What happened in 1931
23 events World 1, North America 2, Europe 12, USSR / Russia 1, Asia 4, Latin America 2, Oceania 1
Open 1931 in the app (filters, ranges and links) →
Highlights of 1931
- Feb 19WorldThe Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia is dissolved and reformed as the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, an autonomous republic of Soviet Georgia, resulting in public protests.
- Mar 11USSR / RussiaThe Ready for Labour and Defence of the USSR programme, abbreviated as GTO, is introduced in the Soviet Union.
- Apr 25EuropeThe automobile manufacturer Porsche is founded by Ferdinand Porsche in Stuttgart.
- May 1North AmericaConstruction of the Empire State Building is completed in New York City.
- Sep 10Latin AmericaThe worst hurricane in British Honduras history kills an estimated 1,500.
- Sep 18AsiaThe Japanese military stages the Mukden Incident, an explosion blamed on Chinese dissidents and used as a pretext for the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
World1
- Feb 19The Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia is dissolved and reformed as the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, an autonomous republic of Soviet Georgia, resulting in public protests.
North America2
- May 1Construction of the Empire State Building is completed in New York City.
- Oct 24The George Washington Bridge across the Hudson River in the United States is dedicated; it opens to traffic the following day. At, it nearly doubles the previous record for the longest main span in the world.
Europe12
- Jan 30Charlie Chaplin comedy drama film City Lights receives its public premiere at the Los Angeles Theater with Albert Einstein as guest of honor. Contrary to the current trend in cinema, it is a silent film, but with a score by Chaplin. Critically and commercially successful from the start, it will place consistently in lists of films considered the best of all time.
- Mar 7The Finnish Parliament House opens in Helsinki, Finland.
- Apr 14The Second Spanish Republic is proclaimed in Madrid. Meanwhile, as a result of the victory of the Republican Left of Catalonia, Francesc Macià proclaims in Barcelona the Catalan Republic, as a state of the Iberian Federation.
- Apr 22Austria, the UK, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the United States recognize the Spanish Republic.
- Apr 25The automobile manufacturer Porsche is founded by Ferdinand Porsche in Stuttgart.
- May 14Ådalen shootings: Five people are killed in Ådalen, Sweden, when soldiers open fire on an unarmed trade union demonstration.
- May 15Pope Pius XI issues the encyclical Quadragesimo anno, on the "reconstruction of the social order".
- Jul 10Norway issues a royal proclamation claiming the uninhabited part of eastern Greenland as Erik the Red's Land.
- Aug 2Murder of Paul Anlauf and Franz Lenck: Two Berlin police officers are killed by Communists.
- Oct 11A rally in Bad Harzburg, Germany leads to the Harzburg Front being founded, uniting the NSDAP, the DNVP, the Stahlhelm and various other right-wing factions.
- Dec 9The Spanish Constituent Cortes approves the Spanish Constitution of 1931, effectively establishing the Second Spanish Republic.
- Dec 11The Parliament of the United Kingdom enacts the Statute of Westminster, which establishes a status of legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.
USSR / Russia1
- Mar 11The Ready for Labour and Defence of the USSR programme, abbreviated as GTO, is introduced in the Soviet Union.
Asia4
- Mar 23Indian revolutionary leaders Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for conspiracy to murder in the British Raj.
- JunNovember – 1931 China flood: the Yangtze and Huai Rivers flood in a populous region, leaving an estimated 422,000 dead (150,000 drowned) with many more dying of consequential starvation and disease in the aftermath.
- Sep 18The Japanese military stages the Mukden Incident, an explosion blamed on Chinese dissidents and used as a pretext for the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
- Nov 7The Chinese Soviet Republic is proclaimed by Mao Zedong.
Latin America2
- Mar 31An earthquake destroys Managua, Nicaragua, killing 2,000 people.
- Sep 10The worst hurricane in British Honduras history kills an estimated 1,500.
Oceania1
- Dec 19The UAP/Country Coalition, led by Joseph Lyons, defeats the Australian Labor Government, led by Prime Minister James Scullin. Coming in the aftermath of two splits in the Labor Party, the election comes about due to the defeat of the Scullin government on the floor of the House of Representatives – to date, it is the last federal election where a one-term government was defeated. Lyons will be sworn in January 6th the following year, but not before disbanding the Coalition, after the UAP wins enough seats to form a government in its own right.