Today In History [31st January, 2015]

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

January 31
1606           Guy Fawkes is hanged, drawn and quartered for his part in the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up Parliament.
1620           Virginia colony leaders write to the Virginia Company in England, asking for more orphaned apprentices for employment.
1788           The Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart dies.
1835           A man with two pistols misfires at President Andrew Jackson at the White House.
1865           House of Representatives approves a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery.
1911           The German Reichstag exempts royal families from tax obligations.
1915           Germans use poison gas on the Russians at Bolimov.
1915           German U-boats sink two British steamers in the English Channel.
1916           President Woodrow Wilson refuses the compromise on Lusitania reparations.
1917           Germany resumes unlimited sub warfare, warning that all neutral ships that are in the war zone will be attacked.
1935           The Soviet premier tells Japan to get out of Manchuria.
1943           The Battle of Stalingrad ends as small groups of German soldiers of the Sixth Army surrender to the victorious Red Army forces.
1944           U.S. troops under Vice Adm. Spruance land on Kwajalien atoll in the Marshall Islands.
1950           Paris protests the Soviet recognition of Ho Chi Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
1966           U.S. planes resume bombing of North Vietnam after a 37-day pause.
1968           In Vietnam, the Tet Offensive begins as Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers attack strategic and civilian locations throughout South Vietnam.
1976           Ernesto Miranda, famous from the Supreme Court ruling on Miranda vs. Arizona is stabbed to death.
1981           Lech Walesa announces an accord in Poland, giving Saturdays off to laborers.

Born on January 31
1734           Robert Morris, signatory of the Declaration of Independence.
1797           Franz Schubert, Austrian composer (C Major Symphony, The Unfinished Symphony).
1919           Jackie Robinson, first African-American baseball player in the modern major leagues.
1925           Benjamin Hooks, civil rights leader.