January 31
1606 - Guy Fawkes, a co-conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot, was executed.
1863 - During the Civil War, the First South Carolina Volunteers, an all-Black Union regiment composed of mostly escaped slaves, was mustered into federal service at Beaufort, South Carolina.
1865 - The House of Representatives approved the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery in the United States and sent it to the states for ratification.
1865 - Robert E. Lee was appointed commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces.
1917 - During World War I, Germany announced its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
1929 - Revolutionary Leon Trotsky and his family were expelled from the Soviet Union.
1940 - The first social security check in the United States was issued to Ida Fuller for $22.54.
1944 - U.S. forces invaded the Japanese-held Marshall Islands during World War II.
1945 - Pvt. Eddie Slovik became the only U.S. soldier since he Civil War to be executed for desertion, as he was shot by an American firing squad in France.
1949 - The first TV daytime soap opera, "These Are My Children," was broadcast by the NBC affiliate in Chicago.
1950 - President Harry S. Truman announced that he had ordered the development of the hydrogen bomb.
1958 - The first U.S. satellite, Explorer I, was launched.
1961 - NASA launched Ham the Chimp aboard a Mercury-Redstone rocket from Cape Canaveral; Ham was recovered safely from the Atlantic Ocean following his 16 1/2-minute suborbital flight.
1971 - Astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., Edgar D. Mitchell and Stuart A. Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14 on the third successful manned mission to the moon.
1990 - The first McDonald's opened in Russia.
2000 - An Alaska Airlines jet plunged into the ocean off Southern California on a flight from Mexico to San Francisco, killing all 88 people on board.
2001 - A Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands convicted one Libyan and acquitted a second in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. (Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi was given a life sentence, but was released after eight years on compassionate grounds by Scotland’s government. He died in 2012.)
2005 - Jury selection began in Santa Maria, California, for Michael Jackson’s child molestation trial. (Jackson was later acquitted.)
2005 - SBC Communications Inc. announced it was acquiring AT&T Corp. for $16 billion.
2006 - Samuel Alito was confirmed and sworn in as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
2006 - The Senate approved Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
2011 - A federal judge in Florida declared the Obama administration’s health care overhaul unconstitutional, siding with 26 states that argued people cannot be required to buy health insurance. (In 2012 the Supreme Court would uphold most of the health care law, including the requirement that nearly every American have health insurance.)
2011 - Egypt's military promised not to fire on peaceful protests and recognized "the legitimacy of the people's demands."
2011 - Myanmar opened its first parliament in more than two decades.
2020 - The United States declared a public health emergency over the new coronavirus, and President Donald Trump signed an order to temporarily bar entry to foreign nationals, other than immediate family of U.S. citizens, who had traveled in China within the past 14 days. Three U.S. airlines suspended all flights between the U.S. and China. The U.S. government ordered two weeks of quarantine at a California military base for the nearly 200 Americans who’d been evacuated on a charter flight from the Chinese city of Wuhan.
2020 - Britain formally left the European Union after 47 years of membership.
2020 - The Food and Drug Administration approved the first treatment for children with peanut allergies.
Birthdays
25 - Joel Courtney (actor)
26 - Sharon Fonseca (model)
29 - Amy Jackson (model)
34 - Tyler Hubbard (country singer)
36 - Tyler Ritter (actor)
39 - Elena Paparizou (singer)
40 - Justin Timberlake (singer)
41 - April Lee Hernandez (actress)
42 - Becky Buller (singer)
44 - Kerry Washington (actress)
44 - Bobby Moynihan (actor/comedian)
46 - Preity Zinta (actress)
48 - Portia de Rossi (actress)
51 - Minnie Driver (actress)
56 - Paulette Braxton (actress)
62 - Anthony LaPaglia (actor)
62 - Kelly Lynch (actress)
65 - Johnny Rotten (singer)
74 - Jonathan Banks (actor)
74 - Nolan Ryan (baseball player)
74 - Glynn Turman (actor)
80 - Jessica Walter (actor)
81 - Stuart Margolin (actor)
===========================================
Today in Sports History - January 31
1919 - Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who broke the sport's color barrier in 1947, was born in Cairo, Georgia.
1920 - Joe Malone (Quebec Bullldogs) set an NHL record with 7 goals in a game.
1971 - Dave Bancroft, Jake Beckley, Chick Hafey, Harry Hooper, Joe Kelley, Rube Marquard and George Weiss are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1977 - Joe Sewell, Amos Rusie and Al Lopez are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1988 - The Washington Redskins defeat the Denver Broncos 42-10 in San Diego to win Super Bowl XXII. Washington quarterback Doug Williams is named MVP.
1993 - The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills 52-17 in Pasadena to win Super Bowl XXVII. Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman is named MVP.
1997 - Dominique Wilkins becomes the sixth player in NBA history to score 26,000 career points.
1999 - The Denver Broncos defeat the Atlanta Falcons34-19 in Miami to win Super Bowl XXXIII. Denver quarterback John Elway is named MVP.
2015 - Atlanta Hawks set a new NBA monthly win record as they move to 17-0 for January, with a 91-85 win against the Philadelphia 76ers.
2003 - The Chicago White Sox announced a deal that would change the name of Comiskey Park after a 93-year association with the Comiskey name.
