Events on August 31 42
Year 1056
After a sudden illness a few days previously, Byzantine Empress Theodora dies childless, thus ending the Macedonian dynasty.
Year 1422
King Henry V of England dies of dysentery while in France. His son, Henry VI becomes King of England at the age of 9 months.
Year 1776
William Livingston, the first Governor of New Jersey, begins serving his first term.
Year 1795
War of the First Coalition: The British capture Trincomalee (present-day Sri Lanka) from the Dutch in order to keep it out of French hands.
Year 1798
Irish Rebellion of 1798: Irish rebels, with French assistance, establish the short-lived Republic of Connacht.
Year 1813
At the final stage of the Peninsular War, British-Portuguese troops capture the town of Donostia (now San Sebastián), resulting in a rampage and eventual destruction of the town. Elsewhere, Spanish troops repel a French attack in the Battle of San Marcial.
Year 1864
During the American Civil War, Union forces led by General William T. Sherman launch an assault on Atlanta.
Year 1886
The 7.0 Mw Charleston earthquake affects southeastern South Carolina with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme); 60 people killed with damage estimated at $5-6 million.
Year 1888
Mary Ann Nichols is murdered. She is the first of Jack the Ripper's confirmed victims.
Year 1907
Count Alexander Izvolsky and Sir Arthur Nicolson sign the St. Petersburg Convention, which results in the Triple Entente alliance.
Year 1918
World War I: Start of the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin, a successful assault by the Australian Corps during the Hundred Days Offensive.
Year 1935
In an attempt to stay out of the growing turmoil in Europe, the United States passes the first of its Neutrality Acts.
Year 1936
Radio Prague, now the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic, goes on the air.
Year 1939
Nazi Germany mounts a false flag attack on the Gleiwitz radio station, creating an excuse to attack Poland the following day, thus starting World War II in Europe.
Year 1940
Pennsylvania Central Airlines Trip 19 crashes near Lovettsville, Virginia. The CAB investigation of the accident is the first investigation to be conducted under the Bureau of Air Commerce act of 1938.
Year 1941
World War II: Serbian paramilitary forces defeat Germans in the Battle of Loznica.
Year 1943
USS Harmon, the first U.S. Navy ship to be named after a black person, is commissioned.
Year 1949
The retreat of the Democratic Army of Greece in Albania after its defeat on Gramos mountain marks the end of the Greek Civil War.
Year 1957
The Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
Year 1958
A parcel bomb sent by Ngô Đình Nhu, younger brother and chief adviser of South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm, fails to kill King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
Year 1986
Aeroméxico Flight 498 collides with a Piper PA-28 Cherokee over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground.
Year 1986
The Soviet passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov sinks in the Black Sea after colliding with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev, killing 423.
Year 1987
Thai Airways Flight 365 crashes into the ocean near Ko Phuket, Thailand, killing all 83 aboard.
Year 1996
Saddam Hussein's troops seized Irbil after the Kurdish Masoud Barzani appealed for help to defeat his Kurdish rival PUK.
Year 1997
Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul die in a car crash in Paris.
Year 1999
The first of a series of bombings in Moscow kills one person and wounds 40 others.
Year 1999
A LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashes during takeoff from Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires, killing 65, including two on the ground.
Year 2006
Edvard Munch's famous painting The Scream, stolen on August 22, 2004, is recovered in a raid by Norwegian police.