31 January in history

10 events that happened on 31 January, from 1747 to 1990.

  1. ✦ Anniversary of the day

    1747 CE 279 years ago

    London Lock Hospital opens for venereal disease patients

    The Lock Hospital at Hyde Park Corner opened as the first hospital in Britain dedicated to treating venereal disease. It later added a chapel and an asylum for women.

    London

  2. 1865 CE 161 years ago

    US House passes the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery

    After intense lobbying by President Lincoln, the House of Representatives approved the amendment by 119 votes to 56. Ratified in December 1865, it ended slavery throughout the United States.

    United States

  3. 1917 CE 109 years ago

    Germany announces unrestricted submarine warfare

    Germany told the United States its U-boats would sink without warning any ship in the war zone from the next day. The decision led to the break in relations and, in April, to America's declaration of war.

    United States

  4. 1919 CE 107 years ago

    Police clash with strikers in Glasgow's George Square

    A rally for a 40-hour week ended in violence between police and workers in George Square. Fearing revolution, the government sent troops and tanks into Glasgow.

  5. 1940 CE 86 years ago

    First monthly Social Security cheque is issued

    Ida May Fuller, a retired legal secretary from Vermont, received cheque number 00-000-001 for 22.54 dollars. She lived to 100 and collected about 22,000 dollars in benefits.

  6. 1945 CE 81 years ago

    Private Eddie Slovik executed for desertion

    Slovik was shot by firing squad in eastern France, the only American soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War. Of many soldiers sentenced to death for the offence, he alone was put to death.

  7. 1958 CE 68 years ago

    Explorer 1, America's first satellite, is launched

    A Jupiter-C rocket put Explorer 1 into orbit from Cape Canaveral, four months after Sputnik. Its Geiger counter detected the Van Allen radiation belts around the Earth.

  8. 1961 CE 65 years ago

    Ham the chimpanzee flies into space

    Ham flew a suborbital flight on Mercury-Redstone 2, performing simple tasks in response to lights. His safe return cleared the way for Alan Shepard's flight that May.

  9. 1971 CE 55 years ago

    Apollo 14 launches for the Moon

    Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell lifted off from Kennedy Space Center. Landing at Fra Mauro on 5 February, Shepard famously hit two golf balls on the lunar surface.

  10. 1990 CE 36 years ago

    McDonald's opens in Moscow

    The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opened on Pushkin Square, serving about 30,000 people on its first day. Queues stretched for hours as the Cold War drew to a close.

    Soviet UnionMoscow

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