On this day...

876 Charles becomes King of Italy
1504 By treaty of Lyons, French cede Naples to Ferdinand of Aragon
1675 Cornelia/Dina Olfaarts found not guilty of witchcraft
1696 Revolt of undertakers after funeral reforms (Amsterdam)
1804 British Vice-Admiral William Bligh's fleet reaches Curaçao
1842 John Tyler's daughter Elizabeth marries in the White House
1849 Corn Laws abolished in Britain
1851 San Francisco Orphan's Asylum, first in California, founded
1851 Gail Borden announces invention of evaporated milk
1861 State of Louisiana takes over US Mint at New Orleans
1863 First black Civil War regiment, SC Volunteers, mustered into US army
1865 Congress passes 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in America (121-24)
1871 Millions of birds fly over western San Francisco, darken the sky
1895 José Martí & others leave New York City NY for invasion of Spanish Cuba
1901 Chekhov's "Three Sisters" opens at the Moscow Art Theater
1905 First auto to exceed 100 mph (161 kph), A G MacDonald, Daytona Beach
1905 Carroll Wright appointed first US Commissioner of Labor
1906 Strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake, Colombia, 8.6 Richter
1911 Congress names San Francisco as Panama Canal opening celebration site
1915 First (German) poison gas attack, against Russians
1917 Germany notifies US that U-boats will attack neutral merchant ship
1920 Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, at Howard University, incorporates
1928 Scotch tape first marketed by 3-M Company
1929 Leon Trotsky expelled from Russia to Turkey
1930 First US glider flight from a dirigible, Lakehurst New Jersey
1932 US railway unions accept 10% wage reduction
1933 Hitler promises parliamentary democracy
1934 FDR devalues the dollar in relation to gold at $35 per ounce
1941 Joe Louis KOs Red Burman in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
1942 62 U boats sunk this month (327,000 ton)
1943 Chile breaks contact with Germany & Japan
1943 General Friedrich von Paul surrenders to Russian troops at Stalingrad
1944 Operation-Overlord (D-Day) postponed until June
1944 US forces invade Kwajalein Atoll
1945 Eddie Slovik, first American executed for desertion since Civil War
1946 Yugoslavia adopts new constitution, becomes a federal republic
1948 J. D. Salinger's "A Perfect Day for Banana Fish" appears in NY
1948 Magnetic tape recorder developed by Wireway
1949 First daytime soap on TV "These Are My Children" (NBC in Chicago)
1952 Dutch Lutheran Church reunites after 1½ centuries
1953 "Princess Victoria" capsized off Stanraer Scotland; 133 die
1953 Hurricane-like winds flood Netherlands drowning nearly 2,000
1955 RCA demonstrates first music synthesizer
1956 French government of Mollet forms
1956 Juscelino Kubitschek becomes President of Brazil
1957 Trans-Iranian oil pipe line finished
1958 "Jackpot Bowling" premieres on NBC with Leo Durocher as host
1958 US launches their first artificial satellite, Explorer 1
1961 USAF launches Samos spy satellite to replace U-2 flights
1961 David Ben-Gurion resigns as premier of Israel
1961 Houston voters approve bond to finance luxury domed stadium
1964 US report "Smoking & Health" connects smoking to lung cancer
1968 Viet Cong's Tet offensive begins
1969 Beatles perform last live gig (42-minute concert on roof of Apple HQs)
1974 MacDonald's founder Ray Kroc buys San Diego Padres
1975 Barry Manilow's "Mandy" goes gold
1975 UCLA wins NCAA basketball championship
1976 "Love Rollercoaster" by Ohio Players hits #1
1980 Police storm occupied Spanish embassy in Guatemala City, killing 41
1981 "The Tide Is High" by Blondie hits #1
1984 Edwin Newman retires from NBC News after 35 years with the network
1986 Mary Lund, of Minnesota, is first female recipient of an artificial heart
1988 Barge sinks near Anacortes WA, spills 70,000 gallons of oil
1990 First McDonalds in Russia opens in Moscow, world's biggest McDonalds
1992 Sportscaster Howard Cosell retires
1994 Dow Jones hits a record 3,978.36

Birthdays which occurred on January 31st:

