July 31
1498 - Christopher Columbus arrived at the island of Trinidad.
1715 - A fleet of Spanish ships carrying gold, silver and jewelry sank during a hurricane off the east Florida coast; of some 2,500 crew members, more than 1,000 died.
1777 - During the Revolutionary War, the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the American Continental Army.
1790 - The first U.S. patent was issued to Samuel Hopkins of Vermont for a process of making fertilizer.
1875 - Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the Untied States (1865-1869), died in Tennessee at age 66 from a stroke.
1919 - Germany's Weimar Constitution was adopted by the republic's National Assembly.
1945 - Pierre Laval, premier of the pro-Nazi Vichy government in France, surrendered to U.S. authorities in Austria; he was turned over to France, which later tried and executed him.
1954 - Mount Godwin-Austen (K2), the world's second-highest peak, was climbed for the first time, by an Italian team led by Ardito Desio.
1957 - The Distant Early Warning Line, a system of radar stations designed to detect Soviet bombers approaching North America, went into operation.
1964 - The U.S. space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the Moon's surface back to Earth.
1970 - "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" came to an end after nearly 14 years as co-anchor Chet Huntley signed off for the last time; the broadcast was renamed "NBC Nightly News."
1971 - Apollo 15 crew members David Scott and James Irwin became the first astronauts to use a lunar rover on the surface of the moon.
1972 - Democratic vice-presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures that Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment.
1991 - President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.
2003 - The Vatican launched a global campaign against gay marriages, warning Catholic politicians that support of same-sex unions was "gravely immoral" and urging non-Catholics to join the offensive.
2013 - President Barack Obama's national security team acknowledged for the first time that, when investigating one suspected terrorist, it could read and store the phone records of millions of Americans.
2018 - Jury selection began in the trial of Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman; he was accused of failing to report tens of millions of dollars in Ukrainian political consulting fees. (Manafort was sentenced to a total of seven and a-half years in prison after being convicted at trial in Virginia and pleading guilty in Washington to two conspiracy counts.)
2020 - A federal appeals court overturned the death sentence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, saying the judge who oversaw the case didn't adequately screen jurors for potential biases. (The Supreme Court later reimposed the sentence.)
Birthdays
25 - Rico Rodriguez (actor)
25 - Reese Hartwig (actor)
31 - Kiara Advani (actress)
34 - Alexis Knapp (actress)
38 - Shannon Curfman (singer)
42 - Eric Lively (actor)
44 - B.J. Novak (actor)
45 - Zac Brown (country singer)
48 - Annie Parisse (actress)
52 - Eve Best (actress)
54 - Loren Dean (actor)
54 - Ben Chaplin (actor)
57 - Jim True-Frost (actor)
57 - Dean Cain (actor)
58 - J.K. Rowling (author)
59 - Jim Corr (musician)
60 - Fatboy Slim (musician)
60 - Chad Brock (singer)
61 - Wesley Snipes (actor)
65 - Wally Kurth (actor)
65 - Mark Cuban (entrepreneur/TV personality)
66 - Dirk Blocker (actor)
67 - Michael Biehn (actor)
71 - Alan Autry (actor)
72 - Barry Van Dyke (actor)
73 - Susan Wooldridge (actress)
73 - Lane Davies (actor)
78 - Gary Lewis (singer)
79 - Lobo (singer)
84 - Susan Flannery (actress)
94 - Don Murray (actor)
=====================================
Today in Sports History - July 31
1930 - Lou Gehrig drives in eight runs on a grand slam and two doubles in a 14-13 win for the New York Yankees over the rival Boston Red Sox.
1954 - Milwaukee first baseman Joe Adcock becomes only the 3rd player in 20th century to hit 4 HRs in 9-inning game (Lou Gehrig & Gil Hodges) in 15-7 Braves' win over Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field; MLB record 18 total bases.
1961 - The first tie in All-Star Game major league baseball history was recorded when it was stopped in the 9th inning due to rain at Boston's Fenway Park.
1981 - A seven-week-old Major League Baseball strike ended.
1983 - Brooks Robinson, Juan Marichal and Walter Alston are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1988 - Jose Canseco of the Oakland Athletics becomes the first player in MLB history to hit 30 or more home runs in each of his first three seasons.
1988 - Willie Stargell is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1990 - Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers becomes the 20th pitcher in MLB history to record 300 career victories.
1994 - Phil Rizzuto and Steve Carlton are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1997 - Oakland Athletics first baseman Mark McGwire becomes the first league-leading home run hitter to be traded in the middle of a season as he is sent to the St. Louis Cardinals.
1997 - College Football's all-time winningest coach Eddie Robinson and his Grambling State University program are placed on 2-years' probation for rules violations, including recruiting and academic eligibility.
2001 - Korey Stringer (Minnesota Vikings) collapsed during practice. The 27-year-old died the next day of multiple organ failure due to heatstroke.
2007 - The Boston Celtics obtain former MVP and 10-time All-Star Kevin Garnett in a 7-for-1 deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves; at the time it was the largest ever trade in NBA history for one player.
2012 - American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the greatest medal winner in Olympic history at the Summer Games in London as a part of the gold-medal winning 4x200 meter freestyle relay; the win earned Phelps his 19th career Olympic medal and his 15th Olympic gold.
2021 - At the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, American swimmer Katie Ledecky wins the 800 meter race for an unprecedented third consecutive time.
2022 - Bill Russell, the NBA great who anchored a Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 championships in 13 years — the last two as the first Black head coach in any major U.S. sport — and marched for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr., died at age 88.
