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January 31

January 31

January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 334 days remaining, (335 in leap years). January 31 is also the last day of January.

Events

- 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon.
- 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is executed for his plotting against Parliament and James I of England.
- 1747 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Dock Hospital.
- 1814 - Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of Argentina.
- 1849 - Corn Laws abolished in the United Kingdom.
- 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
- 1867 - Maronite nationalist leader Karam leaves Lebanon on board of a French ship for Algeria
- 1876 - The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations.
- 1915 - World War I: Germany uses poison gas against Russians.
- 1917 - World War I: Germany announces its U-boats will engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.
- 1918 - A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
- 1929 - The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky.
- 1930 - 3M markets Scotch Tape.
- 1936 - The Green Hornet radio show debuts.
- 1944 - World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
- 1945 - US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed, the first American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion.
- 1946 - Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
- 1950 - President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
- 1953 - A flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands.
- 1956 - Guy Mollet becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 1958 - The first successful American satellite, Explorer I, is launched into orbit.
- 1958 - James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt.
- 1961 - Ham the Chimp travels into outer space.
- 1968 - Viet Cong attack the United States embassy in Saigon.
- 1968 - Nauru declares independence from Australia.
- 1971 - Apollo program: Astronauts aboard Apollo 14 lift off for a mission to the moon.
- 1971 - The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begin in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1988 - Super Bowl XXII: The Washington Redskins win their second championship of the 1980s, 42-10.
- 1990 - The first McDonald's opens in Moscow, Russia.
- 1993 - Super Bowl XXVII: The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Buffalo Bills, 52-17.
- 1995 - President Bill Clinton authorizes a $20 billion loan to Mexico to stabilize its economy.
- 1996 - An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400.
- Dragonball Z ends in Japan.
- 1999 - Super Bowl XXXIII: The Denver Broncos defeat the Atlanta Falcons, 34-19. After the game, the TV show Family Guy airs its pilot episode.
- 2000 - An Alaska Airlines MD-83 crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Malibu, California killing all 88 aboard.
- 2001 - In the Netherlands a Scottish court convicts a Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
- 2004 - Mystery Science Theater 3000 ends its run on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Births

- 1338 - King Charles V of France (d. 1380)
- 1512 - King Henry of Portugal (d. 1580)
- 1550 - Henry I, Duke of Guise, French Catholic leader (d. 1588)
- 1597 - John Regis, French saint (d. 1640)
- 1624 - Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher (d. 1669)
- 1686 - Hans Egede, Norwegian Lutheran missionary (d. 1758)
- 1752 - Gouverneur Morris, American lawmaker and diplomat (d. 1816)
- 1759 - François Devienne, French composer (d. 1803)
- 1797 - Franz Schubert, Austrian composer (d. 1828)
- 1866 - Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)
- 1868 - Theodore William Richards, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
- 1872 - Zane Grey, American Western writer (d. 1939)
- 1881 - Irving Langmuir, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
- 1884 - Theodor Heuss, German politician and publicist (d. 1963)
- 1889 - Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958)
- 1892 - Eddie Cantor, American actor and singer (d. 1964)
- 1894 - Isham Jones, American musician (d. 1956)
- 1902 - Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)
- 1902 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician, diplomat, and writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1986)
- 1905 - John O'Hara, American writer (d. 1970)
- 1914 - Sri Daya Mata, Hindu religious figure
- 1914 - Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer (d. 1994)
- 1915 - Alan Lomax, American singer and musicologist (d. 2002)
- 1915 - Thomas Merton, American monk and author (d. 1968)
- 1915 - Garry Moore, American comedian and game show host (d. 1993)
- 1919 - Jackie Robinson, baseball player (d. 1972)
- 1921 - John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1921 - Carol Channing, American actress
- 1921 - E. Fay Jones, American architect
- 1921 - Mario Lanza, American singer and actor (d. 1959)
- 1922 - Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)
- 1923 - Norman Mailer, American writer and journalist
- 1925 - Benjamin Hooks, American head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
- 1929 - Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1929 - Jean Simmons, English actress
- 1931 - Ernie Banks, baseball player
- 1935 - Kenzaburo Oe, Japanese writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1937 - Philip Glass, American composer
- 1937 - Suzanne Pleshette, American actress
- 1938 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
- 1938 - James G. Watt, American politician
- 1940 - Jessica Walter, American actress
- 1941 - Richard A. "Dick" Gephardt, American politician
- 1942 - Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
- 1942 - Derek Jarman, American director and writer (d. 1994)
- 1944 - Charlie Musselwhite, American musician
- 1946 - Terry Kath, American musician (d. 1978)
- 1947 - Jonathan Banks, American actor
- 1947 - Nolan Ryan, baseball player
- 1948 - Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
- 1949 - Ken Wilber, American philosopher
- 1951 - Dave Benton, Aruban-born singer
- 1952 - Nadya Rusheva, Russian painter (d. 1969)
- 1956 - Johnny Rotten, British singer (Sex Pistols)
- 1959 - Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor
- 1959 - Kelly Lynch, American actress
- 1961 - Lloyd Cole, British singer and songwriter
- 1964 - Jeff Hanneman, American guitarist (Slayer)
- 1964 - Billey Shamrock, Swedish singer and songwriter
- 1970 - Minnie Driver, British actress
- 1971 - Patrick Kielty, Irish comedian
- 1973 - Portia de Rossi, Australian actress
- 1976 - Buddy Rice, American race car driver
- 1980 - Tiffany Limos, American actress
- 1981 - Justin Timberlake, American singer
- 1982 - Helena Paparizou, Swedish singer

