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 - The Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was named 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 United States, died in Tennessee at age 66.
1914 - The New York Stock Exchange closed due to the outbreak of World War I. (Trading didn't resume until December.)
1919 - Germany's Weimar Constitution was adopted.
1945 - Pierre Laval, premier of the pro-Nazi Vichy government, surrendered to U.S. authorities in Austria; he was turned over to France, which later tried and executed him.
1954 - Pakistan's Mount Godwin-Austen (K2), the world's second-highest peak, was climbed for the first time, by an Italian team led by Ardito Desio.
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.
1977 - The "Son of Sam" killer claimed his last victims when he shot and killed Stacy Moskowitz, 20, and seriously wounded her date as they sat in a parked car in Brooklyn, N.Y. (David Berkowitz was arrested less than two weeks later. He is serving six sentences of 25 years to life.)
1991 - President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.
1995 - Walt Disney Co. agreed to acquire Capital Cities-ABC Inc. in a $19 billion deal.
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.
2007 - The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Sudan's Darfur region.
2008 - Scientists reported the Phoenix spacecraft had confirmed the presence of frozen water in Martian soil.
2011 - President Barack Obama and congressional leaders announced a historic agreement on emergency legislation to avert the nation's first-ever financial default.
2014 - The death toll from the worst recorded Ebola outbreak in history surpassed 700 in West Africa.
2016 - Pope Francis told young people who had flocked by the hundreds of thousands to a Catholic jamboree near Krakow, Poland, that they needed to “believe in a new humanity” stronger than evil, and cautioned against concluding that one religion is more violent than others.
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 has agreed to consider reinstating the death sentence.)
Birthdays
23 - Rico Rodriguez (actor)
23 - Reese Hartwig (actor)
32 - Alexis Knapp (actress)
33 - Charlie Carver (actor)
36 - Shannon Curfman (singer)
40 - Eric Lively (actor)
42 - B.J. Novak (actor)
43 - Zac Brown (country singer)
44 - Robert Telfer (actor)
46 - Annie Parisse (actress)
50 - Eve Best (actress)
55 - Dean Cain (actor)
56 - J.K. Rowling (author)
58 - Fatboy Slim (musician)
58 - Chad Brock (country singer)
59 - Wesley Snipes (actor)
63 - Wally Kurth (actor)
63 - Mark Cuban (entrepreneur/NBA owner/TV personality)
64 - Dirk Blocker (actor)
65 - Michael Biehn (actor)
68 - James Read (actor)
69 - Alan Autry (actor)
70 - Barry Van Dyke (actor)
71 - Susan Woolridge (actress)
71 - Lane Davies (actor)
76 - Gary Lewis (singer)
82 - Susan Flannery (actress)
92 - Don Murray (actor)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - July 31
1932 - Enzo Ferrari retired from racing. In 1950 he launched a series of cars under his name.
1938 - MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis suspends New York Yankees outfielder Jake Powell after he said on a Chicago radio station that he kept in shape by "cracking" African-Americans over the head with his nightstick.
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.
1978 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds hits in his 44th consecutive game, tying Willie Keeler's 81-year-old National League record.
1981 - A seven-week strike by major league baseball players ended.
1983 - Brooks Robinson, Juan Marichal, George Kell and Walter Alston are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1987 - Eddie Murray of the Baltimore Orioles hits his 300th career home run.
1988 - Willie Stargell is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1990 - Nolan Ryan became the 20th major league pitcher to win 300 games as his Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3.
1994 - Phil Rizzuto and Steve Carlton are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1997 - Oakland Athletics first baseman Mark McGwire becomes the first MLB home run leader to be traded in the middle of a season, being sent from Oakland to the St. Louis Cardinals. (He had 34 home runs and 81 RBIs at the time of his trade.)
1997 - College football's all-time winningest coach Eddie Robinson and his Grambling State University program are placed on two-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.
2012 - At the Summer Games in London, American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the greatest medal winner in Olympic history, earning his 19th career medal and 15th overall gold.