1601 Pieter de Bloot, Dutch landscape painter
1607 James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby
1612 Hendrik Casimir I, count of Nassau-Dietz/mayor of Frisia
1623 François-Xavier de Laval, Montmorency, consecrated the first bishop of Québec in 1674
1633 Nathaniel Crew, English bishop (Durham)
1734 Robert Morris, merchant (signed Declaration of Independence)
1741 Theodor Gotlieb von Hippel, East Prussian author/mayor of Köningsberg
1750 Gerrit J. Pijman, Dutch Minister of War (1798-1800, 1803-06)
1778 Franz Anton graaf von Kolowrat, Austrian premiere of Bohemia (1848)
1787 Louis Angely, Germany, comedy writer (Sieben Mädchen in Uniform)
1797 Franz Peter Schubert, Lichtenthal Austria, composer (Unfinished Symphony)
1802 Jan C. J. van Speijk, Dutch naval hero
1813 Samuel Sarphati, Amsterdam, physician/pharmacist/social activist
1817 Antony Winkler Prins, Dutch writer (Groiler Encyclopaedia)
1830 James Gillespie Blaine, Pennsylvania, journalist (Plumed Knight)
1830 James G. Blaine, the "Plumed Knight"
1836 Henryk Szulc, composer
1863 F. Henri Berz, French existentialist philosopher (Revue the Synthesis)
1866 Emil Strauss, Germany, writer (Naked Man)
1868 Theodore William Richards, chemist (atomic weights, Nobel-1914)
1869 Henry graaf Carton de Wiart, Belgian literary/premier (1920-21)
1872 Zane Grey, American West novelist (Riders of the Purple Sage, Spirit of the Border)
1877 Max Ettlinger, German philosopher
1878 Willem J M van Eysinga, Dutch international law jurist
1881 Irving Langmuir, physical chemist/colloid researcher/inventor (tungsten filament lamp)
1881 Joseph A. Cushman, US, palaentologist/foraminiferologist
1882 Anna Pavlova, St Petersburg Russia, ballerina/choreographer
1890 Adolf Bach, German language/sociologist (Deutsche Namenkunde)
1892 Eddie Cantor, New York City NY, comedian (Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater)
1893 Freya Stark, English explorist/author
1902 Alva Myrdal, Uppsala Sweden, diplomat (Nobel Peace Prize-1982)
1902 Julian H. Steward, US anthropologist/professor
1902 Jean C. M. Picart le Doux, France, carpet designer
1903 Gardner Cowles, Iowa, publisher/founder (Look Magazine)
1903 Tallulah Bankhead, Huntsville AL, actress (Lifeboat, Die Die Darling)
1906 R. W. Bonham, founder (International Braille Chess Association)
1908 René Simone Mathieu, France, doubles tennis star (Wimbledon 1934)
1914 Carey Lofton, Blountsville FL, actor (Skinner-Troubleshooters)
1914 Jersey Joe Walcott, heavyweight boxing champ (1951-52)
1914 Louis Osman, architect/artist/goldsmith
1915 Bobby Hackett, Providence RI, trumpeteer/orchestra leader (Air Time '57)
1916 Frank A. Parker, tennis champ (US Open-1944)
1919 Jackie Robinson, Georgia, first black major league baseball player (Dodgers)
1920 Stewart L. Udall, St Johns AZ, US Secretary of Interior (1961-69)
1921 Carol Channing, Seattle WA, actress (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Hello Dolly)
1921 John Agar, Chicago IL, actor (Fort Apache, Sands of Iwo Jima)
1921 Mario Lanza, Philadelphia PA, actor/singer (Great Caruso, Toast of New Orleans)
1922 William Sylvester, Oakland CA, actor (2001, Gorgo, Gemini Man)
1923 Eddie Ryder, New York City NY, actor (Slick Jones-General Hospital)
1925 Benjamin Hooks, civil rights leader
1925 Charles Aidman, Frankfort IN, narrator (New Twilight Zone)
1926 Jean Simmons, London England, actress (Thorn Birds, Guys & Dolls)
1929 Rudolf Mossbauer, Germany, physicist (Nobel 1961)
1931 Ernie "Mr. Cub" Banks, Hall-of-Famer (first baseman)
1935 Oe Kenzaburo, Japanese novelist (The Catch, A Personal Matter)
1937 Philip Glass, Baltimore MD, composer (Einstein on the Beach)
1937 Steve Karmen, Bronx NY, jingle writer (I Love NY, This Bud's for You)
1937 Suzanne Pleshette, New York City NY, actress (The Birds, Emily-Bob Newhart Show)
1938 James G. Watt, Colorado, US Secretary of Interior (1981-83)
1938 Ajip Rosidi, Indonesian poet/writer (Madjalah Sunda, Pesta)
1940 Jessica Walter, Brooklyn NY, actress (Play Misty For Me, Amy Prentiss)
1940 Stuart Margolin, Davenport IA, actor (Love American Style)
1941 Richard A. Gephardt, (Representative-D-MO, 1977- )
1941 Sharon Miller, LPGA golfer
1942 Derek Jarman, actor/director (Angelic Conversation, Edward II)
1944 Anton Korteweg, Dutch poet (For the Good Order)
1944 Charley Musselwhite, blues musician (Stand Back, Louisiana Fog)
1944 Eugene Terre Blanche, South African leader of Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging
1946 Glynn Turman, New York City NY, actor (Lew-Peyton Place, Manimal, Centennial)
1946 Jonathan Banks, Washington DC, actor (Armed & Dangerous, Cold Steel)
1946 Terry Kath, rocker (Chicago-If You Leave Me Now)
1947 Nolan Ryan, Hall of Fame baseball pitcher
1949 Carol Hawkins, actress (Dialing for Dingbats)
1951 Harry Casey [KC], rock vocalist (KC & Sunshine Band)
1951 Phil Collins, England, singer/drummer (Genesis)
1954 Adrian Vandenberg, Amsterdam Netherlands, rock guitarist (Whitesnake)
1956 Johnny Rotten [John Lydon], rocker (Sex Pistols-God Save the Queen)
1957 Brett "the Hitman" Hart, Alberta Canada, WWF champion
1959 Anthony LaPaglia, actor (Murder One)
1959 Kelly Lynch, actress (Drugstore Cowboy)
1963 John Dye, Amory MA, actor (Andrew-Touched by an Angel)
1970 Rachel Jean Marteen, Atlanta GA, playmate (August 1995)

