1931
1931 by topic |
Subject: Archaeology – Architecture – Art – Aviation – Comics – Film – Literature (Poetry) – Meteorology – Music (Country) – Rail transport – Radio – Science – Sports – Television |
Countries: Australia – Canada – China – Ecuador – France – Germany – Greece – India – Ireland – Italy – Japan – Malaysia – Mexico – New Zealand – Norway – Palestine Mandate – Philippines – Singapore – South Africa– Soviet Union – UK – USA |
Leaders: Sovereign states – State leaders – Religious leaders – Law |
Categories: Births – Deaths – Works – Introductions – Establishments – Disestablishments – Awards |
|
Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.
Events of 1931
January–February
March–April
May–June
- May 1 – Construction of the Empire State Building is completed in New York City.
- May 4 – Kemal Atatürk is re-elected president of Turkey
- May 5 – İsmet İnönü forms new government in Turkey. (7th government)
- November 21 – Ali Fethi Okyar forms new government in Turkey. (3rd government)
- May 11 The Creditanstalt, Austria's largest bank, goes bankrupt, beginning the banking collapse in Central Europe that causes a worldwide financial meltdown.
- May 13 – Paul Doumer is elected president of France.
- June 5 – German Chancellor Dr. Heinrich Brüning visits London, where he warns the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald that the collapse of the Austrian banking system, caused by the bankruptcy of the Creditanstalt, has left the entire German banking system on the verge of collapse.
- June 12 – Charlie Parker equals J.T. Hearne's record for the earliest date to reach 100 wickets.
- June 14 – The overloaded pleasure craft Saint-Philibert, carrying trippers home to Nantes from Île de Noirmoutier, sinks at the mouth of the river Loire in France; over 450 drown.
- June 19 -In an attempt to stop the banking crisis in Central Europe from causing a worldwide financial meltdown, President Herbert Hoover issues the Hoover Moratorium.
- June 23 – Wiley Post and Harold Gatty take off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in an attempt to accomplish the first round-the-world flight in a single-engine plane. [1]
July–August
September–October
November–December
Undated
- Deuterium is discovered by Harold Clayton Urey.
- Ust-Abakanskoye becomes Abakan.
- The National Committee for Modification of the Volstead Act is formed to work for the repeal of prohibition in the United States.
- The Persistence of Memory is put on display for the first time in Paris at the Galerie Pierre Colle.
Ongoing
Births
January–February
- January 5
- January 6 – E. L. Doctorow, American author
- January 8 – Bill Graham, German concert promoter (d. 1991)
- January 10 – Peter Barnes, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- January 12 – Roland Alphonso, Jamaican musician (d. 1998)
- January 13 – Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor (d. 2007)
- January 14 – Caterina Valente, French singer and actress
- January 16 – Johannes Rau, President of Germany (d. 2006)
- January 17 – James Earl Jones, African-American actor (Voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars Franchise and played the role of Alex Haley in the final episodes of the mini-series Roots: The Next Generations)
- January 18 – Chun Doo-hwan, President of South Korea
- January 19
- Robert MacNeil, Canadian journalist (MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour)
- Pat Hunt, retired New Zealand politician from the National Party
- January 20 – David Lee, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- January 22 – Sam Cooke, American singer (You Send Me) (d. 1964)
- January 26 – Alfred Lynch, English actor (d. 2003)
- January 27 – Mordecai Richler, Canadian author (d. 2001)
- January 29 – Ferenc Madl, President of Hungary
- January 30 – Allan W. Eckert, American historian, naturalist, and author
- January 31 – Ernie Banks, American baseball player
- February 1 – Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia (d. 2007)
- February 2
- Dries van Agt, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1977 until 1982