1498 - Christopher Columbus arrived at the island of Trinidad.
1715 - A fleet of Spanish ships carrying gold, silver and jewelry sank during a hurricane off the east Florida coast; of some 2,500 crew members, more than 1,000 died.
1777 - During the Revolutionary War, the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the American Continental Army.
1790 - The first U.S. patent was issued to Samuel Hopkins of Vermont for a process of making fertilizer.
1875 - Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the Untied States (1865-1869), died in Tennessee at age 66 from a stroke.
1919 - Germany's Weimar Constitution was adopted by the republic's National Assembly.
1945 - Pierre Laval, premier of the pro-Nazi Vichy government in France, surrendered to U.S. authorities in Austria; he was turned over to France, which later tried and executed him.
1954 - Mount Godwin-Austen (K2), the world's second-highest peak, was climbed for the first time, by an Italian team led by Ardito Desio.
1957 - The Distant Early Warning Line, a system of radar stations designed to detect Soviet bombers approaching North America, went into operation.
1964 - The U.S. space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the Moon's surface back to Earth.
1970 - "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" came to an end after nearly 14 years as co-anchor Chet Huntley signed off for the last time; the broadcast was renamed "NBC Nightly News."
1971 - Apollo 15 crew members David Scott and James Irwin became the first astronauts to use a lunar rover on the surface of the moon.
1972 - Democratic vice-presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures that Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment.
1991 - President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.
2003 - The Vatican launched a global campaign against gay marriages, warning Catholic politicians that support of same-sex unions was "gravely immoral" and urging non-Catholics to join the offensive.
2013 - President Barack Obama's national security team acknowledged for the first time that, when investigating one suspected terrorist, it could read and store the phone records of millions of Americans.
2018 - Jury selection began in the trial of Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman; he was accused of failing to report tens of millions of dollars in Ukrainian political consulting fees. (Manafort was sentenced to a total of seven and a-half years in prison after being convicted at trial in Virginia and pleading guilty in Washington to two conspiracy counts.)
2020 - A federal appeals court overturned the death sentence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, saying the judge who oversaw the case didn't adequately screen jurors for potential biases. (The Supreme Court later reimposed the sentence.)
Birthdays
25 - Rico Rodriguez (actor)
25 - Reese Hartwig (actor)
31 - Kiara Advani (actress)
34 - Alexis Knapp (actress)
38 - Shannon Curfman (singer)
42 - Eric Lively (actor)
44 - B.J. Novak (actor)
45 - Zac Brown (country singer)
48 - Annie Parisse (actress)
52 - Eve Best (actress)
54 - Loren Dean (actor)
54 - Ben Chaplin (actor)
57 - Jim True-Frost (actor)
57 - Dean Cain (actor)
58 - J.K. Rowling (author)
59 - Jim Corr (musician)
60 - Fatboy Slim (musician)
60 - Chad Brock (singer)
61 - Wesley Snipes (actor)
65 - Wally Kurth (actor)
65 - Mark Cuban (entrepreneur/TV personality)
66 - Dirk Blocker (actor)
67 - Michael Biehn (actor)
71 - Alan Autry (actor)
72 - Barry Van Dyke (actor)
73 - Susan Wooldridge (actress)
73 - Lane Davies (actor)
78 - Gary Lewis (singer)
79 - Lobo (singer)
84 - Susan Flannery (actress)
94 - Don Murray (actor)
=====================================
Today in Sports History - July 31
1930 - Lou Gehrig drives in eight runs on a grand slam and two doubles in a 14-13 win for the New York Yankees over the rival Boston Red Sox.
1954 - Milwaukee first baseman Joe Adcock becomes only the 3rd player in 20th century to hit 4 HRs in 9-inning game (Lou Gehrig & Gil Hodges) in 15-7 Braves' win over Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field; MLB record 18 total bases.
1961 - The first tie in All-Star Game major league baseball history was recorded when it was stopped in the 9th inning due to rain at Boston's Fenway Park.
1981 - A seven-week-old Major League Baseball strike ended.
1983 - Brooks Robinson, Juan Marichal and Walter Alston are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1988 - Jose Canseco of the Oakland Athletics becomes the first player in MLB history to hit 30 or more home runs in each of his first three seasons.
1988 - Willie Stargell is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1990 - Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers becomes the 20th pitcher in MLB history to record 300 career victories.
1994 - Phil Rizzuto and Steve Carlton are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1997 - Oakland Athletics first baseman Mark McGwire becomes the first league-leading home run hitter to be traded in the middle of a season as he is sent to the St. Louis Cardinals.
1997 - College Football's all-time winningest coach Eddie Robinson and his Grambling State University program are placed on 2-years' probation for rules violations, including recruiting and academic eligibility.
2001 - Korey Stringer (Minnesota Vikings) collapsed during practice. The 27-year-old died the next day of multiple organ failure due to heatstroke.
2007 - The Boston Celtics obtain former MVP and 10-time All-Star Kevin Garnett in a 7-for-1 deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves; at the time it was the largest ever trade in NBA history for one player.
2012 - American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the greatest medal winner in Olympic history at the Summer Games in London as a part of the gold-medal winning 4x200 meter freestyle relay; the win earned Phelps his 19th career Olympic medal and his 15th Olympic gold.
2021 - At the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, American swimmer Katie Ledecky wins the 800 meter race for an unprecedented third consecutive time.
2022 - Bill Russell, the NBA great who anchored a Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 championships in 13 years — the last two as the first Black head coach in any major U.S. sport — and marched for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr., died at age 88.