January 31 in History

Appointed Chancellor

Henry VIIIs 9th Parliament closes, final Parliament of reign

Appointed Lord Protector of the Realm

Created Marquis of Northampton

Created Baron Seymour of Sudeley, part of an unfulfilled gifts clause left unmentioned in Henrys will

Created Earl Southampton

Supports Mary and helps organise defence of London.

Charles Borromeo becomes a cardinal under Pope Pius IV

Pius IV promotes his nephew Charles Borromeo to the cardinalate

Moves the sick Darnley from Glasgow to Kirk o Field

Fawkes, Wintour, Ambrose, Rookwood & Keyes are hanged, drawn & quartered

Fawkes manages to die while being hanged before he is drawn & quartered

Fawkes, Wintour, Ambrose, Rookwood & Keyes are hanged, drawn & quartered

Fawkes, Wintour, Ambrose, Rookwood & Keyes are hanged, drawn & quartered

Fawkes, Wintour, Ambrose, Rookwood & Keyes are hanged, drawn & quartered

Fawkes, Wintour, Ambrose, Rookwood & Keyes are hanged, drawn & quartered

Fawkes, Wintour, Ambrose, Rookwood & Keyes are hanged, drawn & quartered

Fawkes, Wintour, Ambrose, Rookwood & Keyes are hanged, drawn & quartered

Fawkes, Wintour, Ambrose, Rookwood & Keyes are hanged, drawn & quartered

The Government goes bankrupt & pays off its creditors in Government bonds, "juros"

The Government goes bankrupt & pays off its creditors in Government bonds, "juros"

A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade, an essay summarizing the evidence, is published by Wilberforce and forms the basis for the final phase of the campaign

A Supreme Council of Regency is established, ruling in the name of Ferdinand VII

A Supreme Council of Regency is established, ruling in the name of Ferdinand VII

SS Great Eastern is finally floated after repeated and costly launching attempts.

Declares a truce with the Government in the hope of reaching a compromise

The 1st of 80 Labour Exchanges are opened

Cassel warns Churchill & Lloyd George about German naval expansion

Cassel warns Churchill & Lloyd George about German naval expansion

The Jens Bratlie Government ends in Oslo, concluding this term as Prime Minister of Norway.

Begins the Second Gunnar Knudsen Government in Oslo and serves as Prime Minister of Norway.

British troops repulse German counter-attacks on the Ancre front.

Declaration of the USSR

Appointed Field Marshal

Appointed Field Marshal

Beatty takes a large force from the Forth for an intensive night exercise involving ships and submarines.

Martial Law is declared in Berlin

Martial Law is declared in Hamburg

Is appointed Foreign Minister in Joseph Wirth's government.

Elected President after the republic is proclaimed

Allied occupation of the Cologne zone ends as political conditions improve after the Locarno settlement.

Allied military control comes to an end

Has Trotsky exiled to Turkey. Exiles Trotsky & Zinoviev, marks the end of legal opposition in the party. Exiles Trotsky & Zinoviev marking the end of legal opposition in the party

Trotsky is expelled from Russia

Dissolves the Reichstag & calls an election

Dissolves the Reichstag & calls an election

Asked by Hindenburg to head a Harzburg coalition of the NSDAP & Hugenberg Nationalists

Appoints Hitler as Chancellor

The Japanese complete the capture of Malaya

The German Sixth Army at Stalingrad ceases resistance, marking a major Soviet victory.

The German Sixth Army is eliminated as an effective field formation at Stalingrad.

Paulus surrenders the 6th Army at the Battle of Stalingrad

The German 6th Army surrenders

Paulus surrenders the 6th Army at the Battle of Stalingrad

Paulus surrenders the German 6th Army

Zhou Enlai supports the conference agreements on government reorganisation and constitutional principles

Chiang accepts conference resolutions but later disputes over implementation undermine the settlement

Appointed President of Brazil

Gandhi is buried

Communist forces enter Beiping after the Nationalist garrison accepts a negotiated surrender.

Directs the United States Atomic Energy Commission to continue work on developing a thermonuclear hydrogen bomb.

Appointed President of Brazil, 2nd term

Appointed President of Brazil

The United States launches Explorer I, its first successful artificial satellite.

Appointed Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on price stability for economic growth

Gray receives a detailed briefing on the planned exile strike force and its operational concept.

Appointed President of Brazil

The United States Senate confirmed McCone as Director of Central Intelligence after debate over his appointment and the CIA oversight relationship.

Works on political military aspects of the Tet Offensive

Takes part in the South Vietnamese leadership response to Tet

Commands US II Field Force elements defending the Saigon region during Tet

Directs communist forces in the southern theater during Tet

Commands US forces as communist attacks hit cities across South Vietnam

Launches the Tet Offensive. Launches the offensive during the Tet truce while the south celebrates New Year. 70,000 troops attack 100 cities

4,000 troops reach Saigon but the offensive is routed a month later

Communist forces attack cities and provincial capitals during Tet

Associated with overall North Vietnamese military leadership during Tet

An offensive launched by the North Vietnamese to overthrow the South Vietnamese Government

Commands US forces during the Tet Offensive

Helps coordinate the high command context for the Tet Offensive

Handles British diplomacy after the Tet Offensive reshapes public debate

Responds to the Tet Offensive while sustaining Soviet support for Hanoi

Responds to the Tet Offensive and mounting questions about US strategy

Backs the Tet Offensive as a decisive political and military blow

Backs the general offensive and uprising strategy for Tet

Leads the South Vietnamese government during the Tet Offensive

Pilots Kitty Hawk during repeated attempts to dock with lunar module Antares after launch.

