Historical Events on January 31 (Part 2)

1999 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Yevgeny Kafelnikov becomes first Russian, male or female, to win an Australian title; beats Thomas Enqvist of Sweden 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-6

Family Guy

1999 Seth MacFarlane's "Family Guy" 1st airs on Fox TV

Cartoonist, Actor and Filmmaker Seth MacFarlane

Super Bowl

1999 Super Bowl XXXIII, Pro Player Stadium, Miami, FL: Denver Broncos beat Atlanta Falcons, 34-19; MVP: John Elway, Denver, QB

Murder of Interest

2000 A fight between Ray Lewis and his companions and another group of people results in the stabbing deaths of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar, resulting in the indictment of Lewis 11 days on murder and aggravated-assault charges

2000 Alaska Airlines flight 261 MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 persons aboard.
2000 Family GP Dr Harold Shipman is jailed for life for murdering 15 of his patients, making him Britain's most prolific convicted serial killer

Lockerbie Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103

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

The remains of the forward section of the Pan Am Boeing 747 named Clipper Maid of the Seas on Tundergarth Hill near Lockerbie

2003 The Waterfall rail accident occurs near Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia.

Australian Open Women's Tennis

2004 Australian Open Women's Tennis: In an all-Belgian final, Justine Henin-Hardenne beats Kim Clijsters 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to win her only Australian title

Event of Interest

2006 Alan Greenspan retires as Chairman of the Federal Reserve

Economist and Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan

Appointment of Interest

2006 US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor retires and is replaced by Samuel Alito

1st Woman Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

2007 Suspects are arrested in Birmingham in the UK, accused of plotting the kidnap, holding and eventual beheading of a serving Muslim British soldier in Iraq
2009 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Serena Williams wins 10th Grand Slam singles title; outclasses Dinara Safina of Russia 6-0, 6-3
2009 In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
2010 26th Sundance Film Festival: "Winter's Bone", directed by Debra Granik, wins Grand Jury Prize Dramatic
2010 52nd Grammy Awards: "Use Somebody", Zac Brown Band win

Australian Men's Tennis Open

2010 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Roger Federer outclasses Scotsman Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 for his 4th Australian title

2010 NFL Pro Bowl, Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens: AFC beats NFC, 41-34; MVP: Matt Schaub, Houston Texans, QB

Old Ideas

2012 Leonard Cohen releases his album "Old Ideas", becomes No.1 in 10 countries

Singer-Songwriter and Writer Leonard Cohen

2013 300 people are injured in a train collision in Pretoria, South Africa
2013 36 people are killed and 126 are injured in an explosion at Torre Ejecutiva Pemex, Mexico

Sports History

2015 17 year old Lydia Ko of New Zealand becomes the youngest golfer in men's or women's golf history to be ranked No. 1 in the world

2015 Atlanta Hawks set a new NBA monthly win record as they move to 17-0 for January, with a 91-85 win against the Philadelphia 76ers
2015 Australia defeats South Korea in football to win the 2015 AFC Asian Cup
2015 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Serena Williams wins 19th career Grand Slam singles title; beats arch rival Maria Sharapova of Russia 6-3, 7-6
2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees: Junior Seau, Jerome Bettis, Charles Haley, Will Shields, Tim Brown, Mick Tingelhoff
2015 Sergio Mattarella is elected President of Italy
2016 "World's best chef" French-Swiss Benoît Violier found dead after apparent suicide weeks after being named world's best by La Liste
2016 61st NHL All Star Games, Bridgestone Centre, Nashville, TN: Pacific Division All Stars win four-team 3-on-3 tournament; MVP: John Scott, San Jose, LW
2016 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Novak Đoković retains Championship for his record-equaling 6th Australian title; beats Andy Murray 6-1, 7-5, 7-6

NFL Pro Bowl

2016 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: Team Irvin beats Team Rice, 49-27; MVPs: Russell Wilson, Seattle, QB; Michael Bennett, Seattle, DE

2017 Philip Glass' Symphony No. 11, premieres with the Bruckner Orchester Linz conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, at Carnegie Hall in NYC
2017 Romanian government passes emergency decree to release prisoners and decriminalise corruption charges, triggering huge protests in Bucharest

Event of Interest

2017 US President Donald Trump announces he is nominating 49 year old Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court

45th US President, Businessman and TV Personality Donald Trump

2017 US President Donald Trump fires Attorney General Sally Yates after she instructs Justice Department officials not to defend Trump's travel ban
2018 Houston guard James Harden becomes first player in NBA history to log a 60-point triple-double with 60 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals and a block in Rockets' 114-107 win over Orlando Magic
2018 trump administration formally suspends the Clean Water Act
2019 At least 20 newborns and children have died in last two months of the cold, trying to get to the Al-Ho Syrian refugee camp according to WHO
2019 Blockbuster NBA trade: NY Knicks send Kristaps Porziņģis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee & Trey Burke to Dallas Mavericks for Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews & 2 future 1st-round picks
2019 Catholic leaders in Texas name 286 priests and others accused of sexually abusing children, dating back to 1940
2019 Colonization of the America's in the late 1500s killed so many people it cooled the planet and led to a "Little Ice Age", according to a scientific report published in "Quaternary Science Reviews"
2019 Leaked Indian government reports says unemployment rate at 6.1% highest since 1972-73, up from 2.2% in 2011-12
2019 New government in Lebanon finally formed by Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri nine months after elections
2019 Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah crowned King of Malaysia to serve a five-year term
2019 US border agency seizes its biggest ever fentanyl bust, nearly 254 pounds hidden in Tractor-trailer in Nogales, Arizona
2020 United Kingdom formally withdraws from the European Union (Brexit)

Navalny Arrested

2021 Widespread protests in Russia against detention of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the government with 5,000 people arrested

2022 British government report finds "a failure of leadership" led to parties taking place in Downing Street when UK under strict lockdown, amid a police investigation [1]
2022 Online word puzzle Wordle bought for “low seven figure sum” by The New York Times