1931

January 3

• Joseph J C Joffre French marshal, dies at age 78. [1]

January 4

• Art Acord western actor (Set Free, Spurs and Saddles), dies at age 40. [1]

January 9

• Claude Anet [Jean Schopfer] French writer (La fille perdue), dies. [1]

January 11

• Oscar Fetras composer, dies at age 76. [1]

January 14

• William Ernst Johnson British mathematician, dies. [1]

January 21

• Felix Blumenfeld composer, dies at age 67. [1]

January 22

• French government of Steeg falls. [1]
• VARA begins experimental TV broadcast in Diamantbeurs Amsterdam. [1]

January 23

• Anna Pavlova Russian ballerina (Diaghilew, Dying Swan), dies. [1]

January 26

• Hungary-Austria sign peace treaty. [1]
• Lynn Riggs' "Green Grow the Lilacs" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

January 30

• Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights" premieres at Los Angeles Theater. [1]

January 31

• Philip Barry's "Tomorrow and Tomorrow" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

February 2

• First siyyum of Talmud celebrated by Daf Yomi students. [1]
• First use of a rocket to deliver mail (Austria). [1]
• Theodor Batthynyi Hungarian contra-revolutionary, dies at age 71. [1]

February 3

• Arkansas legislature passes motion to pray for soul of H L Mencken after he calls the state the "apex of moronia". [1]
• Hans Schardt Swiss geologist, dies at age 72. [1]

February 5

• Maxine Dunlap becomes first US women to earn a glider pilot license. [1]

February 7

• Ion Vidu composer, dies at age 67. [1]
• US opera, "Peter Ibbetson", by Deems Taylor premieres at Metropolitan Opera New York City. [1]

February 8

• Gas explosion Fire in Fushun-coal mine, Manchuria kills 3,000. [1]

February 10

• New Delhi becomes capital of India. [1]
• Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Harts premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

February 11

• Charles Algernon Parsons British inventor (steam turbine), dies at age 76. [1]

February 14

• Spanish government of General Damasco Berenguer falls. [1]

February 15

• First Dracula movie released. [1]

February 16

• Dirk Schäfer Dutch pianist/composer (Klavier), dies at age 57. [1]
• Extreme right wing Svinhufvud becomes President of Finland. [1]

February 18

• Birth of Johnny Hart cartoonist. [1]

February 20

• US Congress allows California to build Oakland-Bay Bridge. [1]

February 21

• Alka Seltzer introduced. [1]

February 23

• Nellie Melba [Helen Mitchell], Australian soprano, dies. [1]

February 26

• Otto Wallach German chemist (Nobel Prize 1910), dies at age 83. [1]

February 28

• Oswald Mosley founds his New Party. [1]

March 3

• "Star Spangled Banner" officially becomes US national anthem. [1]
• Cab Calloway records "Minnie the Moocher" (Jazz's first million seller). [1]

March 4

• West Indies beat Australia for the first time, by 30 runs at SCG. [1]

March 5

• Gandhi and British viceroy Lord Irwin sign pact. [1]

March 7

• Akseli V Gallen-Kallela Finnish painter/illustrator, dies at age 65. [1]
• Theo van Doesburg [Christian Kupper], painter/architect, dies at age 47. [1]

March 8

• Clara Kathleen Rogers composer, dies at age 87. [1]

March 9

• Ida B Wells-Barnett famous black, dies in Chicago at age 78. [1]

March 10

• British Labour party removes fascist sir Oswald Mosley. [1]

March 14

• First theater built for rear movie projection (New York City, New York). [1]

March 16

• Genootschap Onze Taal (Our Language) organizes (Netherlands). [1]

March 17

• Stalin throws Krupskaya Lenin out of Central Committee. [1]

March 18

• First electric shavers go on sale in US (Schick). [1]
• Juan Bautista Aznar becomes premier of Spain. [1]

March 19

• Nevada legalizes casino gaming and most other forms of gambling. Nevada Governor Fred Balzar signs into law Assembly Bill 98, allowing faro, monte, roulette, keno, fan-tan, twenty-one, blackjack, seven-and-a-half, big injun, klondike, craps, stud poker, draw poker, or any card, dice, machine, at licensed establishments. Licensing fees for social games is set at US$25 per table per month, $50 for each mercantile game, $10 for each slot machine. Legal gambling age set at 21. [1] [39] [80.303] [86.6] [187.355]

March 20

• Bishop Schreiber warns against national-socialism in Berlin. [1]

