July 31

30 BC – Near Alexandria, Egypt, Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian’s forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts anyway when more troops under Octavian land in Alexandria.

1492 – The Decreto de la Alhambra, Edicto de Granada – the Alhambra Decree – takes effect, expelling from Spain those Jews who had not converted to Christianity.

1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.

1763 – The forces of Odawa Chief Pontiac defeats British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac’s War.

1777 – The Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette “be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of Major-General of the United States.” 

1790 – The first U.S. patent is issued to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.

1932 – The Nazi Party wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.

1938 – Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.

1941 – Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to “submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question.”

1948 –  New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated at Idlewild Field in New York,

1964 – The Ranger 7 probe sends back the first close up photographs of the moon before it finally crashes into the surface, as planned.

1970 – The last officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy is issued.

1971 – Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin take the first ride in a lunar rover.

1973 – Delta Air Lines flight DL 723,  a Douglas DC-9, crashes while landing in fog at Logan International Airport, Boston,killing 87 passengers and crew of the 89 on board, with the last 2 passengers dying a short while later.

1991 – The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

1997 – FedEx Express Cargo Flight 14, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11F,  crashes on landing at Newark International Airport, however only injuring the 5 passengers and crew aboard.

2008 – East Coast Jets Flight 81, a Hawker 800, crashes near Owatonna Degner Regional Airport in Owatonna, Minnesota, killing all 8 passengers and crew on board.

2012 – Competing since 2004, U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics. He will continue on to 2016, surpassing his previous record by upping his total to 28 with 23 being gold medals.