31 Jul 1887
31 Jul 1914
  • Germany began to mobilize.
  • General Joffe, the French Chief of the General Staff, warned the cabinet that a delay in calling out the reservists could result in an initial abandonment of French territory.
31 Jul 1916
  • Robert Saundby forced down a German Eindekker aircraft but was slightly injured in the fighting.
    » In-depth article
31 Jul 1917
  • The third battle of Ypres (also known as Passchendale) began. It was a British offensive designed with the aim of breaking through the German trench lines to the German submarine bases in Belgium and to relieve pressure on the collapsing Russian army in the east. Neither of these objectives was achieved. For much of the three months battle successive attacks by Gough’s Fifth army and Plumer’s Second army foundered in terrain that had been turned into a swamp by intensive artillery bombardment, thus precluding the use of tanks. The limit of the British advance was five miles, at a cost of 250,000 casualties.
  • Lieutenant General Yujiro Nakamura succeeded Lieutenant General Akira Nakamura as the Governor-General of Kwantung Leased Territory in northeastern China.
31 Jul 1918
  • Captain G. E. Chaplin of the Imperial Russian Navy landed with a small task force of (white) Russians at Archangel, Russia. The demoralised Bolsheviks put up only a limited resistance in the area of the docks and railway station, and by the end of the day the "Whites" had taken the town with only a few casualties.
31 Jul 1919
  • The German Reichstag passed the new constitution.
31 Jul 1923
31 Jul 1929
31 Jul 1932
  • German national elections ended with Nazi Party members gaining 230 seats, or 38% and the majority, in the Reichstag.
  • Ioshima was commissioned into service.
    » In-depth article
31 Jul 1934
31 Jul 1937
  • Zhao Dengyu was posthumously promoted to the rank of general second class.
    » In-depth article
31 Jul 1938
  • Japanese 19th Division and Manchukuo units defeated the Soviet 39th Rifle Corps during a night battle during the Battle of Lake Khasan.
    » In-depth article
31 Jul 1939
  • Neville Chamberlain spoke before the House of Commons of the British Parliament, noting that he was engaging in talks with the Soviet Union as a means to contain German aggression.
    » In-depth article
  • Repair ship Akashi was completed and placed on the reserve list.
    » In-depth article
    » Tabular Record of Movement
31 Jul 1940
  • Mitsubishi delivered the first production Zero fighter to the Japanese Navy.
    » In-depth article
  • While German Army and Navy leadership continued to disagree over the plans for the invasion of Britain (with Admiral Raeder convincing Hitler to delay the invasion until mid-Sep 1940), the Luftwaffe moved forth with its plans and began to shift the main target from English Channel shipping to RAF airfields in southern England. Although 77 RAF aircraft were destroyed and 43 were damaged (along with 67 airmen killed and 23 wounded), aircraft production during the month was greater than aircraft lost.
    » In-depth article
  • At Adolf Hitler's residence near Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany, German military leaders were advised of Hitler's plan to attack the Soviet Union. Hitler made it clear that an invasion of the USSR was a way of securing mastery of Europe, as the fall of the USSR would certainly force Britain to surrender. The military leaders were told to expect the invasion to start in May 1941, and would likely last about five months.
    » In-depth article
  • German submarine U-99 sank British ship Jamaica Progress at 0138 hours (killing 7) and British ship Jersey City at 1324 hours (killing 2) 50 miles north of Ireland. She was attacked by depth charges by escort vessels and a bomb from a flying boat, but she was able to escape undamaged.
    » In-depth article
  • British destroyer HMS Whitshed hit a mine off Harwich, Essex, England and lost most of her bow, but she able to be towed to Harwich by the stern by destroyer HMS Wild Swan. She would remain under repair at Chatham, Kent, England until 21 Dec 1940.
  • German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin sank British ship Domingo De Larringa in the South Atlantic 1,000 miles east of Pernambuco, Brazil. 8 were killed and 30 were taken prisoner.
  • British submarine HMS Spearfish departed Rosyth, Scotland, United Kingdom to patrol off the Norwegian coast.
  • American ambassador in London, England, United Kingdom Joseph Kennedy relayed to US Secretary of State Cordell Hull another request from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill for destroyers. "If we cannot get reinforcement," Churchill noted, "the whole fate of the war may be decided by this minor and easily remediable factor."
    » In-depth article
  • Adolf Hitler announced that he would decide whether the invasion of Britain was to take place in mid-Sep 1940 or May 1941 in a few days; the progress of the Luftwaffe campaign over Britain would be among the key factors in his decision process.
    » In-depth article
  • Joachim von Ribbentrop, upon learning that the Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, was departing for the Bahamas soon, issued an order to send the British royalty another message overnight, stressing the fact that Germany was attempting to avoid armed conflict with the United Kingdom, which could be achieved with the duke was willing to assist, beginning by not departing Europe for the Bahamas.
