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 many escaped slaves, was mustered into federal service at Beaufort, South Carolina.
1865 - The House of Representatives joined the Senate in approving the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and sent it to the states for ratification. (The amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States, was ratified in December.)
1865 - Gen. Robert E. Lee was appointed commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces during the Civil War.
1940 - The first social security check in America was issued to Ida Fuller for $22.54.
1945 - Pvt. Eddie Slovik, age 24, became the first U.S. soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion as he was shot by an American firing squad in France during World War II.
1958 - The first U.S. earth 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 Shepard, Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14 on a mission to the moon.
1990 - McDonald's opened their first location in Russia.
2000 - An Alaska Airlines MD-83 jet crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Port Hueneme, California, 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.)
2015 - Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of the late singer Whitney Houston, was found unresponsive in a bathtub at her Georgia townhome and was taken to an Atlanta-area hospital. (She died six months later.)
2018 - Republican congressman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, who became known for leading a House panel’s investigation into the 2012 attacks against Americans in Benghazi, Libya, announced that he would be retiring from Congress after his term expired.
2018 - Much of the world was treated to a rare triple lunar treat - a total lunar eclipse combined with a particularly close full moon that was also the second full moon of the month.
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 preceding 14 days.
2022 - U.S. health regulators gave full approval to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
2022 - The New York Times said it had purchased the online word game Wordle for a price in the “low seven figures.”
Birthdays
27 - Joel Courtney (actor)
27 - Ana Golja (actress)
31 - Amy Jackson (model)
36 - Tyler Hubbard (singer)
38 - Tyler Ritter (actor)
41 - Helena Paparizou (singer)
42 - Justin Timberlake (singer)
46 - Kerry Washington (actress)
46 - Bobby Moynihan (actor/comedian)
48 - Matt Rhule (football coach)
50 - Portia de Rossi (actress)
53 - Minnie Driver (actress)
64 - Anthony LaPaglia (actor)
64 - Kelly Lynch (actress)
76 - Jonathan Banks (actor)
76 - Nolan Ryan (baseball player)
76 - Glynn Turman (actor)
83 - Stuart Margolin (actor)
86 - Philip Glass (composer)
==============================
Today in Sports History - January 31
1919 - Future Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia.
1920 - Joe Malone (Quebec Bullldogs) set an NHL record with 7 goals in a game.
1952 - Harry Heilmann and Paul Waner are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1971 - Dave Bancroft 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 defeated the Denver Broncos 42-10 to win Super Bowl XXII.
1993 - The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Buffalo Bills 52-17 to win Super Bowl XXVII.
1997 - Dominique Wilkins of the San Antonio Spurs becomes just the sixth player in NBA history to record 26,000 career points scored.
1999 - The Denver Broncos defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34-19 to win Super Bowl XXXIII.
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.
2015 - The Atlanta Hawks set an NBA record by going 17-0 in the month of January.
2016 - Novak Djokovic maintained his perfect streak in six Australian Open finals with a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (3) victory over Andy Murray.
2019 - In a blockbuster NBA trade, the New York Knicks send Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee and Trey Burke to the Dallas Mavericks for Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and two future first-round draft picks.
2022 - Rafael Nadal won a men’s record 21st Grand Slam singles title with a comeback five-set victory over second-ranked Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final.
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 many escaped slaves, was mustered into federal service at Beaufort, South Carolina.
1865 - The House of Representatives joined the Senate in approving the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and sent it to the states for ratification. (The amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States, was ratified in December.)
1865 - Gen. Robert E. Lee was appointed commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces during the Civil War.
1940 - The first social security check in America was issued to Ida Fuller for $22.54.
1945 - Pvt. Eddie Slovik, age 24, became the first U.S. soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion as he was shot by an American firing squad in France during World War II.
1958 - The first U.S. earth 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 Shepard, Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14 on a mission to the moon.
1990 - McDonald's opened their first location in Russia.
2000 - An Alaska Airlines MD-83 jet crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Port Hueneme, California, 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.)
2015 - Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of the late singer Whitney Houston, was found unresponsive in a bathtub at her Georgia townhome and was taken to an Atlanta-area hospital. (She died six months later.)
2018 - Republican congressman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, who became known for leading a House panel’s investigation into the 2012 attacks against Americans in Benghazi, Libya, announced that he would be retiring from Congress after his term expired.
2018 - Much of the world was treated to a rare triple lunar treat - a total lunar eclipse combined with a particularly close full moon that was also the second full moon of the month.
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 preceding 14 days.
2022 - U.S. health regulators gave full approval to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
2022 - The New York Times said it had purchased the online word game Wordle for a price in the “low seven figures.”
Birthdays
27 - Joel Courtney (actor)
27 - Ana Golja (actress)
31 - Amy Jackson (model)
36 - Tyler Hubbard (singer)
38 - Tyler Ritter (actor)
41 - Helena Paparizou (singer)
42 - Justin Timberlake (singer)
46 - Kerry Washington (actress)
46 - Bobby Moynihan (actor/comedian)
48 - Matt Rhule (football coach)
50 - Portia de Rossi (actress)
53 - Minnie Driver (actress)
64 - Anthony LaPaglia (actor)
64 - Kelly Lynch (actress)
76 - Jonathan Banks (actor)
76 - Nolan Ryan (baseball player)
76 - Glynn Turman (actor)
83 - Stuart Margolin (actor)
86 - Philip Glass (composer)
==============================
Today in Sports History - January 31
1919 - Future Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia.
1920 - Joe Malone (Quebec Bullldogs) set an NHL record with 7 goals in a game.
1952 - Harry Heilmann and Paul Waner are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1971 - Dave Bancroft 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 defeated the Denver Broncos 42-10 to win Super Bowl XXII.
1993 - The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Buffalo Bills 52-17 to win Super Bowl XXVII.
1997 - Dominique Wilkins of the San Antonio Spurs becomes just the sixth player in NBA history to record 26,000 career points scored.
1999 - The Denver Broncos defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34-19 to win Super Bowl XXXIII.
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.
2015 - The Atlanta Hawks set an NBA record by going 17-0 in the month of January.
2016 - Novak Djokovic maintained his perfect streak in six Australian Open finals with a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (3) victory over Andy Murray.
2019 - In a blockbuster NBA trade, the New York Knicks send Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee and Trey Burke to the Dallas Mavericks for Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and two future first-round draft picks.
2022 - Rafael Nadal won a men’s record 21st Grand Slam singles title with a comeback five-set victory over second-ranked Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final.