March 21

• KRO-broadcast studio initiated in Hilversum Holland. [1]

March 25

• Hal Kemp and his Orchestra record Whistles, with Skinnay Ennis. [1]

March 26

• Iraq and Trans-Jordan sign peace treaty. [1]
• New Delhi replaces Calcutta as capitol of British-Indies. [1]

March 27

• Arnold Bennett novelist, dies. [1]
• Charlie Chaplin receives France's distinguished Legion of Honor. [1]

April 1

• Earthquake devastates Managua Nicaragua, kills 2,000. [1]

April 2

• Teenage girl strikes out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game in Chattanooga Tennessee. [1]

April 4

• Andre Michelin CEO (Michelin Tires), dies. [1]
• George Whitefield Chadwick composer, dies at age 76. [1]

April 6

• First Scottsboro (Alabama) trial begins - 9 blacks accused of rape. [1]
• First broadcast of "Little Orphan Annie" on NBC-radio. [1]
• Giuseppi Radiciotti composer, dies at age 73. [1]

April 8

• "White Horse Inn" opens in London. [1]
• Dmitri Shostakovich's ballet "The Arrow", premieres. [1]
• Eric Axel Karlfeldt poet, dies. [1]

April 9

• Chicago's Cy Wentworth beats Montreal Canadiens at 13:50 of the 6th period. [1]
• Paul Antonin Vidal composer, dies at age 67. [1]

April 12

• Spanish voters reject the monarchy. [1]

April 14

• Spain becomes republic with overthrow of King Alfonso XIII. [1]

April 15

• The first walk across America backwards began. [1]

April 20

• British House of Commons agrees for sports play on Sunday. [1]

April 22

• Egypt and Iraq sign peace treaty. [1]

April 27

• 100 degrees F (38 degrees C), Pahala HI (state record). [1]

April 29

• Cleveland Indian Wes Ferrell no-hits Saint Louis Browns, 9-0. [1]

April 30

• Disney completes the Mickey Mouse film The Moose Hunt. Pluto also appears, and is first called by name. Pluto speaks for the first and only time in his career. [6]

May 1

• U.S. President Herbert Hoover officially dedicates New York City's Empire State Building. At 102 stories and 1,250 feet high it is the world's tallest skyscraper (a record held until 1972). [1] [5] [129]
• Norway claims Peter I Island. [1]
• Singer Kate Smith begins her long-running radio program on CBS. [1]

May 3

• Frank Hoyt Losey composer, dies at age 59. [1]
• Otto Winter-Hjelm composer, dies at age 93. [1]

May 4

• Mustafa Kemal Pasja becomes Turkish president. [1]

May 8

• Operette "Land of Smiles" premieres in London. [1]

May 9

• A[lbert] A[braham] Michelson US physicist (1907 Nobel), dies at age 78. [1]

May 10

• Golf ball size hail falls in Burlington New Jersey. [1]

May 11

• Credit-Anstalt, Austria's largest bank, fails beginning financial collapse of Central Europe. [1]

May 12

• Eugene-Auguste Ysaye composer, dies at age 72. [1]

May 13

• Josif Marinkovic composer, dies at age 79. [1]
• Paul Doumer elected President of France. [1]

May 15

• Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Quadragesimo anno. [1]

May 17

• Johan [Eliza J] de Master art critic/writer, dies. [1]
• Timothy Cole wood engraver, dies. [1]

May 19

• Ironclad cruiser Germany launched in Kiel. [1]

May 21

• Belgian Government of Jaspar falls. [1]

May 22

• Canned rattlesnake meat first goes on sale in Florida. [1]

May 23

• Whipsnade Zoo opens in Whipsnade Beds England. [1]

May 24

• First air-conditioned train installed-B&O Railroad. [1]

May 27

• First full scale wind tunnel for testing airplanes, Langley Field Virginia. [1]
• Piccard and Knipfer make first flight into stratosphere, by balloon; first use of pressurized cabin in a balloon. [1]

June 6

• G Neujmin discovers asteroid #1210 Morosovia. [1]

June 9

• First showing of a Donald Duck cartoon. [1]
• C Jackson discovers asteroid #1197 Rhodesia. [1]
• Goddard patents rocket-fueled aircraft design. [1]

June 14

• French "St Philbert" overturned off Saint Nazaire France, drowns 450. [1]

June 19

• First photoelectric cell installed commercially West Haven Connecticut. [1]

