Births On ( 31st)
- 1803 - "John Ericsson, American naval engineer"
- 1927 - "Peter Nichols, English author"
- 1929 - "Lynne Reid Banks, English writer"
- 1944 - "Geraldine Chaplin, Actress & daughter of Charlie"
- 1944 - "Jonathon Dimbleby, Broadcaster"
- 1951 - "Evonne Crawley, Australian tennis player"
Events On ( 31st)
- 1943 - "Jim Reeves, the American country and western singer, died in an aircrash"
- 1950 - Sainsbury's opened Britains first self-service store
- 1954 - The Mountain K2 was climbed for the first time by an Italian team
- 1964 - Spacecraft Ranger 7 transmited the first close-up photographs of the Moons surface
- 1965 - The advertising of cigarettes on British television was banned
- 1969 - The halfpenny ceased to be legal tender in Britain
- 1973 - "The Ulster Assembly, Northern Ireland, sat for the first time"