On This Day in History

January 31

Historical Events

1865 Congress passes, by vote of 121-24, the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution, abolishing slavery in the United States.

1865 General Robert E. Lee named Commander-in-Chief of Confederate Armies during the US Civil War.

German field marshal Friedrich Paulus, the highest-ranking German officer to surrender during World War II

1943 German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to Soviet troops at Stalingrad.

1950 US President Harry Truman publicly announces support for the development of a hydrogen bomb.

1985 South African President P. W. Botha offers to free Nelson Mandela if he denounces violence.

More Historical Events

Famous Birthdays

Tokugawa Ieyasu 1543 - 1616 Franz Schubert 1797 - 1828

Henri Desgrange 1865 - 1940 Jackie Robinson 1919 - 1972

Also Jersey Joe Walcott, Ernie Banks and Justin Timberlake (43).

More Famous Birthdays

Famous Deaths

Guy Fawkes 1570 - 1606 A. A. Milne 1882 - 1956

More Famous Deaths

DNA Sheds Shocking New Light on Crippen Murder Case

A jury took 27 minutes to convict Dr Hawley Crippen of murdering his wife and burying her remains in his cellar. But shocking new DNA evidence later emerged.

Crippen Case