On this day in History - Mar 31

• 250 - Constantius Chlorus, was born. Roman Emperor (d. 306).
• 307 - After divorcing his wife Minerva, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian.
• 1128 - Num diploma desta data, o nome de D. Afonso Henriques aparece à frente de Fernão Peres de Trava, pela primeira vez, demonstrando a tentativa de pacificação entre D. Teresa, Fernão Peres de Trava e a nobreza portucalense revoltada.
• 1371 - É assinado o Tratado de Alcoutim entre D. Fernando e Henrique II de Castela, pelo qual se põe fim à guerra começada em 1369. D. Fernando abdicava das suas pretensões à coroa de Castela, obtendo em troca um alargamento do território de Portugal e o acordo para o seu casamento com a Infanta Dona Leonor, filha mais velha do rei de Castela.
• 1492 - Os reis Católicos, Fernando de Aragão e Isabel de Castela, assinam o decreto de expulsão dos judeus da Espanha.
• 1499 - Pope Pius IV was born (d. 1565) .
• 1504 - Guru Angad Dev, was born. Second Guru of the Sikhs (d. 1552) .
• 1519 - Henry II of France was born. (d. 1559) .
• 1536 - Ashikaga Yoshiteru, was born. Ashikaga shogun (d. 1565) .
• 1596 - René Descartes, was born in La Haye, France. Mathematician (d. 11 Feb 1650) .
• 1621 - Filipe II de Portugal, III de Castela, morre, sucedendo-lhe Filipe III com 16 anos.
• 1621 - Andrew Marvell, was born. English poet (d. 1678) .
• 1667 - Assinatura do tratado de aliança entre D. Afonso VI e Luís XIV (França), contra Carlos II de Espanha.
• 1675 - Pope Benedict XIV was born (d. 1758).
• 1693 - Nasceu o inventor inglês John Harrison, responsável pelo cronómetro .
• 1703 - Portugal, Inglaterra e Holanda assinaram um tratado de aliança ofensiva e defensiva .
• 1717 - A sermon on "The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ" by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, provoked the Bangorian Controversy.
• 1732 - Joseph Haydn, was born in Rohrau, Austria. ( d. 31 May 1809 in Vienna). Composer.
• 1742 - P. D. Q. Bach, was born. Fictitious composer (d. 1807).
• 1774- American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed in the Boston Port Act.
• 1783 - Nikita Ivanovich Panin, dies, Russian statesman (b. 1718).
• 1791 - Mozart aceita a encomenda anónima de um Requiem, enquanto última a composição da Flauta Mágica.
• 1809 - Nikolai Gogol, was born. Russian writer (d. 1852) .
• 1809 - Edward FitzGerald, was born . Poet (d. 1883) .
• 1811 - Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, was born. Chemist, inventor: Bunsen burner (d. 1899).
• 1821 - É extinta a Inquisição em Portugal, por uma sessão das Cortes Gerais, Extraordinárias e Constituintes da Nação Portuguesa. Tinha sido instituída por meio da bula "Cum ad nihit magis", de 23 de Maio de 1536.
• 1837 - John Constable, dies, painter (b. 1776) .
• 1839 - Las fuerzas gubernamentales del general y político argentino Juan Manuel de Rosas masacran a los sublevados del barón de Astrada, quien perece en la lucha.
• 1854 - Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese government, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
• 1855 - Charlotte Brontë, dies, English author (b. 1816) .
• 1864 - Manuel Murillo Toro es designado presidente de la República de Colombia .
• 1866 - Spanish Navy bombs the harbour of Valparaíso, Chile .
• 1878 - La Asamblea Nacional de Ecuador promulga una Nueva Constitución bajo la presidencia de Ignacio Veintimilla.
• 1878 - Jack Johnson, was born (d. 1946). African-American boxer.
• 1879 - Se establece por decreto en Venezuela el bolívar como moneda nacional.
• 1880 - Henryk Wieniawski, dies, composer .
• 1885 - The United Kingdom establishes a protectorate over Bechuanaland.
• 1885 - Pascin, the "Prince of Montparnasse" was born (d. 1930) .
• 1889 - The Eiffel Tower is inaugurated.
• 1900 - Richard Alexander Walter Windsor, was born. Duke of Gloucester .
• 1903 - Richard Pearse reportedly flies a heavier-than-air machine in powered flight near Pleasant Point, South Canterbury, New Zealand; some claim 1902
• 1906 - The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for amateur sports in the United States.
