January 31

Today in History
• 1627 - Spanish government goes bankrupt
• 1849 - Corn Laws abolished in Britain
• 1851 - Gail Borden announces invention of evaporated milk
• 1863 - 1st black Civil War regiment, South Carolina Volunteers, mustered into U.S. army
• 1871 - Millions of birds fly over western SF, darkens sky
• 1893 - The trademark "Coca-Cola" was first registered in the U.S. Patent Office
• 1917 - Germany announced its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare
• 1928 - Scotch tape 1st marketed by 3-M Company


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Eat Brussel Sprouts Day
• Grammy Awards Day
• Inspire Your Heart with Art Day
• International Zebra Day
• National Backward Day
• National Hot Chocolate Day
• Nauru Independence Day
• Scotch Tape Day

Birthdays
• 36BC - Antonia Minor, daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor
• 1543 - Tokugawa Ieyasu, founded the first Tokugawa Shogunate and united Japan
• 1607 - James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby
• 1673 - Louis de Montfort, French catholic priest and saint
• 1734 - Robert Morris, English-born merchant and American founding father
• 1830 - James G. Blaine, US Secretary of State (1881 and 1889-92)
• 1835 - William Charles Lunalilo, Monarch of Hawaii
• 1865 - Henri Desgrange, French cyclist, founder of the Tour-de-Franc