- Les Dawson, British comedian (d. 1993)
- February 6
- Mamie Van Doren, American actress and author
- Rip Torn, American actor and director
- February 8 – James Dean, American actor (Rebel Without A Cause) (d. 1955)
- February 9 – Thomas Bernhard, Dutch author (d. 1989)
- February 11 – Larry Merchant, American author and boxing commentator
- February 13 – Geoff Edwards, American actor and game show host
- February 16
- George E. Sangmeister, American politician (d. 2007)
- Ken Takakura, Japanese actor
- February 18 – Johnny Hart, American cartoonist (B.C.) (d. 2007)
- February 18 – Toni Morrison, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- February 18 – Bob St. Clair, American football player
- February 24 – Brian Close, British cricketer
- February 25 – Eric Edgar Cooke, Western Australian Murderer (d. 1964)
- February 26 – Ally McLeod, Scottish football manager
- February 28
- Gavin MacLeod, American actor and Christian activist (The Love Boat)
- Dean Smith, American basketball coach
March–April
- March 2
- March 4
- Wally Bruner, American journalist and television host (d. 1997)
- William Henry Keeler, American Roman Catholic Archbishop and Cardinal
- Alice Rivlin, American economist
- March 8 – Neil Postman, American media theorist and cultural critic
- March 11 – Rupert Murdoch, Australian-born publisher
- March 20 – Hal Linden, American actor and singer
- March 22
- March 24 – Connie Hines, American actress (Mr. Ed) (d. 2009)
- March 26 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor and director (Star Trek)
- March 29
- Aleksei Gubarev, Russian cosmonaut
- Norman Tebbit, British politician
- April 1
- Rolf Hochhuth, German writer
- Ita Ever, Estonian actress
- April 6 – Suchitra Sen (Roma Dasgupta), legendary Bengali actress
- April 11 – Luis Cabral, Guinea-Bissauan President (d. 2009)
- Johnny Sheffield, American actor
- April 15 – Helen Maksagak, Canadian, first Inuk and woman to be the Commissioner of both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (d. 2009)
- April 27 – Igor Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist
- April 29
- Frank Auerbach, German-born painter
- Lonnie Donegan, Scottish musician (Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight?) (d. 2002)
May–June
- May 6 – Willie Mays, African-American baseball player
- May 7 – Teresa Brewer, American pop and jazz singer (d. 2007)
- May 13
- Jim Jones, American cult leader (People's Temple) (d. 1978)
- Jiri Petr, Czech university president
- May 14 – Alvin Lucier, American composer
- May 15
- Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Chairman of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
- Ken Venturi, American golfer
- May 16 – Natwar Singh, Indian politician
- May 18 – Robert Morse, American actor
- May 19 – Eric Tappy, Swiss tenor
- May 20 – Ken Boyer, American baseball player (d. 1982)
- May 25 – Georgi Grechko, Russian cosmonaut
- May 28 – Carroll Baker, American actress
- May 30 – Fr. John O'Brien, Irish priest and musician (d. 2008)
- May 31
- June 2 – Larry Jackson, American baseball player (d. 1990)
- June 3 – Lindy Remigino, American athlete
- June 3 – Raúl Castro, President of Cuba
- June 7 – Malcolm Morley, English-born painter
- June 8 – Dana Wynter, German-born American actress
- June 9 – Jackie Mason, American comedian
- June 9 – Joe Santos, American actor
- June 10 – João Gilberto, Brazilian musician
- June 13 – Moysés Baumstein, Brazilian holographer and artist
- June 14
- Ross Higgins, Australian actor
- Marla Gibbs, American actress and singer (The Jeffersons and 227)
- Junior Walker, American saxophonist and singer (Jr. Walker & the All Stars) (d. 1995)
- June 20
- Olympia Dukakis, American actress
- Arne Nordheim, Norwegian composer (d.2010)
- June 21 – Margaret Mary O'Shaughnessy Heckler, American Secretary of Health and Human Services
- June 24 – Billy Casper, American golfer
- June 26 – Colin Wilson, British writer
- June 27 – Martinus J. G. Veltman, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
July–August
- July 1 – Leslie Caron, French actress
- July 2 – Robert Ito, Canadian actor (Quincy, M.E.)