Deaths

- 743 - Muhammad al-Baqir, Shia Imam (b. 676)
- 1398 - Emperor Suko of Japan (b. 1334)
- 1435 - Xuande, Emperor of China (b. 1398)
- 1561 - Menno Simons, Dutch Mennonite leader (b. 1496)
- 1580 - King Henry of Portugal (b. 1512)
- 1606 - Gunpowder Plot conspirators executed:
- Guy Fawkes (b. 1570)
- Ambrose Rokewood
- Thomas Wintour (b. 1571)
- 1615 - Claudio Aquaviva, Italian Jesuit (b. 1543)
- 1632 - Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (b. 1552)
- 1665 - Johannes Clauberg, German theologian and philsopher (b. 1622)
- 1686 - Jean Mairet, French dramatist (b. 1604)
- 1720 - Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English privy councilor
- 1729 - Jakob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (b. 1659)
- 1736 - Filippo Juvara, Italian architect (b. 1678)
- 1788 - Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (b. 1720)
- 1790 - Thomas Lewis, Irish-born Virginia settler (b. 1718)
- 1794 - Marriott Arbuthnot, British admiral (b. 1711)
- 1851 - David Spangler Kaufman, American politician (b. 1813)
- 1892 - Charles Spurgeon, English preacher and evangelist (b. 1834)
- 1907 - Timothy Eaton, Canadian department store founder (b. 1834)
- 1933 - John Galsworthy, English writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
- 1944 - Jean Giraudoux, French writer (b. 1882)
- 1945 - Eddie Slovik, American soldier (b. 1920)
- 1955 - John Mott, American YMCA leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1865)
- 1956 - A. A. Milne, English author (b. 1882)
- 1967 - Eddie Tolan, American athlete (b. 1908)
- 1970 - Slim Harpo, American singer (b. 1924)
- 1973 - Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch, Norwegian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
- 1974 - Samuel Goldwyn, American film studio executive (b. 1882)
- 1976 - Ernesto Miranda, American litigant (b. 1941)
- 1990 - Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-born imam (stabbed) (b. 1935)
- 1992 - Willie Dixon, American musician (b. 1915)
- 1995 - George Abbott, American stage director and producer (b. 1887)
- 1997 - John Joseph Scanlan, Irish Catholic prelate (b. 1930)
- 1999 - Norm Zauchin, baseball player (b. 1929)
- 2000 - Gil Kane, Latvian-born comic book writer (b. 1926)
- 2001 - Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian writer (b. 1923)
- 2004 - Eleanor Holm, American swimmer (b. 1913)

Holidays and observances

- Catholicism - Feast day of St. John Bosco.

