On this day in history

March 31

25 births · 23 deaths · 5 events

Prev Aries Next

Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

Croatian War of Independence

35 years ago

Born this day

1596

René Descartes

Died aged 53

Photo (modified): After Frans Hals · Public domain

Oldest record

686th

Ivan I of Moscow

death anniversary

View profile

Famous births25

1499 · 527 yrs

Pius IV

Pope Pius IV (Italian: Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death, in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered itself a branch of the House of Medici and used the same coat of arms.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 66

View profile Photo (modified): Circle of Scipione Pulzone · Public domain

1519 · 507 yrs

Henry II of France

Henry II (French: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis in 1536.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 40

View profile Photo (modified): Workshop of François Clouet · Public domain

1596 · 430 yrs

René Descartes

René Descartes ( day-KART, also DAY-kart; French:; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist whose work was foundational to mathematics and modern philosophy.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 53

View profile Photo (modified): After Frans Hals · Public domain

1723 · 303 yrs

Frederick V of Denmark

Frederick V (Danish and Norwegian: Frederik V; 31 March 1723 – 14 January 1766) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig-Holstein from 6 August 1746 until his death in 1766. A member of the House of Oldenburg, he was the son of Christian VI of Denmark and Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 42

View profile Photo (modified): Carl Gustaf Pilo · Public domain

1732 · 294 yrs

Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn ( HY-dən; German:; 31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was pivotal in the evolution of chamber music forms such as the string quartet and piano trio.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 77

View profile Photo (modified): Thomas Hardy · Public domain

1823 · 203 yrs

Alexander Ostrovsky

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Остро́вский; 12 April 1823 – 14 June 1886) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 63

View profile Photo (modified): Vasily Perov · Public domain

1839 · 187 yrs

Nikolay Przhevalsky

Nikolay Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky (or Przewalski or Prjevalsky; 12 April 1839 – 1 November 1888) was a Russian geographer and a renowned explorer of Central and East Asia.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 49

View profile Photo (modified): В.Класен · Public domain

1868 · 158 yrs

Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet (original version of "The Ragtime Dance", 1899/1902), and two operas.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 49

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1890 · 136 yrs

William Lawrence Bragg

Sir William Lawrence Bragg (31 March 1890 – 1 July 1971) was an Australian-born British X-ray crystallographer who uniquely shared a Nobel Prize with his father William Henry Bragg – the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays", an important step in the…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 136

View profile Photo (modified): Nobel foundation · Public domain

1906 · 120 yrs

Shinichiro Tomonaga

Shinichiro Tomonaga (朝永振一郎, Tomonaga Shin'ichirō; March 31, 1906 – July 8, 1979), usually cited as Sin-Itiro Tomonaga in English, was a Japanese physicist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 120

View profile Photo (modified): Nobel foundation · Public domain

1914 · 112 yrs

Octavio Paz

Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican philosopher, poet, and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 112

View profile Photo (modified): No machine-readable author provided. Pintorpereza~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). · Public domain

1926 · 100 yrs

John Fowles

John Robert Fowles (31 March 1926 – 5 November 2005) was an English novelist, critically positioned between modernism and postmodernism. His work was influenced by Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, among others.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 100

View profile

Showing 12 of 25

Famous deaths23

1340 · 686 yrs

Ivan I of Moscow

Ivan I Danilovich Kalita (Russian: Иван I Данилович Калита, lit. 'money bag'; c. 1288 – 31 March 1340) was Prince of Moscow from 1325 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1331 until his death in 1340. Ivan inherited the Moscow principality following the death of his elder brother Yury.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 51

View profile Photo (modified): Collective · Public domain

1547 · 479 yrs

Francis I of France

Francis I (French: François Ier; Middle French: Françoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 52

View profile Photo (modified): Jean Clouet · Public domain

1621 · 405 yrs

Philip III of Spain

Philip III (Spanish: Felipe III, Portuguese: Filipe II; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain and Portugal (as Philip II) during the period known as the Iberian Union, reigning from 1598 until his death in 1621. He was also King of Naples and Sicily, Duke of Milan, and Lord of the Seventeen Provinces.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 42

