31 August, 1751
Robert Clive, Britisher, at the age of 26 seizes Arcot in modern Tamil Nadu. He also checked the French advance in South India.
31 August, 1897 
Thomas Edison patented the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.
31 August, 1920
Khilafat movement started in India. It was a pan-Islamist political protest campaign launched by Muslims of British India.
31 August, 1928
Nehru report published in India; demands dominion status in British Empire.
31 August, 1936
Radio Prague, the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic, went on the air.
31 August, 1947
Nehru visits the riot-affected Punjab with Liaqat Ali and Sardar Patel.
31 August, 1947
Indian Standard Time (IST) was decided. Indian Standard Time is calculated based on 82.5°E longitude in the city of Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. Which is situated approximately on the corresponding longitude reference line.
31 August, 1956
The President of India Rajendra Prasad approved the State Reorganization Bill.
31 August, 1957
The Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
31 August, 1962
Trinidad and Tobago became independent.
31 August, 1967
Satyajit Ray receives the Ramon Magsaysay Award.
31 August, 1968
Rohini MSV-I, the first Indian-made two-stage sounding rocket, successfully launched from Thumba.
31 August, 1970
Memorial of Swami Vivekananda was inaugurated by contemporaneous President of India V.V. Giri at Kanyakumari.
31 August, 1971
David Scott became the seventh person to walk on the Moon.
31 August, 1978
Air Marshal Hrushikesh Moolgavkar PVSM, MVC, retired as the Air Officer Commanding, India Command.
31 August, 1979
M. Hidayatullah, consensus choice of political parties, appointed as Vice-President of India (1979 – 1984).
31 August, 1981
Air Chief Marshal Idris Hasan Latif, PVSM, retired as the Air Officer Commanding, India Command. After retirement he held the gubernatorial posts of Governor of Maharastra and Indian Ambassador to France.
31 August, 1983
India’s satellite INSAT-1B is launched from the US space shuttle Challenger.
31 August, 1993
Pranab Mukherjee rejoins the Union cabinet as Commerce Minister.
31 August, 1995
Beant Singh (73), Punjab chief minister, assassinated in R.D.X. explosion in a car. He played a very prominent in supressing the militancy in Punjab. This explosion also killed 14 others.
31 August, 1996
Pandurang Shastri Athavale was honored with Raman Magsaysay Award.
31 August, 1997
Lok Sabha creates history with its largest-ever sitting of about 22 hours for a special golden jubilee session debating issues of national importance.
31 August, 1998
Prime Minister Vajpayee announces a gift of 10,000 litres of edible oil and five tonnes of milk powder to Nambia during it’s severe drought.
31 August, 1998
The Government decides to raise the retirement age of the three service chiefs of the armed forces, officers and personnel across the board to 62 years.
31 August, 1999
Surya Sekhar Ganguly won the National ‘B’ chess championship in Mumbai.
31 August, 2000
J & K police nab two Pakistani militants for the massacre of 35 Sikhs at Chattisinghpora in March.
31 August, 2008
Government of India settled Amarnath land dispute.
Famous Birthdays & Birth Anniversaries on August 31
31 August, 1569
Mirza Nur-ud-din Beig Mohammad Khan Salim aka Salim Mirza Jahangir, fourth Mughal Emperor and son of Akbar, was born at Fetehpur Sikri.
31 August, 1870
Dr. Maria Montessori, great teacher, social worker and educationist, was born in Italy.
31 August, 1888
Kanailal Dutta, Indian revolutionary freedom fighter, was born.
31 August, 1907
Ramon Magsaysay, Pilipino captain, engineer, and politician. 7th president of Philipines.
31 August, 1914
Anil Kumar Chakravati, journalist, was born at Kusthia.
31 August, 1919
Amrita Pritam, Punjabi poet, novelist and Gyanpeeth award winner, was born.
31 August, 1925
Raut Benudhar, great poet and Hindi writer, was born at Kenojhar in Orissa.
31 August, 1940
Shivaji Samant, Indian author. Famous for his novel “Mrutyunjay” based on Mahabharata.
31 August, 1942
Bubu Imam, Indian environmental activist.
31 August, 1969
Javagal Srinath, cricketer (Indian right-arm pace bowler since 1991), was born in Mysore.
31 August, 1987
Kavin Bharati Mittal, Indian entrepreneur. Founder and CEO of Hike Messenger, the world’s sixth-largest mobile messaging application.
Death Anniversaries of famous people on August 31
31 August, 1422
Henry V of England.
31 August, 1982
G. S. Pathak, former Vice President of India, died.
31 August, 1994
Ramdulari Sinha, former Governor of Kerala and former Central Cabinet Minister, died.
31 August, 1995
Sardar Biyant Singh, Former Chief Minister of Punjab, India.
31 August, 1997
Princess Dianna, Princess of Wales.
31 August, 2002
Martin D Kamen, Canadian physicist. He discovered the Carbon-14 element, which allows biologists to look inside the chemistry of living cells.
31 August, 2012
Kashiram Rana, Indian lawyer and politician.
31 August, 2014
Bapu, Indian film director, and screenwriter.
31 August, 2014
Jimi Jamison, a Pop singer from Mississippi.
31 August, 2020
Pranab Mukharjee, Indian politician, 13th President of India.