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/31 BBC: On This Day] ---- January 30 - February 1 - December 31 - February 28 (February 29) — listing of all days ko:1월 31일 ja:1月31日 simple:January 31 th:31 มกราคม

January 31

January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 334 days remaining, (335 in leap years). January 31 is also the last day of January.

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

- Catholicism - Feast day of St. John Bosco.

External links

Leap year

A leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing an extra day or month in order to keep the calendar year in sync with an astronomical or seasonal year. Seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of days, so a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would over time drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected. Leap years (which keep the calendar in sync with the year) should not be confused with leap seconds (which keep clock time in sync with the day).

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, the current standard calendar in most of the world, adds a 29th day to February in all years evenly divisible by 4, except for century years (those ending in -00), which receive the extra day only if they are evenly divisible by 400. Thus 1996 was a leap year whereas 1999 was not, and 1600, 2000 and 2400 are leap years but 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2100 are not. The reasoning behind this rule is as follows:
- The Gregorian calendar is designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter (celebrated on the Sunday after the 14th day of the Moon that falls on or after 21 March) remains correct with respect to the vernal equinox.
- The vernal equinox year is currently about 365.242375 days long.
- The Gregorian leap year rule gives an average year length of 365.2425 days. This difference of a little over 0.0001 days means that in around 8,000 years, the calendar will be about one day behind where it should be. But in 8,000 years' time the length of the vernal equinox year will have changed by an amount we can't accurately predict (see below). So the Gregorian leap year rule does a good enough job. Image:Gregoriancalendarleap.png

Which day is the leap day?

The Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Julian calendar first used by the Romans. The Roman calendar originated as a lunar calendar (though from the 5th century BC it no longer followed the real moon) and named its days after three of the phases of the moon: the new moon (calends, hence "calendar"), the first quarter (nones) and the full moon (ides). Days were counted down (inclusively) to the next named day, so 24 February was ante diem sextum calendas martii ("the sixth day before the calends of March"). Since 45 BC, February in a leap year had two days called "the sixth day before the calends of March". The extra day was originally the second of these, but since the third century it was the first. Hence the term bissextile day for 24 February in a bissextile year. Where this custom is followed, anniversaries after the inserted day are moved in leap years. For example, the former feast day of Saint Matthias, 24 February in ordinary years, would be 25 February in leap years. This historical nicety is, however, in the process of being discarded: The European Union declared that, starting in 2000, 29 February rather than 24 February would be leap day, and the Roman Catholic Church also now uses 29 February as leap day. The only tangible difference is felt in countries that celebrate feast days.

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4. This rule gives an average year length of 365.25 days. The excess of about 0.0076 days with respect to the vernal equinox year means that the vernal equinox moves a day earlier in the calendar every 130 years or so.

Revised Julian Calendar

The Revised Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4, except for years divisible by 100 that do not leave a remainder of 200 or 600 when divided by 900. This rule agrees with the rule for the Gregorian calendar until 2799. The first year that dates in the Revised Julian calendar will not agree with the those in the Gregorian calendar will be 2800, because it will be a leap year in the Gregorian calendar but not in the Revised Julian calendar. This rule gives an average year length of 365.242222… days. This is a very good approximation to the mean tropical year, but because the vernal equinox tropical year is slightly longer, the Revised Julian calendar does not do as good a job as the Gregorian calendar of keeping the vernal equinox on or close to 21 March.

Chinese calendar

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so a leap year has an extra month, often called an embolismic month after the Greek word for it. In the Chinese calendar the leap month is added according to a complicated rule, which ensures that month 11 is always the month that contains the northern winter solstice. The intercalary month takes the same number as the preceding month; for example, if it follows the second month then it is simply called "leap second month".

Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar is also lunisolar with an embolistic month. In the Hebrew calendar the extra month is called Adar Alef (first Adar) and is added before Adar, which then becomes Adar Sheni (second Adar). According to the Metonic cycle, this is done seven times every nineteen years, specifically, in years, 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19. In addition, the Hebrew calendar has postponement rules that postpone the start of the year by one or two days. The year before the postponement gets one or two extra days, and the year whose start is postponed loses one or two days. These postponement rules reduce the number of different combinations of year length and starting day of the week from 28 to 14, and regulate the location of certain religious holidays in relation to the Sabbath.

