March 31 in History

Historical Events on March 31

1774 American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act.

1909 Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

1913 The Vienna Concert Society rioted during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Anton von Webern, causing a premature end to the concert due to violence; this concert became known as the Skandalkonzert.

1917 The United States takes possession of the Danish West Indies after paying $25 million to Denmark, and renames the territory the United States Virgin Islands.

1942 World War II: Japanese forces invade Christmas Island, then a British possession.

1945 World War II: A defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, to the Americans, the first to fall into Allied hands.

1959 The 14th Dalai Lama, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.

1966 The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.

2004 Iraq War in Anbar Province: In Fallujah, Iraq, four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed after being ambushed.

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Famous Birthdays on March 31

1685 Johann Sebastian Bach

1927 Cesar Chavez

1940 Patrick Leahy

1948 Al Gore

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Famous Deaths on March 31

1850 John C. Calhoun

1995 Selena

2008 Jules Dassin

2016 Zaha Hadid

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