History Events on August 31

Russia completes removing its troops from Lithuania.

#Lithuania

Pennsylvania Central Airlines Trip 19 crashes near Lovettsville, Virginia. The CAB investigation of the accident is the first investigation to be conducted under the Bureau of Air Commerce act of 1938.

#Lovettsville_air_disaster

Radio Prague, now the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic, goes on the air.

#Radio_Prague

World War II: Serbian paramilitary forces defeat Germans in the Battle of Loznica.

#Chetniks

The 2005 Al-Aaimmah bridge stampede in Baghdad kills 953 people.

#2005_Al-Aaimmah_bridge_stampede

At the final stage of the Peninsular War, British-Portuguese troops capture the town of Donostia (now San Sebastián), resulting in a rampage and eventual destruction of the town. Elsewhere, Spanish troops repel a French attack in the Battle of San Marcial.

#Peninsular_War

The retreat of the Democratic Army of Greece in Albania after its defeat on Gramos mountain marks the end of the Greek Civil War.

#Democratic_Army_of_Greece

World War I: Start of the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin, a successful assault by the Australian Corps during the Hundred Days Offensive.

#World_War_I

Edvard Munch's famous painting The Scream, stolen on August 22, 2004, is recovered in a raid by Norwegian police.

#Edvard_Munch

Trinidad and Tobago becomes independent.

#Trinidad_and_Tobago

Aeroméxico Flight 498 collides with a Piper PA-28 Cherokee over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground.

#Aeroméxico_Flight_498

The Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

#Federation_of_Malaya

Nazi Germany mounts a false flag attack on the Gleiwitz radio station, creating an excuse to attack Poland the following day, thus starting World War II in Europe.

#Nazi_Germany

Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.

#Thomas_Edison

The Soviet passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov sinks in the Black Sea after colliding with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev, killing 423.

#Soviet_Union

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

#American_Civil_War

Kyrgyzstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.

#Kyrgyzstan

War of the First Coalition: The British capture Trincomalee (present-day Sri Lanka) from the Dutch in order to keep it out of French hands.

#War_of_the_First_Coalition

Al-Kamil becomes sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty.

#Al-Kamil

Thai Airways Flight 365 crashes into the ocean near Ko Phuket, Thailand, killing all 83 aboard.

#Thai_Airways_Flight_365

Polish-Soviet War: A decisive Polish victory in the Battle of Komarów.

#Polish-Soviet_War

Abdication of Byzantine Emperor Michael VI Bringas after just one year.

#Michael_VI_Bringas

Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Anglo-Russian Convention, by which the UK recognizes Russian preeminence in northern Persia, while Russia recognizes British preeminence in southeastern Persia and Afghanistan. Both powers pledge not to interfere in Tibet.

#Anglo-Russian_Convention

German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his navigable balloon.

#Ferdinand_von_Zeppelin

King Haakon V of Norway moves the capital from Bergen to Oslo.

#Haakon_V_of_Norway

Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul die in a car crash in Paris.

#Diana,_Princess_of_Wales

Irish Rebellion: Irish rebels, with French assistance, establish the short-lived Republic of Connacht.

#Irish_Rebellion_of_1798

Crown Colony of North Borneo (now Sabah) achieves self governance.

#Crown_Colony_of_North_Borneo

Saddam Hussein's troops seized Irbil after the Kurdish Masoud Barzani appealed for help to defeat his Kurdish rival PUK.

#Saddam_Hussein

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff is impeached and removed from office.

#Dilma_Rousseff

King Henry V of England dies of dysentery while in France. His son, Henry VI becomes King of England at the age of nine months.

#Henry_V_of_England

William Livingston, the first Governor of New Jersey, begins serving his first term.

#William_Livingston

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

#USS_Harmon_(DE-678)

The 7.0 Mw? Charleston earthquake affects southeastern South Carolina with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Sixty people killed with damage estimated at $5-6 million.

#1886_Charleston_earthquake

Mary Ann Nichols is murdered. She is the first of Jack the Ripper's confirmed victims.

#Mary_Ann_Nichols

A LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashes during takeoff from Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires, killing 65, including two on the ground.

The first of a series of bombings in Moscow kills one person and wounds 40 others.

Russia completes removing its troops from Estonia.

Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 crashes while during takeoff from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, killing 14.

A parcel bomb sent by Ngô ?ình Nhu, younger brother and chief adviser of South Vietnamese President Ngô ?ình Di?m, fails to kill King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.

In an attempt to stay out of the growing tensions concerning Germany and Japan, the United States passes the first of its Neutrality Acts.

Ottoman Sultan Murad V is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid II.

After a sudden illness a few days previously, Byzantine Empress Theodora dies childless, thus ending the Macedonian dynasty.