Hindu Calendar

In the Hindu calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar, the embolismic month is called adhika maas (extra month). It is the month in which the sun is in the same sign of the stellar zodiac on two consecutive dark moons.

Iranian calendar

The Iranian calendar also has a single intercalated day once in every four years, but every 33 years or so the leap years will be five years apart instead of four years apart. The system used is more accurate and more complicated, and is based on the time of the March equinox as observed from Teheran. The 33-year period is not completely regular; every so often the 33-year cycle will be broken by a cycle of 29 or 37 years.

Long term leap year rules

The accumulated difference between the Gregorian calendar and the vernal equinoctial year amounts to 1 day in about 8,000 years. This suggests that the calendar needs to be improved by another refinement to the leap year rule: perhaps by avoiding leap years in years divisible by 8,000. (The most common such proposal is to avoid leap years in years divisible by 4,000 [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22gregorian+calendar%22+error+%22leap+year%22+4000]. This is based on the difference between the Gregorian calendar and the mean tropical year. Others claim, erroneously, that the Gregorian calendar itself already contains a refinement of this kind [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mleapyr.html].) However, there is little point in planning a calendar so far ahead because over a timescale of tens of thousands of years the number of days in a year will change for a number of reasons, most notably: #Precession of the equinoxes moves the position of the vernal equinox with respect to perihelion and so changes the length of the vernal equinoctial year. #Tidal acceleration from the sun and moon slows the rotation of the earth, making the day longer. In particular, the second component of change depends on such things as post-glacial rebound and sea level rise due to climate change. We can't predict these changes accurately enough to be able to make a calendar that will be accurate to a day in tens of thousands of years.

Marriage proposal

There is a tradition, said to go back to Saint Patrick and Saint Bridget in 5th century Ireland, whereby women may only make marriage proposals in leap years.

Saint Patrick and the leap year

:Saint Patrick, having driven the frogs out of the bogs was walking along the shores of Lough Neagh, when he was accosted by Saint Bridget in tears, and was told that a mutiny had broken out in the nunnery over which she presided, the ladies claiming the right of popping the question. :Saint Patrick said he would concede them the right every seventh year, when Saint Bridget threw her arms round his neck, and exclaimed, "Arrah, Pathrick, jewel, I daurn't go back to the girls wid such a proposal. Make it one year in four." Saint Patrick replied, "Bridget, acushla, squeeze me that way again, an' I'll give ye leap-year, the longest of the lot." Saint Bridget, upon this, popped the question to St Patrick himself, who, of course, could not marry: so he patched up the difficulty as best he could with a kiss and a silk gown. (Source: Evans, Ivor H, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cassell, London, 1988) According to a 1288 law in Scotland, fines were levied if the proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to a silk gown to soften the blow. Because men felt that put them at too great a risk, the tradition was in some places tightened to restricting female proposals to 29 February.

Birthdays

A person who was born on 29 February may be called a "leapling". In non-leap years they usually celebrate their birthday on 28 February or 1 March. There are many instances in children's literature where a person's claim to be only a quarter of their actual age turns out be based on counting their leap-year birthdays. A similar device is used in the plot of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance. Category:Calendars Category:Units of time als:Schaltjahr ko:윤년 ja:閏年 simple:Leap year th:ปีอธิกสุรทิน

January 31

January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 334 days remaining, (335 in leap years). January 31 is also the last day of January.

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

- Catholicism - Feast day of St. John Bosco.

