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What happened in history on this day: March 31?
On March 31 in ...
- 1850 - US population hits 23,191,876 (Black population: 3,638,808 (15.7%)).
- 1853 - US Senate confirms Thomas Pettit as US Mint Director.
- 1854 - Treaty of Kanagawa: US Commodore Matthew Perry forces Japan to opens ports to foreign trade.
- 1861 - Confederate forces seize control of the New Orleans Mint, Louisiana, CSA.
- 1862 - Civil War action at Island #10 on the Mississippi River.
- 1865 - Battle of Boydton, Virginia (White Oaks Roads, Dinwiddie Court House).
- 1865 - Confederate General Pickette moves to Five Forks, abandoning the defense of Peterburg.
- 1880 - Wabash, Indiana, USA is first town completely illuminated by electric lighting.
- 1886 - The North, Central, and South American Exposition closes in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- 1917 - The USA assumes control of the Danish West Indies.
- 1918 - First daylight savings time in US goes into effect.
- 1932 - Ford publicly unveils its V-8 engine.
- 1933 - First newspaper published on pine pulp paper, Soperton News (Georgia, USA).
- 1933 - US Congress authorizes Civilian Conservation Corps.
- 1943 - Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! opens on Broadway.
- 1943 - US errantly bombs Rotterdam, kills 326.
- 1945 - Maurice Rose, first US General in Germany, killed in action at age 45.
- 1945 - US artillery lands on Keise Shima; begins firing on Okinawa.
- 1948 - US Congress passes Marshall Aid Act to rehabilitate war-torn Europe.
- 1951 - US tanks cross 38 degrees of latitude in Korea.
- 1953 - US Department of Health, Education and Welfare established.
- 1954 - US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is established.
- 1955 - American banks Chase National (third largest bank) and Bank of the Manhattan Company (15th largest bank) merge to form Chase Manhattan Bank.
- 1955 - US Assay Office in Seattle, Washington, USA closes.
- 1958 - The Grand Canyon Diorama attraction opens in Disneyland, part of the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad. At 306 feet long, it is the world's longest seamless hand-woven canvas.
- 1958 - US Navy forms atomic submarine division.
- 1958 - USSR suspends nuclear weapons tests, and urges US and Britain to do same.
- 1963 - Los Angeles, California, ends streetcar service after 90 years.
- 1965 - US orders the first combat troops to Vietnam.
- 1966 - 25,000 anti-war demonstrators march in New York City, New York.
- 1968 - US President Lyndon Johnson announces that he would neither seek nor accept the nomination of his party for re-election.
- 1971 - American Lieutenant William L Calley Junior sentenced to life for My Lai Massacre.
- 1971 - From Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA launches a rocket with Canadian ISIS-B satellite into space, to conduct twelve experiments studying the ionosphere.
- 1976 - New Jersey Court rules Karen Anne Quinlan may be disconnected from respirator.
- 1980 - US President Jimmy Carter deregulates banking industry.
- 1980 - Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operate final train.
- 1981 - First Golden Raspberry Awards: Can't Stop the Music wins.
- 1981 - The 53rd Academy Awards, hosted by Johnny Carson, are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Robert Redford's directorial debut in Ordinary People wins Best Picture and Best Director. Robert De Niro wins Best Actor; Sissy Spacek wins Best Actress.
- 1982 - Rock group Doobie Brothers split up.
- 1982 - Arkas tanker at Montz, Louisiana, spills 1.47 million gallons of oil.
- 1982 - The U.S. Gold Commission issues its 227-page report to Congress. It recommends that Treasury issue gold bullion coins, tentatively called American Eagles.
- 1984 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
- 1985 - 15th Easter Seal Telethon raises US$27,400,000.
- 1986 - In Central California, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurs.
- 1988 - The San Francisco Assay Office is renamed San Francisco Mint.
- 1989 - Donald Trump purchases Eastern Airlines' Northeast Shuttle.
- 1995 - In Corpus Christi, Texas, Latin superstar Selena Quintanilla Perez is shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar, the president of her own fan club.
- 2004 - Four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA are killed, and their bodies mutilated, after being ambushed in Fallujah, Iraq.
- 2020 - The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort arrives in New York at Pier 90 in support of the nation's COVID-19 response efforts. The ship will serve as a hospital for non-COVID-19 patients currently admitted to shore-based hospitals.
Births on March 31
- 1878 - Birth of Arthur John Johnson AKA Jack Johnson in Galveston, Texas, USA; heavyweight boxing champion (1908-1915).
- 1903 - Birth of Arthur Godfrey in New York City, New York, USA; TV host (Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts).
- 1907 - Birth of Eddie Quillan in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; actor (Julia, Hell Town).
- 1915 - Birth of Henry Morgan in New York City, New York, USA; comedian/TV panelist (I've Got a Secret, Arena).
- 1916 - Birth of John Vivyan in Chicago, Illinois, USA; actor (Imitation of Life, Mr Lucky).
- 1922 - Birth of Richard Kiley in Chicago, Illinois, USA; actor (Man of La Mancha, Endless Love).
- 1923 - Birth of Donald Argee Barksdale in Berkley, California, USA; basketball player (Olympics-gold-1948).
- 1924 - Birth of Leo Buscaglia in Los Angeles, California, USA; "Dr Hug", psychologist (Love).
- 1926 - Birth of Sydney Chaplin, son of Charlie Chaplin; actor (Adding Machine, Psycho Sisters).
