric Lively, American actor
- 1981 - Ira Losco, Maltese singer
- 1981 - M. Shadows, American singer (Avenged Sevenfold)
- 1982 - Blessing Mahwire, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1982 - Melanie Vallejo, Australian TV actress
- 1986 - Evgeni Malkin, Russian hockey player
- 1990 - Olga Galchenko, Russian juggler
Deaths
- 855 - Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Muslim Jurisprudent (b. 780)
- 1099 - El Cid, Spanish warrior (b. 1044)
- 1396 - William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1342)
- 1508 - Na'od, Emperor of Ethiopia (killed in battle) (b. 1494)
- 1556 - Ignatius Loyola, Spanish priest and founder of the Jesuits
- 1653 - Thomas Dudley, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1576)
- 1726 - Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1695)
- 1750 - King John V of Portugal (b. 1689)
- 1784 - Denis Diderot, French philosopher and encylopedist (b. 1713)
- 1864 - Louis Hachette, French publisher (b. 1800)
- 1875 - Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)
- 1886 - Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer (b. 1811)
- 1914 - Jean Jaurès, French politician (d. 1859)
- 1917 - Francis Ledwidge, Irish poet (b. 1881)
- 1917 - Hedd Wyn (Ellis Humphrey Evans), Welsh poet (b. 1887)
- 1944 - Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French pilot and writer (b. 1900)
- 1953 - Robert Taft, United States Congressional Delegations from Ohio and Presidential candidate (b. 1889)
- 1943 - Hedley Verity, English Test cricketer (b. 1905)
- 1954 - Onofre Marimón, Argentine racing driver (b. 1923)
- 1964 - Jim Reeves, American singer (b. 1923)
- 1966 - Bud Powell, American jazz pianist (b. 1924)
- 1972 - Paul-Henri Spaak, Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)
- 1980 - Pascual Jordan, German physicist (b. 1902)
- 1980 - Mohd. Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924)
- 1981 - Omar Torrijos, Panamanian military leader
- 1986 - Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)
- 1986 - Teddy Wilson, American jazz pianist (b. 1912)
- 1990 - Albert Leduc, French Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
- 1993 - King Baudouin I of Belgium (b. 1930)
- 2001 - Poul Anderson, American author (b. 1926)
- 2003 - Guido Crepax, Italian comics artist (b. 1933)
- 2004 - Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1917)
- 2004 - Laura Betti, Italian actress (b. 1927)
- 2005 - Wim Duisenberg, Dutch banker (b. 1935)
- 2006 - Paul Eells, "Voice of the Arkansas Razorbacks" sportscaster (b. 1935)
- 2007 - Maarten Stekelenburg, Dutch football player. (b. 1982)
Holidays and observances
Liturgical feasts
Roman Catholicism
- Saint Banthus, confessor at Trier
- Saint Everard Hanse, martyr
- Saint Germanus (died 448), bishop of Auxerre, confessor Paris
- Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits
- Blessed John Columbini (died 1367)
External links
- BBC: On This Day
-
- On This Day in Canada
July 31 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Off the Record - July 31 - The Daily Record - Pat Roller
IN the forest, no one can hear you scream. We mention this because it seems Ridley Scott, director of sci-fi classic Alien, has run into botanical trouble with his latest project.
First World War.com - On This Day - 31 July 1914
First World War.com - On This Day - 31 July 1914 ... On This Day - 31 July 1914 Updated - Sunday, 28 July, 2002. Theatre definitions: Western Front comprises the Franco-German ...
On-This-Day.com - July 31
On-This-Day.com: Daily historical facts and events, famous birthdays, celebrity birthdays, u.s. history, united states history, world history, music history and Quote of the Day.
Work - Thursday, July 31
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Iraq timeline: July 16 1979 to January 31 2004 | Iraq | guardian.co ...
January 31 2004 Twelve people died and at least 50 were injured yesterday in two attacks by Iraqi insurgents in northern Iraq. Nine killed in bomb attack on Iraq police
Work - Tuesday, July 31
Tuesday, July 31 Work Calendar «
easyJet.com - Block Listing 6 monthly return to 31 July 2006
Block Listing 6 monthly return to 31 July 2006 Block listing six monthly return. Information provided on this form must be typed or printed electronically.
Monday July 31 2006 | Media | MediaGuardian.co.uk
That's all, folks As ITV shuts its kids production unit and with a ban on lucrative junk-food advertising imminent, producers say children's television is in mortal danger. Dan ...
National Theatre : View by date... July : 28 - 31
Kamchàtka - Cie Kamchàtka (Spain) A group of ten strangers appear, each carrying only a suitcase. Tourists? Visitors? Immigrants? (28 July 2008 - 29 July 2008, 5:45 pm)