1606 - Guy Fawkes, a co-conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot, was executed.
1863 - During the Civil War, the First South Carolina Volunteers, an all-Black Union regiment composed of mostly escaped slaves, was mustered into federal service at Beaufort, South Carolina.
1865 - The House of Representatives approved the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery in the United States and sent it to the states for ratification.
1865 - Robert E. Lee was appointed commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces.
1917 - During World War I, Germany announced its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
1929 - Revolutionary Leon Trotsky and his family were expelled from the Soviet Union.
1940 - The first social security check in the United States was issued to Ida Fuller for $22.54.
1944 - U.S. forces invaded the Japanese-held Marshall Islands during World War II.
1945 - Pvt. Eddie Slovik became the only U.S. soldier since he Civil War to be executed for desertion, as he was shot by an American firing squad in France.
1949 - The first TV daytime soap opera, "These Are My Children," was broadcast by the NBC affiliate in Chicago.
1950 - President Harry S. Truman announced that he had ordered the development of the hydrogen bomb.
1958 - The first U.S. satellite, Explorer I, was launched.
1961 - NASA launched Ham the Chimp aboard a Mercury-Redstone rocket from Cape Canaveral; Ham was recovered safely from the Atlantic Ocean following his 16 1/2-minute suborbital flight.
1971 - Astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., Edgar D. Mitchell and Stuart A. Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14 on the third successful manned mission to the moon.
1990 - The first McDonald's opened in Russia.
2000 - An Alaska Airlines jet plunged into the ocean off Southern California on a flight from Mexico to San Francisco, killing all 88 people on board.
2001 - A Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands convicted one Libyan and acquitted a second in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. (Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi was given a life sentence, but was released after eight years on compassionate grounds by Scotland’s government. He died in 2012.)
2005 - Jury selection began in Santa Maria, California, for Michael Jackson’s child molestation trial. (Jackson was later acquitted.)
2005 - SBC Communications Inc. announced it was acquiring AT&T Corp. for $16 billion.
2006 - Samuel Alito was confirmed and sworn in as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
2006 - The Senate approved Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
2011 - A federal judge in Florida declared the Obama administration’s health care overhaul unconstitutional, siding with 26 states that argued people cannot be required to buy health insurance. (In 2012 the Supreme Court would uphold most of the health care law, including the requirement that nearly every American have health insurance.)
2011 - Egypt's military promised not to fire on peaceful protests and recognized "the legitimacy of the people's demands."
2011 - Myanmar opened its first parliament in more than two decades.
2020 - The United States declared a public health emergency over the new coronavirus, and President Donald Trump signed an order to temporarily bar entry to foreign nationals, other than immediate family of U.S. citizens, who had traveled in China within the past 14 days. Three U.S. airlines suspended all flights between the U.S. and China. The U.S. government ordered two weeks of quarantine at a California military base for the nearly 200 Americans who’d been evacuated on a charter flight from the Chinese city of Wuhan.
2020 - Britain formally left the European Union after 47 years of membership.
2020 - The Food and Drug Administration approved the first treatment for children with peanut allergies.
Birthdays
25 - Joel Courtney (actor)
26 - Sharon Fonseca (model)
29 - Amy Jackson (model)
34 - Tyler Hubbard (country singer)
36 - Tyler Ritter (actor)
39 - Elena Paparizou (singer)
40 - Justin Timberlake (singer)
41 - April Lee Hernandez (actress)
42 - Becky Buller (singer)
44 - Kerry Washington (actress)
44 - Bobby Moynihan (actor/comedian)
46 - Preity Zinta (actress)
48 - Portia de Rossi (actress)
51 - Minnie Driver (actress)
56 - Paulette Braxton (actress)
62 - Anthony LaPaglia (actor)
62 - Kelly Lynch (actress)
65 - Johnny Rotten (singer)
74 - Jonathan Banks (actor)
74 - Nolan Ryan (baseball player)
74 - Glynn Turman (actor)
80 - Jessica Walter (actor)
81 - Stuart Margolin (actor)
===========================================
Today in Sports History - January 31
1919 - Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who broke the sport's color barrier in 1947, was born in Cairo, Georgia.
1920 - Joe Malone (Quebec Bullldogs) set an NHL record with 7 goals in a game.
1971 - Dave Bancroft, Jake Beckley, Chick Hafey, Harry Hooper, Joe Kelley, Rube Marquard and George Weiss are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1977 - Joe Sewell, Amos Rusie and Al Lopez are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1988 - The Washington Redskins defeat the Denver Broncos 42-10 in San Diego to win Super Bowl XXII. Washington quarterback Doug Williams is named MVP.
1993 - The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills 52-17 in Pasadena to win Super Bowl XXVII. Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman is named MVP.
1997 - Dominique Wilkins becomes the sixth player in NBA history to score 26,000 career points.
1999 - The Denver Broncos defeat the Atlanta Falcons34-19 in Miami to win Super Bowl XXXIII. Denver quarterback John Elway is named MVP.
2015 - Atlanta Hawks set a new NBA monthly win record as they move to 17-0 for January, with a 91-85 win against the Philadelphia 76ers.
2003 - The Chicago White Sox announced a deal that would change the name of Comiskey Park after a 93-year association with the Comiskey name.