- July 4 – Stephen Boyd, Irish actor (d. 1977)
- July 5 – Ismail Mahomed, South African and Namibian Chief Justice (d. 2000)
- July 6 – Della Reese, American singer and actress (Touched By An Angel)
- July 7 – David Eddings, American novelist (d. 2009)
- July 10
- Nick Adams, American actor (d. 1968)
- Alice Munro, Canadian writer
- July 15 – Clive Cussler, American author
- July 19 – Mary Lou Studnicka, American female professional baseball player
- July 23 – Te Atairangi Kaahu, Māori Queen (d. 2006)
- July 26 – Fred Foster, American songwriter and record producer
- July 27 – Jerry Van Dyke, American comedian and actor
- August 7 – Charles E. "Charlie" Rice, American legal scholar and author
- August 12 – William Goldman, American author
- August 15
- Joe Feeney, American singer (d. 2008)
- Florian ZaBach, American musician and TV personality (d. 2006)
- August 18 – Bramwell Tillsley, General of The Salvation Army
- Hans van Mierlo, Dutch politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister (d. 2010)
- August 19 – Willie Shoemaker, American jockey (d. 2003)
- August 23 – Hamilton O. Smith, American microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- August 25
- Hal Fishman, Los Angeles based local news anchor (d. 2007)
- Regis Philbin, American television personality (Live With Regis And Kelly)
- August 28 – John Shirley-Quirk, English bass-baritone
- August 30
- Jacques Braunstein, Romanian-born Venezuelan economist, publiicist and disc jockey (d. 2009)
- Jack Swigert, American astronaut (d. 1982)
- August 31
- Noble Willingham, American actor (Walker, Texas Ranger) (d. 2004)
- Jean Béliveau, Canadian hockey player
- Kenny Burrell, American jazz musician
September–October
- September 1
- Cecil Parkinson, British politician
- Javier Solis, Mexican ranchera & bolero singer (d. 1966)
- September 8 – Jack Rosenthal, English playwright (d. 2004)
- September 12
- September 17 – Anne Bancroft, American actress (d. 2005)
- September 21
- Gertrude Alderfer, American female professional baseball player
- Gloria Cordes, American female professional baseball player
- Larry Hagman, American actor (Dallas)
- September 22
- Fay Weldon, British author
- George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, British politician (d. 2003)
- September 23 – Gerald Stairs Merrithew, Canadian educator and statesman (d. 2004)
- September 29
- James Watson Cronin, American nuclear physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- Anita Ekberg, Swedish actress
- September 30
- Angie Dickinson, American actress (Police Woman)
- Wesley L. Fox, U.S. Marine Corps officer
- October 6 – Riccardo Giacconi, Italian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- October 7
- October 13 – Eddie Mathews, baseball player (d. 2001)
- October 15 – Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, President of India
- October 16
- James Chace, American historian (d. 2004)
- Charles Colson, American Watergate conspirator
- Rosa Rosal, Filipino actress and humanitarian
- October 17 – Ernst Hinterberger, Austrian writer
- October 19 – John le Carré, English novelist
- October 20 – Mickey Mantle, American baseball player (d. 1995) Morris Cerullo, American Televangelist
- October 23
- Jim Bunning, American baseball player and U.S. Senator
- Diana Dors, English actress (d. 1984)
- October 25 – Jimmy McIlroy, Irish footballer and football manager
- October 31
- Isabel Alvarez, Cuban female professional baseball player
- Dan Rather, American television news reporter (60 Minutes)
November–December
- November 3
- Monica Vitti, Italian actress
- Michael Fu Tieshan, Chinese bishop (d. 2007)
- November 5 – Ike Turner, African-American singer and songwriter (d. 2007)
- November 15 – Mwai Kibaki, third President of Kenya
- November 21
- Malcolm Williamson, Australian composer (d. 2003)
- Revaz Dogonadze, Georgian physicist (d. 1985)
- November 23 – Dervla Murphy, Irish author
- November 26 – Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Argentine activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- December 1
- Jimmy Lyons, American musician (d. 1986)
- Jim Nesbitt, American country music singer (d. 2007)
- December 2
- Edwin Meese, American attorney general
- Nigel Calder, British science writer