Pilots Kitty Hawk during the sixth docking attempt, achieving a successful hard dock with lunar module Antares.

Commands Apollo 14 on a return to lunar landing operations.

Gives a Commons statement defending the army account.

CIA records include a January 31, 1974, memorandum concerning a telephone call from Frank Sturgis during the period of renewed assassination speculation.

Following the enactment of the Socialist Constitution, adopted without following the procedures laid out in the Constitution of 1940, the Republic of Cuba is defined as a socialist state

Following the enactment of the Socialist Constitution, adopted without following the procedures laid out in the Constitution of 1940, the Republic of Cuba is defined as a socialist state

Refers to herself as the "Iron Lady" after an article in the Soviet Red Star

Offers Nelson Mandela release if he renounces political violence.

Sends a letter to the US saying Star Wars will escalate the arms race

Mandela rejects the condition in a statement read publicly.

Scores a hat-trick as Barcelona defeat Real Madrid 3-2 at Camp Nou.

The NUS calls a national strike in support of the 161 crew sacked by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company for refusing to accept new terms & conditions

The NUS calls a national strike in support of the 161 crew sacked by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company for refusing to accept new terms & conditions

Jury selection begins in the trial of former National Security Council aide Oliver North, charged in connection with the Iran-Contra affair

Jury selection begins in the trial of former National Security Council aide Oliver North, charged in connection with the Iran-Contra affair

Coordinates Saudi and Qatari forces that retake Khafji.

Khalid coordinates Saudi and Qatari forces that recapture Khafji from Iraqi troops.

Oversees Saudi defense policy during the Battle of Khafji.

Returns as vocalist for Cross Purposes after the Dehumanizer line-up breaks apart.

France carries out a nuclear test equivalent to approximately 120,000 tonnes of conventional explosives, six times the force of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima

A Scottish court convicts Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits Lamin Khalifah Fhimah.

25 African heads of state and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in attendance, Nigeria

Sentenced to 12 yrs for the 1975 disappearance of left-wing activist Miguel Sandoval

Pleads his innocence before his trial for alleged child molestation

The IAEA reports that "Iran has continued to facilitate access under its Safeguards Agreement as requested by the Agency ... including by providing in a timely manner the requisite declarations and access to locations"

The IAEA reports that "Iran has continued to facilitate access under its Safeguards Agreement as requested by the Agency ... including by providing in a timely manner the requisite declarations and access to locations"

Footage of Castro meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is broadcast, where, according to international media reports, Castro "appeared frail but stronger than three months ago"

The United States announces that Abu Laith al-Libi, a senior commander of al-Qaeda who recruited and trained operatives, is killed in a missile strike in northwest Pakistan

Pervez Musharraf is president when the United States announces the death of senior al-Qaeda commander Abu Laith al-Libi in northwest Pakistan.

An Israeli-Government-appointed panel, the Winograd Commission, on Israels 2006 war against the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, calls the operation a "large and serious" failure and criticizes the countrys leadership

An Israeli-Government-appointed panel, the Winograd Commission, on Israels 2006 war against the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, calls the operation a "large and serious" failure and criticizes the countrys leadership

An Israeli-Government-appointed panel, the Winograd Commission, on Israels 2006 war against the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, calls the operation a "large and serious" failure and criticizes the countrys leadership

In the worst single loss to the American military in nine months, a suicide bomber kills four American soldiers and their Iraqi translator in the northern Iraq city of Mosul

Voter turnout varies widely by area, with some regions reporting less than 50% participation and others more than 75%. Iraq holds local elections to create provincial councils, the elections are notable for their lack of violence and the noticeably diminished role the US plays in their implementation

Iraq holds local elections to create provincial councils, the elections are notable for their lack of violence and the noticeably diminished role the US plays in their implementation

Iraq holds local elections to create provincial councils, the elections are notable for their lack of violence and the noticeably diminished role the US plays in their implementation

In the worst single loss to the American military in nine months, a suicide bomber kills four American soldiers and their Iraqi translator in the northern Iraq city of Mosul

Promulgates reform introducing automatic electoral registration and voluntary voting.

Starmer leads Labour's response during the Article 50 Bill second-reading debate.

Nominates Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

The United Kingdom leaves the European Union.

Italy suspends flights from China after confirmed COVID-19 cases in Rome.

Marks four years since the United Kingdom formally left the European Union.

Birth of James Stanley, styled the Great Earl of Derby, eldest son of William, 6th Earl of Derby

Birth of Frederick Louis, eldest son of George II

Birth of Franz Peter Schubert

Birth of Norman Kingsley Mailer

Birth of Eugene Ney TerreBlanche

Birth of Johnny Rotten, as John Joseph Lydon

Birth of a stillborn daughter

News of Henry VIII's death is publicly released after being kept secret for three days.

Implements the "unfulfilled gifts clause" rewarding Somesets supporters

Along with his fellow conspirators is hanged, drawn & quartered

Death of Theodor August Otto Wilhelm Habicht

Paulus, with 25 other generals, surrenders to the Russians

The Germans have lost 600,000 & the Russians 400,000. Paulus surrenders the 6th Army at the Battle of Stalingrad

The Germans under Paulus surrender Stalingrad to Rokossovsky

Paulus surrenders the German 6th Army. During the battle the Germans lose 600,000 & the Russians 400,000

The German 6th Army surrenders. Since Zhkovs counter-attack 32 Axis Divisions & 3 Axis Brigades have been destroyed

King Fahd commends Saudi, Qatari and coalition forces after Khafji is retaken.