Today In History

• 31st July
• 30 BC Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves minor victory over Octavian, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to Octavian's invasion of Egypt
• 432 St Sixtus III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
• 768 [Philip] begins and ends his reign as Catholic Pope
• 781 The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781)
• 1291 Egyptian Mamelukken occupies Akko, crusaders driven out of Palestine
• 1423 Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant - the French army is defeated by the English on the banks of the river Yonne in Burgundy
• 1556 Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order of Roman Catholic missionaries and educators, dies in Rome.
• 1589 of France was stabbed this day in 1589 by Jacques Clément, a Jacobin friar, and died the next day after acknowledging his Bourbon ally, Henry of Navarre (Henry IV), a Huguenot, as his successor.
• 1620 Pilgrim Fathers depart Leiden, Netherlands for England on their way to America
• 1912 US government prohibits movies and photos of prize fights (censorship)
• 1917 World War I: Battle of Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres) begins, goes on to cause approximately 500,000 casualties
• 1921  Whitney M. Young, Jr., who spearheaded the drive for equal opportunity for African Americans in industry and U.S. government service while he was head of the National Urban League (1961–71), was born in Lincoln Ridge, Kentucky.
• 1928 Halina Konopacka of Poland hurls discus world record 39.62m to win first gold medal in women's Olympic athletics at the Amsterdam Games; American Lillian Copeland and Ruth Sveberg of Sweden take minor medals
• 1959 Cliff Richard and the Shadows have their 1st British No. 1 single with "Living' Doll" (biggest British single of 1959)
• 1961 Israel welcomes its one millionth immigrant
• 1971 Lunar Roving Vehicle first used on the Moon
• 1975 James Riddle Hoffa, one of the most influential American labor leaders of the 20th century, is officially reported missing after he failed to return home the previous night.
• 1987American boxer Mike Tyson defeated Tony Tucker and was unanimously recognized as heavyweight champion by all three sanctioning organizations (World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association, and International Boxing Federation).
• 1994A UN Security Council resolution authorized the use of “all necessary means” to restore democracy to Haiti.
• 2007 Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end

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