June 23

• Wiley Post and Harold Catty took off for flight around world. [1]

June 29

• 109 degrees F (43 degrees C), Monticello, Florida (state record). [1]

July 1

• Ice vending machines introduced in Los Angeles 25 pounds, 15 cents. [1]
• Boeing Air Transport begin service (later called United Airlines). [5]

July 18

• First air-conditioned ship (Mariposa) launched. [1]

July 21

• Reno race track, becomes first in US to use daily double wagering. [1]

July 23

• Ashmore and Cartier Island in Indian Ocean transferred to Australia. [1]

July 28

• US Congress makes "The Star-Spangled Banner" our second national anthem. [1]

August 15

• Ernest Lassy completes longest canoe journey without port (6,102 mi). [1]
• Roy Wilkins joined NAACP as assistant secretary. [1]

September 15

• British naval force mutinies at Invergordon over pay. [1]

September 21

• Britain goes off the gold standard. [1]

September 27

• Lou Gehrig completes his 6th straight season, playing in every game. [1]

October 2

• Pope Pius XI encyclical On the economic crisis. [1]

October 4

• The comic strip Dick Tracy by Chester Gould debuts. [1]

October 5

• First nonstop transpacific flight, Japan to Washington (Herndon and Pangborn). [1]

October 7

• First infra-red photograph, Rochester, New York. [1]

October 10

• AJ Bennett hits H Garbarino for first scoring pass in Canada's Big 4. [1]

October 12

• First International Conference on Calendar Reform. [1]

October 16

• Trunk murderess Winnie Ruth Judd chops first. [1]

October 17

• American gangster Al Capone is convicted of US tax evasion, sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined US$80,000. [1] [5] [129]

October 18

• Thomas Alva Edison inventor, dies in West Orange, New Jersey, at age 84. [1]

October 24

• George Washington Bridge connecting New York to New Jersey opens. [1]

November 3

• First commercially produced synthetic rubber manufactured. [1]

November 11

• Cornerstones laid for Opera House and Veterans Building. [1]

November 13

• Hattie Caraway (Democrat-Alaska) appointed first US woman senator. [1]

November 20

• Commercial teletype service begins. [1]

December 1

• In Canada, the Ottawa branch of the British Royal Mint begins operation as the Royal Canadian Mint, under the control of the Canadian Finance Department. [3]

December 2

• Paul-Marie-Theodore-Vincent D'indy French count/composer, dies at age 80. [1]

December 3

• Alka Seltzer goes on sale. [1]

December 4

• "Frankenstein" opens at Mayfair. [1]

December 8

• Coaxial cable patented. [1]

December 9

• Benn W Levy's "Springtime for Henry" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]
• Japanese army attacks Chinese province of Jehol. [1]
• Spain becomes a republic. [1]

December 10

• Jane Addams (first US woman) named co-recipient of Nobel Peace Prize. [1]
• Manuel Azaña becomes premier/Niceto Zamora President of Spain. [1]
• Max Elskamp Belgian author/poet (Six Chansons), dies at age 69. [1]

December 11

• British Statute of Westminster gives complete legislative independence to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, Newfoundland. [1]
• Japan leaves the Gold Standard. [1]

December 12

• Japanese Government of Imukai forms. [1]

December 14

• First assembly of Anton Musserts NSB in Utrecht. [1]

December 16

• German SPD begins Eiserne Front against fascism. [1]
• Gustave J Waffelaert Flemish theologist/bishop of Bruges, dies at age 82. [1]

December 18

• John T "Legs" Diamond US gangster, murdered at age 35. [1]

December 19

• Joseph A Lyons (Conservative) becomes premier of Australia. [1]

December 21

• John-French Cantré Flemish wood carver/painter/cartoonist, dies at age 45. [1]

December 25

• New York's Metropolitan Opera broadcasts an entire opera over radio. [1]

December 26

• George/Ira Gershwin's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical play "Of Thee I Sing" premieres on Broadway. [1]
• SS-Sturmbannführer Reinhard Heydrich marries Lina von Osten. [1]

December 27

• Peter Christian Lutkin composer, dies at age 73. [1]
• Walter Courvoisier composer, dies at age 56. [1]

December 28

• Lin-Sen succeeds Chiang Kai-shek as President of Nanjing-China. [1]

December 29

• Identification of heavy water publicly announced, HC Urey. [1]

December 30

• Tyrone Power Sr actor (Big Trial, Test of Donald Norton), dies at age 62. [1]