August 31

Tuesday 31, 2004:

Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ is released on DVD and VHS in stores across the United States, selling approximately 4.1 million copies by the end of the day.

Tuesday 31, 1999:

The first of a series of Russian Apartment Bombings in Moscow, killing one person and wounding 40 others.

Monday 31, 1998:

North Korea reportedly launchs Kwangmyongsong, its first satellite.

Sunday 31, 1997:

Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in Paris.

Wednesday 31, 1994:

The Provisional Irish Republican Army declares a ceasefire.

Monday 31, 1992:

Pascal Lissouba is inaugurated as the President of the Republic of the Congo after a multiparty presidential election, ending a long history of one-party oppressive rule under the Congolese Workers Party.

Saturday 31, 1991:

Kyrgyzstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.

Thursday 31, 1989:

Buckingham Palace officials confirm that Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips are to be separated.

Sunday 31, 1986:

The Soviet passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov sinks in the Black Sea after colliding with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev, killing 398.

Saturday 31, 1985:

Richard Ramirez, the "Night Stalker" serial killer, is arrested in Los Angeles, California.

Sunday 31, 1980:

The Solidarity trade union is formed in Poland.

Thursday 31, 1978:

William and Emily Harris, founders of the Symbionese Liberation Army, plead guilty to the 1974 kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst.

Friday 31, 1962:

Trinidad and Tobago become independent.

Saturday 31, 1957:

The Federation of Malaya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

Tuesday 31, 1943:

The USS Harmon, the first U.S. Navy ship to be named for a black person, is commissioned.

Thursday 31, 1939:

Nazi Germany mounts a staged attack on Gleiwitz radio station, giving them an excuse to attack Poland the following day, starting World War II.

Monday 31, 1931:

Production of Ford Motor Company's Model A ends, with 4.3 million produced.

Tuesday 31, 1920:

First news radio program broadcast in Detroit, Michigan.

Tuesday 31, 1915:

Brazil becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

Monday 31, 1914:

Ecuador becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

Saturday 31, 1907:

England, Russia and France form the Triple Entente alliance.

Tuesday 31, 1897:

Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.

Saturday 31, 1895:

John Brallier is paid US$10 plus expenses to play football for the Latrobe, Pennsylvania YMCA, making him the first professional football player.

Friday 31, 1888:

Mary Ann Nicholls is murdered. She is perhaps the first of Jack the Ripper's victims

Tuesday 31, 1886:

Earthquake kills 100 in Charleston, South Carolina

Thursday 31, 1876:

Ottoman sultan Murat V is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid II.

Wednesday 31, 1864:

American Civil War: Union forces led by General William T. Sherman launch an assault on Atlanta, Georgia.

Sunday 31, 1056:

Byzantine Empress Theodora dies suddenly without children to succeed the throne, ending the Macedonian dynasty

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