View profile Photo (modified): Pedro Antonio Vidal · Public domain

1631 · 395 yrs

John Donne

John Donne ( DUN; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London (1621–1631).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 59

View profile Photo (modified): After Isaac Oliver · Public domain

1837 · 189 yrs

John Constable

John Constable (11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 60

View profile Photo (modified): Stephencdickson · CC BY-SA 4.0

1850 · 176 yrs

John C. Calhoun

John Caldwell Calhoun (March 18, 1782 – March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist who served as the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer and proponent of a strong federal government and protective tariffs.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 68

View profile Photo (modified): Rembrandt Peale · Public domain

1855 · 171 yrs

Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte Nicholls (21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855), commonly known by her maiden name Charlotte Brontë (commonly ), was an English novelist and poet, and was the elder sister of Emily, Anne and Branwell Brontë. She is best known for her novel Jane Eyre, which was first published under the pseudonym Currer Bell.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 38

View profile Photo (modified): George Richmond · Public domain

1869 · 157 yrs

Allan Kardec

Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail (French:; 3 October 1804 – 31 March 1869), known by the pen name of Allan Kardec, was a French educator, translator, and writer. He is the author of the five books known as the Spiritist Codification, and the founder of Spiritism.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 64

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1913 · 113 yrs

J. P. Morgan

John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

BusinessDied aged 75

View profile Photo (modified): Pach Brothers · Public domain

1917 · 109 yrs

Emil von Behring

Emil von Behring (German:; Emil Adolf von Behring: born Emil Adolf Behring; 15 March 1854 – 31 March 1917), was a German physiologist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 63

View profile Photo (modified): L. Lamarra, Neapel · Public domain

1918 · 108 yrs

Lavr Kornilov

Lavr Georgiyevich Kornilov (Russian: Лавр Георгиевич Корнилов, IPA:; 30 August 1870 – 13 April 1918) was a Russian military intelligence officer, explorer, and general in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 47

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1945 · 81 yrs

Hans Fischer

Hans Fischer (German pronunciation:; 27 July 1881 – 31 March 1945) was a German organic chemist and the recipient of the 1930 Nobel Prize for Chemistry "for his researches into the constitution of haemin and chlorophyll and especially for his synthesis of haemin."

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 145

View profile Photo (modified): Nobel Foundation · Public domain

Showing 12 of 23

Events5

1864 · 162 yrs

Convention of Kanagawa

The Convention of Kanagawa, also known as the Kanagawa Treaty (神奈川条約, Kanagawa Jōyaku) or the Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity (日米和親条約, Nichibei Washin Jōyaku), was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate on March 31, 1854.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

1905 · 121 yrs

First Moroccan Crisis

The First Moroccan Crisis or the Tangier Crisis was an international crisis between March 31, 1905, and April 7, 1906, over the status of Morocco. Germany wanted to challenge France's growing control over Morocco, aggravating France and Great Britain.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

1981 · 45 yrs

53rd Academy Awards

The 53rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1980 and took place on March 31, 1981, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, beginning at 7:00 p.m. PST / 10:00 p.m.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

1991 · 35 yrs

Croatian War of Independence

The Croatian War of Independence was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and local Serb forces, with…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

2019 · 7 yrs

2019 Ukrainian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 March 2019. As none of the 39 candidates on the ballot received an absolute majority of the initial vote, a runoff was held on 21 April between the top two vote-getters: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a television personality, and Petro Poroshenko, the incumbent president.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

Nearby dates

Born on March 31? Find your birthday matches →

Share March 31

Living room with framed Who Shares My Birthday poster

Close-up

FrameShown to scale · framed 34 × 46 cmThis is the frame we'll deliver, with a white mount

Printable keepsake

Your birthday matches poster

A personalised A3 framed print of everyone famous born on March 31, what happened on your birthday in history and your zodiac sign. We print and frame it for you and deliver it to your door (UK only).

Name on poster

Your photo

Kept private and only used to make your poster.