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 - The Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was named 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 United States, died in Tennessee at age 66.
1914 - The New York Stock Exchange closed due to the outbreak of World War I. (Trading didn't resume until December.)
1919 - Germany's Weimar Constitution was adopted.
1945 - Pierre Laval, premier of the pro-Nazi Vichy government, surrendered to U.S. authorities in Austria; he was turned over to France, which later tried and executed him.
1954 - Pakistan's Mount Godwin-Austen (K2), the world's second-highest peak, was climbed for the first time, by an Italian team led by Ardito Desio.
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.
1977 - The "Son of Sam" killer claimed his last victims when he shot and killed Stacy Moskowitz, 20, and seriously wounded her date as they sat in a parked car in Brooklyn, N.Y. (David Berkowitz was arrested less than two weeks later. He is serving six sentences of 25 years to life.)
1991 - President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.
1995 - Walt Disney Co. agreed to acquire Capital Cities-ABC Inc. in a $19 billion deal.
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.
2007 - The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Sudan's Darfur region.
2008 - Scientists reported the Phoenix spacecraft had confirmed the presence of frozen water in Martian soil.
2011 - President Barack Obama and congressional leaders announced a historic agreement on emergency legislation to avert the nation's first-ever financial default.
2014 - The death toll from the worst recorded Ebola outbreak in history surpassed 700 in West Africa.
2016 - Pope Francis told young people who had flocked by the hundreds of thousands to a Catholic jamboree near Krakow, Poland, that they needed to “believe in a new humanity” stronger than evil, and cautioned against concluding that one religion is more violent than others.
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 has agreed to consider reinstating the death sentence.)
Birthdays
23 - Rico Rodriguez (actor)
23 - Reese Hartwig (actor)
32 - Alexis Knapp (actress)
33 - Charlie Carver (actor)
36 - Shannon Curfman (singer)
40 - Eric Lively (actor)
42 - B.J. Novak (actor)
43 - Zac Brown (country singer)
44 - Robert Telfer (actor)
46 - Annie Parisse (actress)
50 - Eve Best (actress)
55 - Dean Cain (actor)
56 - J.K. Rowling (author)
58 - Fatboy Slim (musician)
58 - Chad Brock (country singer)
59 - Wesley Snipes (actor)
63 - Wally Kurth (actor)
63 - Mark Cuban (entrepreneur/NBA owner/TV personality)
64 - Dirk Blocker (actor)
65 - Michael Biehn (actor)
68 - James Read (actor)
69 - Alan Autry (actor)
70 - Barry Van Dyke (actor)
71 - Susan Woolridge (actress)
71 - Lane Davies (actor)
76 - Gary Lewis (singer)
82 - Susan Flannery (actress)
92 - Don Murray (actor)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - July 31
1932 - Enzo Ferrari retired from racing. In 1950 he launched a series of cars under his name.
1938 - MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis suspends New York Yankees outfielder Jake Powell after he said on a Chicago radio station that he kept in shape by "cracking" African-Americans over the head with his nightstick.
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.
1978 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds hits in his 44th consecutive game, tying Willie Keeler's 81-year-old National League record.
1981 - A seven-week strike by major league baseball players ended.
1983 - Brooks Robinson, Juan Marichal, George Kell and Walter Alston are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1987 - Eddie Murray of the Baltimore Orioles hits his 300th career home run.
1988 - Willie Stargell is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1990 - Nolan Ryan became the 20th major league pitcher to win 300 games as his Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3.
1994 - Phil Rizzuto and Steve Carlton are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1997 - Oakland Athletics first baseman Mark McGwire becomes the first MLB home run leader to be traded in the middle of a season, being sent from Oakland to the St. Louis Cardinals. (He had 34 home runs and 81 RBIs at the time of his trade.)
1997 - College football's all-time winningest coach Eddie Robinson and his Grambling State University program are placed on two-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.
2012 - At the Summer Games in London, American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the greatest medal winner in Olympic history, earning his 19th career medal and 15th overall gold.
