✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 243rd day of the year

August 31

A look at August 31 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Commodus and James Coburn, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♍ZodiacVirgo ◈BirthstonePeridot ❀Birth flowerGladiolus
Advertisement 728 × 90 leaderboard

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2002

    Typhoon Rusa

    Typhoon Rusa, the most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in 43 years, made landfall, killing at least 236 people.

    Pacific typhoon in 2002
  2. 1997

    Diana, Princess of Wales

    Diana, Princess of Wales, her partner, Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul die in a car crash in Paris.

    Member of the British
  3. 1994

    Estonia

    Russia completes removing its troops from Estonia.

    Country in Northern Europe
  4. 1993

    Lithuania

    Russia completes removing its troops from Lithuania.

    Country in Northern Europe
  5. 1962

    Trinidad and Tobago

    Trinidad and Tobago becomes independent.

    Country in the Caribbean
  6. 1959

    Letter bomb

    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.

    Terrorism method
  7. 1941

    World War II

    World War II: Serbian paramilitary forces defeat Germans in the Battle of Loznica.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  8. 1918

    World War I

    World War I: Start of the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin, a successful assault by the Australian Corps during the Hundred Days Offensive.

    1914–1918 global conflict
  9. 1888

    Mary Ann Nichols

    Mary Ann Nichols, the first of Jack the Ripper's confirmed victims, is murdered.

    First canonical victim of
  10. 1218

    Al-Kamil

    Al-Kamil becomes sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty.

    Ayyubid sultan of Egypt
Advertisement Responsive in-content unit

Famous birthday twins

Born on August 31

Commodus

b. 161

Roman emperor

James Coburn

b. 1928

American actor

Emperor Zhangzong of Jin

b. 1168

Chinese emperor

AD 12

b. 12

Roman emperor

Ted Ligety

b. 1984

American skier

Rituparno Ghosh

b. 1963

Indian actor, director, and screenwriter

Sara Ramirez

b. 1975

Mexican-American actor and musician

Jeff Hardy

b. 1977

American wrestler and singer

Deaths

  • 2012Sergei Sokolov (marshal), Russian commander and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for The Soviet Union
  • 2010Laurent Fignon, French cyclist
  • 1997Diana, Princess of Wales, Member of the British royal family
  • 1973John Ford, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1867Charles Baudelaire, French poet and critic
  • 1056Theodora Porphyrogenita, Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire

Holidays & observances

  • —Baloch-Pakhtun Unity Day (Balochs and Pashtuns, International observance)
  • —Christian feast day: Aidan of Lindisfarne
  • —Christian feast day: Amatus of Nusco
  • —Christian feast day: Aristides of Athens
  • —Christian feast day: Cuthburh
  • —Christian feast day: Joseph of Arimathea
  • —Christian feast day: Nicodemus
  • —Christian feast day: Paulinus of Trier

Born on this day?

Make your birthday card.

Drop in your birth year and we'll work out your exact age, the day of the week you were born, your Chinese zodiac, your generation, and the countdown to your next candle.