External links

January

January is the first month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. January begins (astrologically) with the sun in the sign of Capricorn and ends in the sign of Aquarius. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Sagittarius and ends in the constellation of Capricornus. January is named for Janus, the Roman god of doors and gateways. The original Roman calendar consisted of 10 months (304 days). The Romans originally considered winter a monthless period. Circa 700 BCE Romulus' successor, King Numa Pompilius, added the months of January and February allowing the calendar to equal a standard lunar year (364 days). A Roman superstition against even numbers resulted in the addition of one day thus equalling 365 days. Although March was originally the first month, January usurped that position because that was when consuls were usually chosen. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. Historical names for January include its original Roman designation, Ianuarius, the Saxon term Wulf-monath (meaning wolf month) and Charlemagne's designation Wintarmanoth (winter / cold month). In old Japanese calendar, the month is called Mutsuki (睦月). The second day of the month is known as Hatsuyume (初夢) and the 7th day as Nanakusa (七草). In Finnish, the month is called tammikuu, meaning "month of the oak". Finnish The first Monday in January is known as Handsel Monday in Scotland and northern England. In England, the agricultural year began with Plough Sunday on the Sunday after Epiphany. The Coming of age day in Japan is the second Monday of January, for those becoming 20 years old in the new calendar year. It is a national holiday. The day has existed since 1948, but fell on January 15 until 1999, when it was moved by the Japanese government in an attempt to lift the economy by making more holidays consecutive. In the pagan wheel of the year, January ends at or near to Imbolc in the northern hemisphere and Lughnasadh in the southern hemisphere.

1504

Events

- January 1 - French troops surrender Gaeta to the Spanish under Cordoba.
- January 31 - France cedes Naples to Aragon.
- February 29 - Christopher Columbus uses his knowldege of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans to provide him with supplies.
- Michelangelo Buonarroti finishes his sculpture of David - August 8 it is erected in Florence.
- Moldavia, Stephan III the Great fights against Turkey and Poland.
- Baber besieges and captures Kabul.
- Ferdinand II of Aragon becomes King of Naples as Ferdinand III.
- Christopher Columbus return to Spain from his fourth voyage where he and his younger son, Ferdinand, explored the coast of Central America from Belize to Panama.
- Aldo Manuzio publishes Demosthenes.
- Grünenwald: "Crucifixion".
- Voyage of Juan de la Cosa to South America.
- Erasmus: Enchiridion militis chritiani ("Handbook of the Christian Soldier").
- A Funj leader, Amara Dunqas, founds the Black Sultanate (As Saltana az Zarqa) at Sennar. (History of Sudan (Coming of Islam to the Turkiyah))

Births

- January 17 - Pope Pius V (died 1572)
- May 5 - Stanislaus Hosius, Polish cardinal (died 1579)
- July 18 - Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss religious reformer (died 1575)
- August 6 - Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1574)
- November 13 - Philipp I of Hesse (died 1567)
- Jacques Arcadelt, Franco-Flemish composer (died 1568)
- Charles Estienne, Humanist (died 1564)
- Giovanni Battista Giraldi, Italian novelist and poet (died 1573)
- Patrick Hamilton, Scottish churchman and Reformer (died 1528)
- Dirk Philips, early Anabaptist writer and theologian
- Francesco Primaticcio, Italian painter, architect, and sculptor (died 1570)
- Nicholas Udall, English playwright and schoolmaster (died 1556)

Deaths

- July 2 - Ştefan cel Mare, Prince of Moldova (b. 1434)
- November 9 - King Frederick IV of Naples (born 1452)
- November 26 - Queen Isabella of Castile (born 1451)
- December 21 - Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild, German archbishop and elector (b. 1442)
- Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (born 1435)
- Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, Spanish author
- Filippino Lippi, Italian painter (born 1457)
- Domenico Maria Novara da Ferrara, Italian astronomer (born 1454)
- Philibert II, Duke of Savoy (born 1480)
- Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (born 1435)
- Ştefan cel Mare, Prince of Moldavia (born 1434) Category:1504 ko:1504년

Aragon

:This article is about the geographical region. For the poet, see Louis Aragon. For the Olympic medallist, see Aragon (horse). For the commune in the Aude département of France, see Aragon, Aude. Aragon (Spanish and Aragonese: Aragón; Catalan: Aragó) is an autonomous community of north-eastern Spain. It has an area of 47,719 km² with a population of 1,217,514 (2003). Aragon is bounded on the north by France, on the east by Catalonia, on the south by

January 31

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

January 31

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

Leap year

Gregorian calendar

Which day is the leap day?

Julian calendar

Revised Julian Calendar

Chinese calendar

Hebrew calendar

Hindu Calendar

Iranian calendar

Long term leap year rules

Marriage proposal

Saint Patrick and the leap year

Birthdays

January 31

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

January

See also

1504

Events

Births

Deaths

Aragon