On this day: 31 July

Selected events and births on 31 July, from Wikipedia’s “On this day”.

Events

• 1009 – Sergius IV became the 142nd pope, succeeding John XVIII. Read more: Pope Sergius IV List of popes Pope John XVIII
• 1874 – Patrick Francis Healy was inaugurated as president of Georgetown University, becoming the first African-American president of a predominantly white university in the United States. Read more: Patrick Francis Healy Georgetown University African Americans
• 1954 – A team of Italian climbers became the first to reach the summit of K2, the world's second-highest mountain. Read more: 1954 Italian expedition to K2 K2 List of highest mountains on Earth
• 2000 – Three years after being hit by a mudslide, the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Hong Kong fully reopened. Read more: Mudflow Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery
• 2006 – Following intestinal surgery, Fidel Castro provisionally transferred the duties of the Cuban presidency to his brother Raúl. Read more: Fidel Castro 2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties President of Cuba
• 2012 – The largest power outage in history occurred across 22 Indian states, affecting more than 620 million people, or about 9 percent of the world's population. Read more: 2012 India blackouts States and union territories of India

Born on this day

• 1943 – William Bennett, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Education Read more: William Bennett United States Secretary of Education
• 1944 – Robert C. Merton, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Read more: Robert C. Merton Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
• 1945 – William Weld, American lawyer and politician, 68th Governor of Massachusetts Read more: Bill Weld Governor of Massachusetts
• 1947 – Hubert Védrine, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs Read more: Hubert Védrine Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (France)
• 1952 – Alan Autry, American football player, actor, and politician, 23rd Mayor of Fresno, California Read more: Alan Autry Fresno, California
• 1953 – Ted Baillieu, Australian architect and politician, 46th Premier of Victoria Read more: Ted Baillieu Premier of Victoria
• 1956 – Deval Patrick, American lawyer and politician, 71st Governor of Massachusetts Read more: Deval Patrick Governor of Massachusetts
• 1962 – John Chiang, American lawyer and politician, 31st California State Controller Read more: John Chiang (California politician) California State Controller
• 1998 – Rico Rodriguez, American actor Read more: Rico Rodriguez (actor)
• 2002 – João Gomes, Brazilian singer Read more: João Gomes (singer)
• 2002 – Will Penisini, Australian-Tongan rugby league player Read more: Will Penisini
• 2003 – Calvin Ramsay, Scottish footballer Read more: Calvin Ramsay

Text from Wikipedia: Selected anniversaries / July 31 and the linked articles, via the Wikimedia “On this day” feed, under CC BY-SA 4.0. We leave out entries about wars, violence and disasters to keep this page family-friendly.