• 1908 – Nascimento de Eugénio Salvador em Lisboa, Portugal (m. Nov. 1992). Actor [Aqui D'El Rei! (1992) (TV) . A Maluquinha de Arroios (1970) Bonança & C.a (1969) Passagem de Nível (1965) Aqui Há Fantasmas (1964) Parque das Ilusões, O (1963) Pupilas do Senhor Reitor, As (1961) Vidas Sem Rumo (1956) Comissário de Polícia, O (1953) Duas Causas (1953) Três da Vida Airada, Os (1952) Um Marido Solteiro (1952); Eram Duzentos Irmãos (1952); Madragoa (1952); Sonhar É Fácil (1951); Sol e Toiros (1949) ; Fado, História d'uma Cantadeira (1948); Cais do Sodré (1946) ;Maria Papoila (1937/I) Lisboa (1930)].
• 1909 - Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
• 1911 - Elisabeth Grümmer, was born. Alsatian soprano (d. 1986) .
• 1912 - Hermann Höcherl, was born. German politician (d. 1989) .
• 1912 - Karl May, dies, author (b. 1842) .
• 1913 - John Pierpont Morgan, dies, American financier and banker (b. 1837) .
• 1914 - Octavio Paz, was born. Mexican writer, diplomat, and nobel laureate (d. 1998) .
• 1915 - Albert Hourani, was born. historian (d. 1993) .
• 1890 - Sir William Lawrence Bragg, físico británico, premio Nobel de Física en 1915.
• 1915 - Wyndham Halswelle, dies, British runner .
• 1915 - Nace Sixto Palavecino, músico argentino.
• 1917 - Emil Adolf von Behring, dies, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1901 (b. 1854) .
• 1917 - Estados Unidos toma posesión de las islas Vírgenes, compradas a Dinamarca por veinte millones de dólares .
• 1917 - The United States takes possession of the U.S. Virgin Islands after paying $25 million to Denmark.
• 1918 - Daylight Savings Time goes into effect in the United States for the first time.
• 1922 - Richard Kiley, was born. Actor, singer (d. 1999) .
• 1926 - John Fowles, was born. Author .
• 1927 - César Chávez, was born. Labor activist (d. 1993) .
• 1927 - William Daniels, was born. Actor .
• 1928 - Gordie Howe, was born. ice hockey player .
• 1928 - Lefty Frizzell, was born. country music performer .
• 1930 - The Motion Pictures Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in motion pictures for the next forty years .
• 1931 - An earthquake destroys Managua Nicaragua, killing 2,000.
• 1931 - Knute Rockne, dies American football coach (b. 1888) .
• 1932 - Nagisa Oshima was born in Kyoto, Japan. Director, Writer, Editor, Actor, Director [ (TV) Kyoto, My Mother's Place (1991); Max mon amour (1986); Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983) ; Ai no borei (1978) aka Empire of Passion (USA) ;Ai no corrida (1976) aka Bullfight of Love (Japan: literal English title).. aka Empire of the Senses; The Battle of Tsushima (1975) ; Natsu no imoto (1972)... aka Dear Summer Sister; Shonen (1969)... aka Boy (USA);Nihon shunka-kô (1967)... aka A Treatise on Japanese Bawdy Songs; Ai to kibo no machi (1959)... aka A Street of Love and Hope (literal English title) and many others.].
• 1933 - The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission to relieve rampant unemployment.
• 1933 - El presidente de Uruguay, Gabriel Terra, da un golpe de Estado y disuelve el Parlamento.
• 1934 - Shirley Jones, was born. singer, actress .
• 1935 - Richard Chamberlain, was born actor (Dr. Kildare) .
• 1935 - Herb Alpert, was born. Musician .
• 1935 – Nasce Ruth Escobar, actriz, jornalista e política brasileira .
• 1939 - Zviad Gamsakhurdia, was born (d. 1993). Scientist and writer, first President of the Republic of Georgia .
• 1939 - Volker Schlöndorff, was born. German film director .
• 1940 - Patrick Leahy, was born. United States Senator from Vermont .
• 1943 - Christopher Walken, was born. Actor .
• 1945 - Anne Frank, whose world-famous diary was published after WW II , dies (b. 1929) .
• 1945 - Hans Fischer, químico y médico alemán, premio Nobel de Química en 1930.
• 1946 - Gonzalo Márquez, was born. Major League Baseball player (d. 1984) .
• 1948 - Al Gore, was born. Former Vice President of the United States .
• 1948 - Rhea Perlman, was born. Actress .
• 1948 - Aprovação pelo Congresso dos Estados Unidos da América do chamdao "Plano Marshall".
• 1949 - Bethel Enproe Adam, was born. Second Angam Baby .
