This Day in History on 31st March
The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including the IAS Exam.
On this page, we will list all historical events that occurred on 31st March. The students can refer to them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.
Important Days
- Freedom Day (Malta)
Important Events
1867: Prarthana Samaj was established by Ranade, Bhandarkar and others at Mumbai in 1864
1889: The Eiffel Tower was inaugurated. It took two years, two months, and two days to build.
1901: The first Mercedes car was built. The car was named after the daughter of the Austrian political official for whom it was built.
1904: British slaughter hundreds of Tibetans.
1913: Foundation stone of ‘Gateway of India’ was laid by Sir George Sydneham Clerk
1930: Shyamji Krishna Varma, freedom fighter, nationalist and patriot, passed away in Geneva.
1935: 374 infants wed at a mass ceremony.
1942: During the 2nd World War, Japan was heavily successful in Burma and Andaman which posted a danger to the Indian Security.
1959: Dalai Lama fled China & was granted political asylum in India.
1959: The 14th Dalai Lama, crossed the border into India and is granted political asylum.
1964: Mumbai’s electric trams shut down.
1966: Russia launched Luna-10, the first artificial satellite of the moon.
1977: N. K. Mukarji was appointed as the Cabinet Secretary of India. He held this office till 31-03-1980
1980: Nirmal Mukherjee, the last Indian Civil Service Officer, retired from service as Cabinet Secretary.
1990: Bharat Ratna, India’s highest award, was given to Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1841-1956) (Posthumous).
1992: The new five-year Export-Import policy relaxes restrictions
1994: The Supreme Court orders closure of 11 industrial units around Taj Mahal.
1997: Forex reserves touch a record $ 22.36 billions
1998: T. N. Mishra became the director of Central Bureau of Investigation (till 04/01/99).
1999: The PIO card, conferring privileges on persons of Indian origin settled abroad, is formally launched.
2001: Sachin Tendulkar completed 10,000 runs in ODIs.
Birthday / Anniversary
1519: Henry II, the King of France.
1596: René Descartes, a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist.
1843: Annasaheb Kirloskar, a Marathi playwright.
1865: Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi, the first Indian female doctor.
1871: Gangadharrao Deshpande, an Indian Independence activist.
1882: N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, a Member of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution,
1934: Kamala Surayya, an Indian poet.
1938: Sheila Dikshit, an Indian politician, and stateswoman.
1945: Meira Kumar, an Indian politician, and former diplomat.
1963: Sujatha Mohan, an Indian playback singer.
1972: Evan Williams, an American technology entrepreneur. He is co-founder of Twitter and founder of Blogger and Medium.
Death / Death Anniversary
1631: John Donne, an English poet.
1663: Mir Jumla, Mughal Commander, passed away in Bihar.
1727: Sir Isaac Newton, an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian, and author.
1926: Dattatray Balwant Parasnis, who made research in History, passed away.
1972: Meena Kumari, an Indian film actress, and poet.
1978: Charles Best, an American-Canadian medical scientist and one of the co-discoverers of insulin.
2002: Moturu Udayam, an Indian politician and women’s rights activist.