31 May on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born

Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome.

Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu.

Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River: Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus' and Cumans.

Mongols depart Java after the failed Mongol invasion against King Kertanegara of Singhasari.

Cardinal Bessarion announced his donation of 746 Greek and Latin codices to the Republic of Venice, forming the Biblioteca Marciana.

King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), the oldest bridge of Paris, France.

The pageant London's Love to Prince Henry on the River Thames celebrates the creation of Prince Henry as Prince of Wales.

Citing poor eyesight as a reason, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary.

American Revolution: The Mecklenburg Resolves are adopted in the Province of North Carolina.

Manuel Quimper explores the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The United States enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.

French Revolution: The Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed.

French and Spanish forces begin the assault against British forces occupying Diamond Rock, Martinique.

In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth reach Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains.

Qajar Iran and the Ottoman Empire determine their international boundary in the second treaty of Erzurum.

The Great Clock at the Houses of Parliament (now known as the Elizabeth Tower) starts keeping time.

American Civil War: Peninsula Campaign: Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston and G.W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.

American Civil War: Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor: The Army of Northern Virginia engages the Army of the Potomac.

Gilmore's Garden in New York City is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.

The arrival at Plymouth of Tāwhiao, King of Maoris, to claim the protection of Queen Victoria.

Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people die after a dam fails and sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.

The attempted regicide of Spanish King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie on their wedding day instead kills 24.

The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), convenes for the first time.

The South Africa Act comes into force, establishing the Union of South Africa.

The President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz flees the country during the Mexican Revolution.

The RMS Titanic is launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

World War I: Battle of Jutland: The British Grand Fleet engages the High Seas Fleet in the largest naval battle of the war, which proves indecisive.

The Tulsa race massacre kills at least 39, but other estimates of black fatalities vary from 55 to about 300.

Hope Development School fire kills 24 people, mostly disabled children.

A 7.7 Mw earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan killing 40,000.

Anglo-Iraqi War: The United Kingdom completes the re-occupation of Iraq and returns 'Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.

World War II: German forces dropped four bombs on neutral Ireland, killing 28 people and damaging Áras an Uachtaráin, the residence of the President of Ireland.

World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.

Ferenc Nagy, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Hungary, resigns from office after blackmail from the Hungarian Communist Party accusing him of being part of a plot against the state. This grants the Communists effective control of the Hungarian government.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice takes effect as the legal system of the United States Armed Forces.

The U.S. Supreme Court expands on its Brown v. Board of Education decision by ordering district courts and school districts to enforce educational desegregation "at all deliberate speed."

In Moscow City Court, the Rokotov–Faibishenko show trial begins, despite the Khrushchev Thaw to reverse Stalinist elements in Soviet society.

The South African Constitution of 1961 becomes effective, thus creating the Republic of South Africa, which remains outside the Commonwealth of Nations until 1 June 1994, when South Africa is returned to Commonwealth membership.

The West Indies Federation dissolves.

The 7.9 Mw Ancash earthquake shakes Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) and a landslide buries the town of Yungay, Peru. Between 66,794 and 70,000 were killed and 50,000 were injured.

In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.

Indian Airlines Flight 440 crashes near Palam Airport in Delhi, killing 48.

The United States Senate votes to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of the Cambodian Civil War.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.

An organized mob of police and government-sponsored Sinhalese paramilitary forces began three days of attacks that led to the burning of the Jaffna Public Library in Sri Lanka, destroying more than 97,000 items in one of the most violent 20th-century examples of ethnic biblioclasm.

United States–Canada tornado outbreak: Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.

The Ariane 2 rocket is launched on its maiden flight, carrying Intelsat VA F-14, but the mission ends in failure.

Bicesse Accords in Angola lay out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations' UNAVEM II peacekeeping mission.

The Confederation Bridge opens, linking Prince Edward Island with mainland New Brunswick.

Air France retires its fleet of Concorde aircraft.

Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was "Deep Throat".

Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-124 carrying the second portion of the Japanese Kibō module to the International Space Station.

