What are the important events that happened on August 31? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
August 31: Facts & Myths About This Day
August 31 is the 243rd day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 122 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is August 18, 2025 – a Sunday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,756,598,400 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectatetracontatrigon’ day.
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Virgo is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Peridot is the modern birthstone for this month. Diamond is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 170 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,636 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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August 31 Historical Events
- 1218 –Al-Kamil becomes Sultan of Egypt, Syria and northern Mesopotamia on the death of his father Al-Adil.
- 1803 –Lewis and Clark start their expedition to the west by leaving Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 11 in the morning.
- 1876 –Ottoman Sultan Murat V is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid II.
- 1907 –Count Alexander Izvolsky and Sir Arthur Nicolson sign the St. Petersburg Convention, which results in the Triple Entente alliance.
- 1965 –The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy aircraft makes its first flight.
- 1986 –Aeroméxico Flight 498 collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground.
- 1987 –Thai Airways Flight 365 crashes into the ocean near Ko Phuket, Thailand, killing all 83 aboard.
- 1991 –Kyrgyzstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
- 1997 –Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul die in a car crash in Paris.
- 2010 –The last episode of The Bill, the longest-running police procedural television series in the United Kingdom, is aired on ITV1.
Who were born on August 31?
- 1721 –George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol, British statesman (d. 1775)
- 1907 –Augustus F. Hawkins, American politician (d. 2007)
- 1940 –Wilton Felder, American musician
- 1948 –Ken McMullen, English film director
- 1952 –Herbert Reul, German politician
- 1955 –Gary Webb, American journalist (d. 2004)
- 1958 –Serge Blanco, French rugby union footballer
- 1967 –Anita Moen, Norwegian cross-country skier
- 1967 –Nigel Avery, New Zealand weightlifter
- 1984 –Charl Schwartzel, South African golfer
Who died on August 31?
- 683 –Pacal II, ruler of the Maya polity of Palenque (b. 603)
- 1730 –Gottfried Finger, Czech composer
- 1772 –William Borlase, English naturalist (b. 1695)
- 1969 –Rocky Marciano, American boxer (b. 1923)
- 1973 –John Ford, American film director (b. 1894)
- 1978 –John Wrathall, Rhodesian politician (b. 1913)
- 1984 –Audrey Wagner, American baseball player [AAGPBL] (b. 1927)
- 1995 –Barry Lee Fairchild, American convicted murderer (b. 1954)
- 2005 –Michael Sheard, British actor (b. 1940)
- 2006 –Mohamed Abdelwahab, Egyptian footballer (b. 1983)
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