31 August History
- 1303 - The War of Vespers in Sicily ends with an agreement between Charles of Valois, who invaded the country, and Frederick, the ruler of Sicily.
- 1521 - Cortes captures the city of Tenochtitlan, Mexico, and sets it on fire.
- 1756 - The British at Fort William Henry, New York, surrender to Louis Montcalm of France.
- 1802 - Captain Merriwether Lewis leaves Pittsburgh to meet up with Captain William Clark and begin their trek to the Pacific Ocean.
- 1864 - At the Democratic convention in Chicago, General George B. McClellan is nominated for president.
- 1919 - The Communist Labor Party is founded in Chicago, with the motto, "Workers of the world unite!"
- 1928 - Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera opens in Berlin.
- 1940 - Joseph Avenol steps down as Secretary-General of the League of Nations.
- 1942 - The British army under General Bernard Law Montgomery defeats Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps in the Battle of Alam Halfa in Egypt.
- 1944 - The British Eighth Army penetrates the German Gothic Line in Italy.
- 1949 - Six of the 16 surviving Union veterans of the Civil War attend the last-ever encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, held in Indianapolis, Indiana.
- 1951 - The 1st Marine Division begins its attack on Bloody Ridge in Korea. The four-day battle results in 2,700 Marine casualties.
- 1961 - A concrete wall replaces the barbed wire fence that separates East and West Germany, it will be called the Berlin wall.
- 1994 - The Irish Republican Army (IRA) announces a "complete cessation of military operations," opening the way to a political settlement in Ireland for the first time in a quarter of a century.
31 August Birthdays
- 1811 - Théophile Gautier, French poet, novelist and author of Art for Art's Sake.
- 1870 - Maria Montessori, educator and founder of the Montessori schools.
- 1885 - Duboise Heyward, novelist, poet and dramatist best know for Porgy which was the basis for the opera Porgy and Bess.
- 1899 - Lynn Riggs, writer, her book Green Grow the Lilacs was adapted by Rodgers and Hammerstein to become Oklahoma.
- 1903 - Arthur Godfrey, radio and television personality.
- 1905 - Sanford Meisner, influential acting teacher.
- 1907 - Wiliam Shawn, longtime editor of The New Yorker.
- 1908 - Wiliam Saroyan, author and playwright (The Human Comedy).
- 1918 - Alan Jay Lerner, playwright and lyricist (Brigadoon, Camelot).
- 1918 - Daniel Schorr, journalist.
- 1935 - Eldridge Cleaver, political activist and author of Soul on Fire.
- 1936 - Marva Collins, innovative educator who started Chicago's one-room school, Westside Preparatory.
- 1945 - Van Morrison, Irish singer, songwriter.
- 1945 - Itzhak Perlman, violinist.