- 1927 - Birth of Cesar Chavez in Yuma, Arizona, USA; farm labor leader (United Farm Workers).
- 1927 - Birth of William Daniels in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actor (Dr Mark Craig - St Elsewhere, 1776).
- 1931 - Birth of Miller Barber in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA; PGA golfer (1968 Byron Nelson Classic).
- 1932 - Birth of John Jakes in Chicago, Illinois, USA; writer (Sir Scoundrel, Great Women Reporters).
- 1933 - Birth of Shirley Jones in Smithton, Pennsylvania, USA; actress (The Partridge Family, Elmer Gantry).
- 1935 - Birth of Richard Chamberlain in Beverly Hills, California, USA; actor (Dr Kildare).
- 1938 - Birth of John Jakes in Chicago, Illinois, USA; writer (Sir Scoundrel, Great Women Reporters).
- 1938 - Birth of Nathaniel Taylor in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA; actor (Rollo - Sanford and Son).
- 1943 - Birth of Christopher [Ronald] Walken in Astoria, Queens, New York, USA; actor (Deer Hunter, Brainstorm).
- 1945 - Birth of Valerie Curtin in Jackson Heights, New York, USA; actress (Judy - 9 to 5).
- 1946 - Birth of Al Nichol Winston in Salem, North Carolina, USA; rock guitarist/vocalist (The Turtles).
- 1946 - Birth of Gabe Kaplan in Brooklyn, New York, USA; comedian/actor (Welcome Back Kotter).
- 1947 - Birth of Jon-Jon Poulos in Chicago, Illinois, USA; rocker (The Buckinghams).
- 1948 - Birth of Albert Gore Junior in Washington DC, USA; American politician (Senator-Democrat-Tennessee, 1985-92)/45th US Vice President (1993-).
- 1948 - Birth of Rhea Perlman in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actress (Zena - Taxi, Carla - Cheers).
- 1950 - Birth of Ed Marinaro in New York City, New York, USA; actor (Joe - Hill Street Blues, Sonny - Laverne and Shirley).
- 1953 - Birth of Greg Martin in Louisville, Kentucky, USA; singer (Kentucky Headhunters - "Davy Crockett").
- 1953 - Birth of Sean Hopper in California, USA; rock keyboardist (Huey Lewis and The News).
- 1957 - Birth of Marc McClure in San Mateo, California, USA; actor (Ross - California Fever).
- 1957 - Birth of Mary Cadorette in East Hartford, Connecticut, USA; actress (Vicky - Three's a Crowd).
- 1957 - Birth of Patrick G Forrester in El Paso, Texas, USA; Lieutenant Colonel Army/astronaut.
- 1958 - Birth of Jay Feenan in Windham, New Hampshire, USA; rower (Olympics-1996).
- 1958 - Birth of Ken Meeker in New York City, New York, USA; actor (Rafe Garretson - One Life to Live).
- 1960 - Birth of Anne Howard in San Diego, California, USA; actress (Nicole Love - Another World).
- 1961 - Birth of Ron Brown in Los Angeles, California, USA; 4x100 metre runner (Olympics-gold-1984).
- 1964 - Birth of Erik Turner in Omaha, Nebraska, USA; rock guitarist (Warrant - "Cherry Pie").
- 1965 - Birth of Patty Fendick in Sacramento, California, USA; tennis star (1989 Auckland).
- 1965 - Birth of Tom Barrasso in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; NHL goalie (Pittsburgh Penguins).
- 1965 - Birth of William McNamara in Dallas, Texas, USA; actor (Texasville, Beat, Stealing Home).
- 1966 - Birth of Thomas Fitzgerald in Brooklyn, New York, USA; team handball left wing (Olympics-1996).
- 1967 - Birth of Nanci Bowen in Tifton, Georgia, USA; LPGA golfer (1995 Nabisco Dinah Shore).
- 1972 - Birth of John Godina in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, USA; shot putter/discus thrower (Olympics-silver-1996).
- 1976 - Birth of Amanda Moody in Orem, Utah; Miss Utah-America (1995).
- 1982 - Birth of Jessica Joseph in Royal Oak, Michigan; dance skater (and Butler-1997 National).
Deaths on March 31
- 1913 - John Pierpont Morgan, US banker/CEO (US Steel Corp), dies at age 75.
- 1931 - Knute Rockne, American football player/coach, dies in a plane crash at age 43.
- 1945 - Maurice Rose, first US General in Germany, killed in action at age 45.
- 1957 - Gene Lockhart, American actor (Going My Way), dies at age 65.
- 1980 - Jesse Owens, American athlete (Olympics-gold-1936), dies in Tucson, Arizona at age 66 (born 1913).
- 1981 - Death of Frank Tieri, American gangster (born 1904).
- 1986 - Death of O'Kelly Isley of heart attack at age 48; American singer (Isley Brothers).
- 1993 - Brandon Lee, actor, son of martial artist Bruce Lee, dies at age 28 during the filming of The Crow when a dummy bullet tip and blank fired from a .44 magnum revolver fells him.
- 1996 - Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American musician (The Gun Club, The Cramps), dies at age 37 (born 1958).
- 1998 - Death of Bella Abzug, American politician (born 1920).
- 2001 - Death of Clifford Shull, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1915).
- 2005 - Death of Terri Schiavo, American right-to-die cause célèbre (born 1963).
- 2008 - Death of Jules Dassin, American film director (born 1911).
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