• 1947 - En Paraguay, las fuerzas rebeldes contra el Gobierno de Higinio Moriñigo son derrotadas en Piripuco.
• 1947 - Nace de César Gaviria, estadista y diplomático colombiano.
• 1949 - Terranova ingresa en la Federación Canadiense, y se constituye en la décima provincia de Canadá.
• 1953 - Foram descobertos os "Manuscritos do Mar Morto" .
• 1954 - Edwin Armstrong, dies, electrical engineer .
• 1956 - Ralph DePalma, dies, race car driver (b. 1884) .
• 1959 - The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
• 1964 - Golpe militar de 1964 no Brasil derruba o presidente João Goulart .
• 1964 - The Dictatorship in Brazil, under the aegis of general Castello Branco, begins.
• 1966 - The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first spaceprobe to enter orbit around the Moon.
• 1966 - Roger Black, was born. British athlete .
• 1967 - Jimi Hendrix burns his guitar for the first time at London's Astoria Theatre. He is sent to the hospital afterwards for burns on his hands.
• 1968 - President Lyndon Johnson announces he will not run for re-election.
• 1970 - Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth's atmosphere (after 12 years in orbit).
• 1970 - Eight terrorists from the Japanese Red Army hijacked a Japan Airlines Boeing 727 at Tokyo International Airport, wielding samurai swords and carrying a bomb.
• 1971 - Ewan McGregor, was born. Scottish actor .
• 1971 - Pavel Bure, was born. Ice hockey player .
• 1972 - Alejandro Amenábar, was born in Santiago do Chile, actor, writer, director cine
• 1976 - Josh Saviano, was born. Actor (The Wonder Years) .
• 1978 - Charles Best, dies, medical scientist (b. 1899) .
• 1979 - In Jerusalem, Israel, Gali Atari & Milk and Honey win the twenth-fourth Eurovision Song Contest for Israel singing "Hallelujah".
• 1980 - Jesse Owens, dies, athlete (b. 1913)
• 1984 - El presidente de Honduras, Roberto Suazo Córdova, asume el mando temporal de las Fuerzas Armadas.
• 1985 - The first ever WrestleMania is held in New York City's Madison Square Garden.
  1986 - A Mexicana Boeing 727 enroute to Puerto Vallarta erupts in flames and crashes in the mountains northwest of Mexico City, killing 166 .
• 1986 - Six metropolitan county councils are abolished in England .
• 1987 - El Papa, Juan Pablo II, llega a Montevideo en su octava visita a Iberoamérica.
• 1988 - William McMahon, dies, twentieth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908) ,
• 1989 - Yaser Arafat es proclamado presidente de Palestina por decisión unánime de los 70 miembros del Comité Central de la OLP.
• 1990 - El político español José María Aznar es elegido presidente del Partido Popular.
• 1990 - Boxer Julio César Chávez defeats Meldrick Taylor to unify the boxing's world junior welterweight title in a very controversial fight known as "Thunder Meets Lightning".
• 1991 - The Warsaw Pact comes to an end.
• 1992 - Boris Yeltsin firma en Moscú el Tratado de la Federación con 18 repúblicas rusas.
• 1992 - The television news program Dateline NBC premieres.
• 1992 - A inflação no Brasil atinge um pico recorde de 84,3% no mês. Nos últimos 12 meses a inflação havia chegado a 4.854%
• 1993 - O Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas aprovam o uso de força militar na Iugoslávia.
• 1993 - Actor Brandon Lee is accidentally killed during the filming of The Crow (b. 1965).
• 1994 - The journal Nature reports the finding in Ethiopia of the first complete Australopithecus afarensis skull (see Human evolution).
• 1995 - Popular Tex-Mex singer Selena Quintanilla is murdered by her assistant Yolanda Saldivar in a Corpus Christi, Texas motel after a heated discussion where the latter was accused of ripping off the artist's fan club.
• 1995 - Selena, dies, Tejano singer (b. 1971) .
• 1998 - Bella Abzug, dies American politician (b. 1920) .
• 1998 - Netscape gives the code base of its browser under an open-source license agreement, thus creating Mozilla Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation to oversee the development of Mozilla.
• 2002 - Barry Took, dies, British comedian and writer.
• 2003 - H.S.M. Coxeter, dies, geometer and author.
• 2003 - Michael Jeter, dies, actor .
• 2004 - Google announces Gmail, the first web-based mail service to offer 1 gigabyte of storage.
• 2004 - In Fallujah, Iraq, 4 American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed and their bodies mutilated after being ambushed.
• 2004 - Sandton Square in Johannesburg, South Africa, is renamed Nelson Mandela Square.
• Brasil: Dia da Integração Nacional