Historical events on July 31
JULY 31, 1941
The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring authorised SS General Reinhard Heydrich to handle preparations for "the Final Solution of the Jewish question".
The Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah (שואה), was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945,
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JULY 31, 2007
The Troubles: Operation Banner, the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland, ended after 38 years with a military stalemate and ceasefire.
The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also
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JULY 31, 1971
Apollo program: The Lunar Roving Vehicle was first used during the Apollo 15 mission to the Moon.
The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which successfully landed the
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JULY 31, 1975
The Troubles: In a botched paramilitary attack, three members of the popular Miami Showband and two Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen were killed in County Down, Northern Ireland.
The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also
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JULY 31, 2012
The largest power outage in history occurred across 22 Indian states, affecting more than 620 million people, or about 9 percent of the world's population.
Two severe power outages affected most of northern and eastern India on 30 and 31 July 2012. The 30 July 2012 blackout
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JULY 31, 1009
Sergius IV became the 142nd pope, succeeding John XVIII.
Pope Sergius IV was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from 31 July 1009 to his death.
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JULY 31, 1954
A team of Italian climbers became the first to reach the summit of K2, the world's second-highest mountain.
On the 1954 Italian expedition to K2, Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli became the first people to reach the summit of K2,
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JULY 31, 1972
The Troubles: Hours after the British Army's Operation Motorman brought an end to the self-declared autonomous area of Free Derry (Free Derry Corner pictured) in Northern Ireland, three car bombs exploded in the village of Claudy.
The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also
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JULY 31, 2000
Three years after being hit by a mudslide, the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Hong Kong fully reopened.
A mudflow, also known as mudslide or mud flow, is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris and dirt
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JULY 31, 2014
Gas explosions in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, killed 32 people and injured 321 others.
On 31 July 2014, a series of gas explosions occurred in the Cianjhen and Lingya districts of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, following reports of
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JULY 31, 1667
The Second Anglo-Dutch War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Breda.
The Second Anglo-Dutch War, began on 4 March 1665, and concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Breda on 31 July
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JULY 31, 1917
First World War: The Battle of Passchendaele began near Ypres, Belgium, with the Allies aiming to force German troops to withdraw from the Channel Ports.
World War I or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the
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JULY 31, 1777
The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution commissioning the Marquis de Lafayette as a major general in the American revolutionary forces.
The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution
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JULY 31, 1964
The space probe Ranger 7 captured thousands of close-up photographs of the Moon (example pictured) over its final minutes of flight and transmitted them to Earth before crashing on the lunar surface.
Uncrewed spacecraft or robotic spacecraft are spacecraft without people on board. Uncrewed spacecraft may have varying levels of autonomy from human input,
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JULY 31, 1924
A private senator's bill by Herbert Payne to introduce compulsory voting in Australia became law.
A private member's bill is a bill introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the
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JULY 31, 1991
Soviet Special Purpose Police Unit troops killed seven Lithuanian customs officials in Medininkai in the most serious attack of their campaign against Lithuanian border posts.
OMON is a system of military special police units within the Armed Forces of Russia. It previously operated within the structures of
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JULY 31, 2006
Following intestinal surgery, Fidel Castro provisionally transferred the duties of the Cuban presidency to his brother Raúl.
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as
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JULY 31, 1874
Patrick Francis Healy was inaugurated as president of Georgetown University, becoming the first African-American president of a predominantly white university in the United States.
Patrick Francis Healy was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who was an influential president of Georgetown University, becoming known as its
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