Usain Bolt breaks the world record in the 100m sprint, with a wind-legal (+1.7 m/s) 9.72 seconds.

American physician George Tiller, one of the few doctors in the country who performed late-term abortions, was shot and killed by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion activist.

Israeli Shayetet 13 commandos board the Gaza Freedom Flotilla while still in international waters trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip; nine Turkish citizens on the flotilla were killed in the ensuing violent affray.

A record breaking 2.6 mile wide tornado strikes near El Reno, Oklahoma, United States, causing eight fatalities (including three storm chasers) and over 150 injuries.

The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon make their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.

Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launch the Manbij offensive, in order to capture the city of Manbij from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

A car bomb explodes in a crowded intersection in Kabul near the German embassy during rush hour, killing over 90 and injuring 463.

A shooting occurs inside a municipal building at Virginia Beach, Virginia, leaving 13 people dead, including the shooter, and four others injured.

An explosion at a Ta'ang National Liberation Army base kills 46 people.

Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist (died 1892)

Clint Eastwood, American actor, director, musician, and producer

Pope Pius XI (died 1939)

Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate

Viktor Orbán, Hungarian politician, 38th Prime Minister of Hungary

Saint-John Perse, French poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1975)

Marco Reus, German footballer

Colin Farrell, Irish actor

Brooke Shields, American model, actress, and producer

Laurent Gbagbo, Ivorian academic and politician, 4th President of Côte d'Ivoire

Maurice Allais, French economist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2010)

Dina Boluarte, Peruvian politician, 64th President of Peru

John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2019)

Manuel I of Portugal (died 1521)

Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American experimental physicist (died 1997)

Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (died 2005)

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1982)

Iga Świątek, Polish tennis player

Ludwig Tieck, German poet, author, and critic (died 1853)

John Bonham, English musician, songwriter and drummer (died 1980)

Don Ameche, American actor (died 1993)

William Nordhaus, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian poet and author (died 1968)

Nur Jahan, Empress consort of the Mughal Empire (died 1645)

Tom Berenger, American actor, film producer and television writer

Alida Valli, Austrian-Italian actress and singer (died 2006)

Lauri Kristian Relander, Finnish politician, 2nd President of Finland (died 1942)

Louis Ignarro, American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, King of Poland (died 1673)

Lea Thompson, American actress, director, and producer

Gregor Strasser, German lieutenant and politician (died 1934)

Azealia Banks, American singer-songwriter and rapper

Julius Richard Petri, German microbiologist, invented the Petri dish (died 1921)

Daniele Bonera, Italian footballer

Norman Vincent Peale, American minister and author (died 1993)

Denholm Elliott, English-Spanish actor (died 1992)

Andrea de Cesaris, Italian race car driver (died 2014)

Alessandro Allori, Italian painter (died 1607)

Henry Sidgwick, English economist and philosopher (died 1900)

Fred Allen, American comedian, radio host, game show panelist, and author (died 1956)

Archie Panjabi, British actress

Normani Kordei Hamilton, American singer

Francis Younghusband, Indian-English captain and explorer (died 1942)

Susie Essman, American actress, comedian, and screenwriter

Nate Robinson, American basketball player

Milorad Čavić, Serbian swimmer

John Prescott, British sailor and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 2024)

Edgar Savisaar, Estonian politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior (died 2022)

Menahem Golan, Israeli director and producer (died 2014)

Chris Elliott, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter

Ahilyabai Holkar, Queen of the Malwa Kingdom under the Maratha Empire (died 1795)

Sharon Gless, American actress

Tommy Emmanuel, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Mikael Antonsson, Swedish footballer

Ellsworth Kelly, American painter and sculptor (died 2015)

Jim Bolger, New Zealand businessman and politician, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 2025)

Martin Schwarzschild, German-American astrophysicist (died 1997)

Jean-François Gillet, Belgian footballer

Marlies Schild, Austrian skier

John George II, Elector of Saxony (died 1680)