Deaths which occurred on January 31st:

1606 Guy Fawkes, convicted in the "Gunpowder Plot", executed at 35
1788 [Bonnie Prince] Charles E. Stuart, English pretender, dies at 67
1828 Alexandros Ypsilanti, Greek resistance fighter, dies at 35
1864 Hamilton Rowan Gamble, US judge/Governor of Missouri (1861-64)
1891 Ernest Meissonier, French painter/etcher/sculptor, dies at 75
1919 Paul Lindau, German playwright/critic (Estimate), dies at 79
1933 John Galsworthy, England, writer (Forsythe, Nobel 1932), dies at 65
1945 Eddie Slovik, first in US executed for desertion since Civil War at 25
1949 Henri de Vries [Hendricus Walterop], actor (Cleopatra), dies at 84
1954 Florence Bates, actress (Kismet, I Remember Mama), dies at 65
1954 Edwin H. Armstrong, US radio inventor (FM), commits suicide at 63
1955 John R. Mott, US theologist/founder (YMCA, Nobel 1946), dies at 89
1960 Lowell Gilmore, actor (Calcutta, Roadblock), dies at 53
1966 Elizabeth Patterson, actress (Tall Story), dies at 90
1967 Chief Thundercloud, actor (Ambush, Colt 45, Typhoon), dies at 100
1967 Otto Dibelius, German theologian/bishop, dies at 86
1972 Howard Barlow, conductor (Voice of Firestone), dies at 79
1972 Bir Bikram Shah Deva Mahendra, King of Nepal (1955-72), dies at 51
1972 Istvan Szelenyi, composer, dies at 67
1973 Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist (Nobel 1969), dies at 77
1974 Glenn Morris, olympian/actor (Tarzan's Revenge), dies at 61
1974 Harry Baum, actor (Crime & Punishment), dies at 58
1974 Paul Haesaerts, Flemish architect/painter (Flandre), dies at 72
1974 Roger Pryor, actor (Lady by Choice), dies at 72
1974 Samuel Goldwyn, Polish/English/US film magnate (MGM), dies at 91
1989 Jack Douglas, humorist (My Brother Was an Only Child), dies at 80
1994 Pierre Boulle, French writer (Executioner), dies at 81
1995 George Abbott, playwright/actor/producer (Damn Yankees), dies at 105
1996 Gustave Solomon, mathematician, dies at 65
1997 Eve Lister, actress/singer (No Limit, Hyde Park), dies at 84