Historical Events on August 31.

●  1897 – Thomas Edison patented the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.

● 1920 – Khilafat movement started in India. It  was a pan-Islamist political protest campaign launched by Muslims of British India.

● 1936 – Radio Prague, the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic, went on the air.

● 1947 – Indian Standard Time (IST) was decided. Indian Standard Time is calculated based on 82.5°E longitude in the city of Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. Which is situated approximately on the corresponding longitude reference line.

● 1956 – The then President of India Rajendra Prasad approved the State Reorganization Bill.

● 1957 – The Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) gained its independence from the United Kingdom.

● 1962 – Trinidad and Tobago became independent.

● 1968 – Successfully launched two-stage rounding rocket Rohini-MSV-1 in India.

● 1970 – Memorial of Swami Vivekananda was inaugurated by contemporaneous President of India V.V. Giri at Kanyakumari.

● 1971 – David Scott became the seventh person to walk on the Moon.

● 1983 – India’s satellite INSAT-1B is launched from the US space shuttle Challenger.

● 1996 – Pandurang Shastri Athavale was honored with Raman Magsaysay Award.

● 2008 – Government of India settled Amarnath land dispute.


Famous Birthdays & Birth Anniversaries on August 31.

●  1569 – Jahangir, 4th Mughal Emperor.

● 1870 – Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, and educator.

● 1888 – Kanailal Dutta, Indian revolutionary freedom fighter.

● 1907 – Ramon Magsaysay, Pilipino captain, engineer, and politician. 7th president of Philipines.

● 1919 – Amrita Pritam, Indian author, poet, and essay writer.  

● 1940 – Shivaji Samant, Indian author. Famous for his novel “Mrutyunjay” based on Mahabharata.

● 1942 – Bubu Imam, Indian environmental activist.

● 1969 – Javagal Shrinath, Indian Cricketer.

● 1987 – Kavin Bharati Mittal, Indian entrepreneur. Founder and CEO of Hike Messenger, the world’s sixth-largest mobile messaging application.


Death Anniversaries of famous people on August 31.

●  1422 – Henry V of England.

● 1995 – Sardar Biyant Singh, Former Chief Minister of Punjab, India.

● 1997 – Princess Dianna, Princess of Wales.

● 2002 – Martin D Kamen, Canadian physicist. He discovered the Carbon-14 element, which allows biologists to look inside the chemistry of living cells.

● 2012 – Kashiram Rana, Indian lawyer and politician.

● 2014 – Bapu, Indian film director, and screenwriter.

● 2014 –  Jimi Jamison, a Pop singer from Mississippi.

● 2020 – Pranab Mukharjee, Indian politician, 13th President of India.