August 31

August 31 is the 243rd day of the year (244th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 122 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Pre-20th Century

• 1814 – Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, receives his peerage for his victory at the Battle of Vitoria during the Peninsular War.
• 1888 – Mary Ann Nichols is murdered in Whitechapel, London, becoming the first of the canonical victims of the unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper.

20th Century

• 1907 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Anglo-Russian Convention, establishing respective spheres of influence in Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet.
• 1939 – The Gleiwitz incident, a false flag operation staged by Nazi Germany, takes place. It provides the pretext for the invasion of Poland the following day, marking the beginning of World War II in Europe.
• 1957 – The Federation of Malaya gains independence from the British Empire, an event now celebrated annually as Hari Merdeka.
• 1991 – Kyrgyzstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
• 1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, along with her companion Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul.

21st Century

• 2010 – The final episode of The Bill, the longest-running police procedural television series in the United Kingdom, is broadcast.
• 2016 – The Brazilian Senate votes to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, officially removing her from office.

Births

• 12 – Caligula, Roman emperor (d. 41).
• 161 – Commodus, Roman emperor (d. 192).
• 1870 – Maria Montessori, Italian physician and educator, best known for the Montessori method of education (d. 1952).
• 1879 – Taishō, 123rd Emperor of Japan (d. 1926).
• 1945 – Van Morrison, Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician.
• 1949 – Richard Gere, American actor and activist.
• 1970 – Rania Al-Yassin, Queen consort of Jordan.
• 1977 – Jeff Hardy, American professional wrestler.

Deaths

• 1056 – Theodora, Byzantine empress (b. 984).
• 1422 – Henry V of England (b. 1386).
• 1867 – Charles Baudelaire, French poet, essayist, and art critic (b. 1821).
• 1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, member of the British royal family (b. 1961).
• 2002 – Lionel Hampton, American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, and bandleader (b. 1908).
• 2012 – Sergei Sokolov, Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union (b. 1911).

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast days:

* Aidan of Lindisfarne
* Raymond Nonnatus
* August 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Independence Day (Malaysia), celebrating the independence of the Federation of Malaya from the British Empire in 1957.
• Independence Day (Kyrgyzstan), celebrating the independence of Kyrgyzstan from the Soviet Union in 1991.
• Independence Day (Trinidad and Tobago), celebrating the independence of Trinidad and Tobago from the United Kingdom in 1962.
• National Language Day (Moldova).