Significant Events
- May 1 Empire State Building opens in New York City
- Jun 12 Al Capone is indicted on 5,000 counts of prohibition and perjury
- Sep 18 To create a pretext for the invasion of Manchuria, China, a railway explosion is faked by the Japanese
- Oct 18 American gangster Al Capone convicted of tax evasion
- Nov 7 Chinese People's Republic proclaimed by Mao Zedong
- Dec 11 Statute of Westminster gives complete legislative independence to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland (Free State), and Newfoundland (not then part of Canada)
Did You Know?
"Star Spangled Banner" officially becomes US national anthem by congressional resolution
On March 3, 1931
World Leaders in 1931
Herbert Hoover
31st US President
Joseph Stalin
Soviet General Secretary
Ramsay MacDonald
British Prime Minister
Famous People in 1931
Lionel Barrymore
Oscar for Best Actor
Marie Dressler
Oscar for Best Actress
Pierre Laval
Time Person
of the Year
Anne Bancroft
Boris Yeltsin
Ernie Banks
Mickey Mantle
Mikhail Gorbachev
Willie MaysWould You Believe?
Arkansas legislature passes motion to pray for soul of journalist H. L. Mencken, after he calls the state the "apex of moronia"
On February 3, 1931
Famous Weddings
- Feb 7 Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart (33) weds publisher George Palmer Putnam (43) in Noank, Connecticut
- Jun 8 Songwriter Johnny Mercer (21) weds chorus girl Ginger Meehan in New York City
- Jun 13 Actress Margaret Hamilton (28) weds landscape architect Paul Meserve
- Jun 29 Actress Mary Astor (25) weds Dr. Franklyn Thorpe
- Jul 4 Irish writer (Ulysses) James Joyce and Nora Barnacle finally marry in London registry office after meeting in 1904.
Famous Divorces
- Nov 9 Actress Gloria Swanson (32) divorces aristocrat Henri de la Falaise (33) after 6 years of marriage
Alice Mary Robertson
André Michelin
Bhagat Singh
Daniel Williams
Lili Elbe
Thomas Edison