January 31 in History

Historical Events on January 31

1865 American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery and submits it to the states for ratification.

1865 American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.

1929 The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky.

1942 World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to Singapore.

1950 United States President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.

1966 The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program.

1968 Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive.

1971 Apollo program: Apollo 14: Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.

2001 In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

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Famous Birthdays on January 31

1919 Jackie Robinson

1975 Preity Zinta

1981 Julio Arca

1981 Justin Timberlake

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Famous Deaths on January 31

1954 Edwin Howard Armstrong

2015 Lizabeth Scott

2015 Richard von Weizsäcker

2016 Terry Wogan

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