    » In-depth article
  • Heavy cruisers USS Wichita and USS Quincy arrived at Bahia, Brazil.
    » In-depth article
31 Jul 1941
  • Reinhard Heydrich received instructions from Hermann Göring to prepare the implementation of the Final Solution to the Jewish question, Endlösung.
    » In-depth article
  • Reichskommissar Josef Terboven declared Norway under a state of emergency.
  • Romanian leader Ion Antonescu formally accepted German leader Adolf Hitler's request for Romanian troops to conquer and occupy the Ukrainian territory between Dniester and Bug Rivers.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Astoria arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
    » In-depth article
  • Photos dated 31 Jul 1941
    Spanish General Agustín Muñoz Grandes being inducted into German Army service, Grafenwöhr, Germany, 31 Jul 1941
31 Jul 1942
  • US Navy and Marines ended a four-day amphibious landing exercise.
  • 1,000 Jews from Theresienstadt Concentration Camp were taken to Baranowitsche Concentration Camp in Poland and gassed in vans.
    » In-depth article
  • British RAF bombers conducted a heavy raid on Düsseldorf, Germany.
  • USAAF began a 7-day bombardment against Tulagi and Guadalcanal. Meanwhile, the US invasion force for Guadalcanal departed from Fiji.
    » In-depth article
  • Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein shot down three Allied aircraft, increasing his total victories to 17.
    » In-depth article
  • Shokaku arrived at Hashirajima.
    » In-depth article
    » Tabular Record of Movement
  • Destroyer Yuzuki arrived at Rabaul, New Britain, Bismarck Islands.
    » In-depth article
  • Hiyo was commissioned into service.
    » In-depth article
    » Tabular Record of Movement
31 Jul 1943
  • The Chinese-American Composite Wing of the USAAF 14th Air Force was established.
  • After studying the findings of a small joint US Army, US Navy, and US Marine Corps reconnaissance mission to Vella Lavella between 21 and 22 Jul 1943, it was concluded that a landing in the Barakoma area was feasible.
    » In-depth article
  • Young was commissioned into service.
    » In-depth article
  • Repair ship Akashi began repairing cruiser Kumano at Truk, Caroline Islands.
    » In-depth article
    » Tabular Record of Movement
31 Jul 1944
  • British VIII Corps launched Operation Bluecoat towards Vire River in Normandy, France. Meanwhile, US 4th Armored Division captured Avranches and 20,000 prisoners of war in 6 days.
    » In-depth article
  • Tirpitz conducted exercises at sea with five destroyers.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Tang departed for her fourth war patrol off Honshu, Japan.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Kete was commissioned into service with Commander R. L. Rutter in command.
    » In-depth article
  • Photos dated 31 Jul 1944
    Allied soldiers and vehicles waited to be loaded prior to a practice landing, possibly for the invasion of Southern France, held near Mondragone, Italy, 31 Jul 1944Japanese 47mm gun, captured east of Tumon Bay, Guam, Mariana Islands, circa Jul-Aug 1944US Marines checking out a disabled Japanese tank, Tinian, Mariana Islands, Jul or Aug 1944This 75mm Japanese gun position at Gaan Point wreaked havoc on men of the US 22nd Marine Regiment before it was silenced, Guam, Mariana Islands, Jul-Aug 1944
    See all photos dated 31 Jul 1944
31 Jul 1945
  • Pierre Laval surrendered in Austria.
    » In-depth article
  • American PB4Y aircraft based in Okinawa, Japan destroyed a bridge on an important railway in Korea.
  • USS Blenny reported sinking two small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya.
    » In-depth article
  • Operation Struggle: British midget submarine XE3, crewed by Lieutenant Ian Fraser, Acting Leading Seaman James Magennis, Sub-Lieutenant William James Lanyon Smith, (of New Zealand), and Engine Room Artificer Third Class Charles Alfred Reed, attacked Japanese shipping at Singapore, sinking heavy cruiser Takao. Fraser and Magennis would later be awarded the Victoria Cross for this sinking, while Smith would receive the Distinguished Service Order and Reed the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal.
    » In-depth article
    » Tabular Record of Movement
  • USS Bugara sank 1 small enemy craft with her deck gun in the Gulf of Siam and South China Sea area before dawn, and 4 more during the day.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Sennet attacked a Japanese patrol boat in the Sea of Japan; all 3 torpedoes missed.
    » In-depth article
  • Photos dated 31 Jul 1945
    Lynde McCormick, Charles Cooke, Ernest King, and George Marshall at Montgomery House, Malta, 31 Jul 1945
31 Jul 1946
31 Jul 1948
  • German industrialist Alfried Krupp was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and the confiscation of his wealth.
    » In-depth article
  • The battleship USS Nevada, having survived both sinking at Pearl Harbor and the Bikini Atoll atom bomb test, was finally destroyed as a target off US Territory of Hawaii.
    » In-depth article
31 Jul 1953
31 Jul 1966
31 Jul 1986

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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