- December 9 – Ladislav Smoljak, Czech film and theater director, actor and screenwriter
- December 11 – Rita Moreno, Academy award–winning Puerto Rican actress (West Side Story)
- December 12 – Lionel Blair, British actor, choreographer, tap dancer, headmaster and TV presenter
- December 23 – Ronnie Schell, American actor
- December 24 – Mauricio Kagel, Argentine composer (d. 2008)
- December 30 – Skeeter Davis, American singer (The End of the World) (d. 2004)
- December 31 – Bob Shaw, Irish writer (d. 1996)
Deaths
January–June
- January 3 – Joseph Joffre, French World War I general (b. 1852)
- January 4
- Art Acord, American actor (b. 1890)
- Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, British royal, eldest daughter of Edward VII (b. 1867)
- January 11 – James Milton Carroll, Baptist pastor, historian, and author (b. 1852)
- January 14 – Hardy Richardson, baseball player (b. 1855)
- January 22 – Alma Rubens, American actress (b. 1897)
- January 23 – Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina (b. 1881)
- February 11 – Charles Algernon Parsons, British inventor (b. 1854)
- February 16 – Wilhelm von Gloeden, German photographer (b. 1856)
- February 18 – Louis Wolheim, American actor (b. 1880)
- February 23 – Dame Nellie Melba, Australian soprano (b. 1861)
- February 26 – Otto Wallach, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1847)
- March 5 – Arthur Tooth, Anglican clergyman (b. 1839)
- March 7 – Akseli Gallén-Kallela, Finnish painter (b. 1865)
- March 11 – F.W. Murnau, German director (b. 1888)
- March 20 – Hermann Müller, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
- March 21 – Bhagat Singh, Indian revolutionary (b. 1908)
- March 24 – Robert Edeson, American actor (b. 1868)
- March 25 – Ida Wells, African-American lynching crusader.
- March 27 – Arnold Bennett, English novelist (b. 1867)
- March 28 – Ban Johnson, American baseball executive (b. 1864)
- March 31 – Knute Rockne, American football coach (b. 1888)
- April 8 – Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864)
- April 9 – Nicholas Longworth, American politician, Speaker of the House (b. 1869)
- April 10 – Khalil Gibran, Lebanese poet and painter (b. 1883)
- April 20 – Cosmo Duff-Gordon, British baronet and Titanic survivor (b. 1862)
- April 26 – George Herbert Mead, American philosopher (b. 1863)
- April 30 – Sammy Woods, English cricketer (b. 1867)
- May 9 – Albert Abraham Michelson, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
- May 14 – David Belasco, American writer (b. 1853)
- June 2 – Joseph Farnham, American screenwriter (b. 1884)
- June 4 – Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, Arab nationalist
July–December
- July 4 – Buddie Petit, American jazz musician
- July 12 – Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1866)
- August 6 – Bix Beiderbecke, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1903)
- August 15 – Nigar Shikhlinskaya, Azerbaijani World War I nurse (b. ca. 1878)
- August 26 – Hamaguchi Osachi, 27th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1870)
- August 27
- Frank Harris, Irish author and editor (b. 1856)
- Francis Marion Smith, American businessman (b. 1846)
- September 5 – John Thomson, Scottish footballer (b. 1909)
- September 16 – Omar Mukhtar, the leader of Libyan resistance (b. 1862?)
- October 13 – Ernst Didring, Swedish writer (b. 1868)
- October 18 – Thomas Edison, American inventor (b. 1847)
- November 4 – Buddy Bolden, African-American musician (b. 1877)
- November 11 – Shibusawa Eiichi, Japanese industrialist (b. 1840)
- November 20 – Julius Drewe, English businessman, retailer and entrepreneur (b. 1856)
- December 2 – Vincent d'Indy, French composer (b. 1851)
- December 5 – Vachel Lindsay, American poet (b. 1879)
- December 18 – Jack Diamond, American gangster (b. 1897)
- December 23 – Tyrone Power, Sr., American actor (b. 1869)
- December 26 – Melvil Dewey, American librarian, inventor of Dewey Decimal Classification (b. 1851)
- date unknown – Joseph Tabrar, British songwriter (b. 1857)
Nobel Prizes
Ship events
- List of ship launches in 1931
- List of ship commissionings in 1931
- List of ship decommissionings in 1931
- List of shipwrecks in 1931
See also
Notes
External links
Table of contents