On This Day - What happened 31 January

Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay was the eighteenth Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt from (1468–1496 C.E.).

Gandhi was released in February 1924 for an appendicitis operation, having served only two years.

With Hồ Chí Min's permission, the Việt Cộng planned a massive Tet Offensive that would commence on 31 January 1968, with the aim of taking much of the South by force and administering a heavy blow to the American military. The offensive was executed at great cost and with heavy casualties on Việt Cộng's political branches and armed forces.

The New Delhi Conference, held in February and March 1968, was a forum that allowed developing countries to reach an agreement on the basic principles of their development policies. The conference in New Delhi was an opportunity for schemes to be finally approved. The conference provided a major impetus in persuading the North to follow up UNCTAD I resolutions, in establishing generalized preferences. The target for private and official flows to LDCs was raised to 1% of the North's GNP, but the developed countries failed to commit themselves to achieve the target by a specific date. This has proven a continuing point of debate at UNCTAD conferences. The conference led to the International Sugar Agreement, which seeks to stabilize world sugar prices.

As a visiting professor to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Yacoub, Fabian Udekwu, C. H Anyanwu, FRCS and others performed the first open heart surgery in Nigeria in 1974.

Bakhtiar invited Khomeini back to Iran, with the intention of creating a Vatican-like state in the holy city of Qom, declaring that "We will soon have the honor of welcoming home the Ayatollah Khomeini". On 1 February 1979 Khomeini returned to Tehran in a chartered Air France Boeing 747. The welcoming crowd of several million Iranians was so large he was forced to take a helicopter after the car taking him from the airport was overwhelmed by an enthusiastic welcoming crowd.

Two weeks later, on Thursday, 1 February 1979, Khomeini returned in triumph to Iran, welcomed by a joyous crowd estimated (by the BBC) to be of up to five million people.

From January 7 until January 31, the Emperor's formal appellation was "Departed Emperor." His definitive posthumous name, Shōwa Tennō, was determined on January 13 and formally released on January 31 by Toshiki Kaifu, the prime minister.

Operation Just Cause ends, and beginning Operation Promote Liberty to rebuild the Panamanian military and civilian infrastructure.

On January 31, during an episode of Sunday Night Heat, Mankind pinned The Rock using a forklift truck in an Empty Arena match to win the WWF title. This match was referred to as "Halftime Heat" as it was televised during halftime of that year's Super Bowl.

Ibrahimović was eligible to represent Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina or Croatia at international level; he chose Sweden. He made his debut for Sweden in a 0–0 friendly draw against the Faroe Islands at Tipshallen on 31 January 2001 during the 2000–01 Nordic Football Championship.

He made his debut for the senior Brazil squad in a friendly match against Bolivia on 31 January 2002.

The first super-spreader, Zhou Zuofen would bring the disease to the international stage. He checked in to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital in Guangzhou on January 31. This was the same hospital where Liu Jianlun was treating the disease. The virus was soon spread to nearby hospitals while Liu would later spread the disease to Hong Kong.

On January 31, China announced the fourth case of SARS as a 40-year-old doctor from the southern city of Guangzhou.

On 31 January 2006, Vasily Zaytsev was reburied on Mamayev Hill in Volgograd with full military honors.

Biden declared his candidacy for president on January 31, 2007, after having discussed running for months prior. Biden made a formal announcement to Tim Russert on Meet the Press, stating he would "be the best Biden I can be". In January 2006, Delaware newspaper columnist Harry F. Themal wrote that Biden "occupies the sensible center of the Democratic Party". Themal concludes that this is the position Biden desires and that in a campaign "he plans to stress the dangers to the security of the average American, not just from the terrorist threat, but from the lack of health assistance, crime, and energy dependence on unstable parts of the world".

In 2007, US President George W. Bush shows up unannounced to the Floor about an hour and a half before a Federal Open Market Committee interest-rate decision on January 31; NYSE announces its merger with the American Stock Exchange; NYSE Composite closes above 10,000 on June 1.

BMW Group, on 31 January 2013, announced that Pierer Industrie AG has bought Husqvarna for an undisclosed amount, which will not be revealed by either party in the future. The company is headed by Stephan Pierer (CEO of KTM). Pierer Industrie AG is 51% owner of KTM and 100% owner of Husqvarna.

On January 31, 2015, AP News reported that the FCC will present the notion of applying ("with some caveats") Title II (common carrier) of the Communications Act of 1934 to the internet in a vote expected on February 26, 2015.

On January 31, Trump nominated U.S. Appeals Court judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the seat on the Supreme Court previously held by Justice Antonin Scalia until his death on February 13, 2016.

On January 31, 2018, Xerox announced that Fujifilm had agreed to acquire a 50.1% controlling stake in the company for US$6.1 billion, which was to be combined into their existing joint venture Fuji Xerox (having a value of $18 billion post-acquisition).

On January 31, the Senate voted against calling any witnesses, making this the first impeachment trial in U.S. history without witness testimony.

On 31 January 2020, Italy closed all passenger air traffic between Italy and China and Taiwan. The Italian Civil Aviation Authority NOTAM says that effective 31 January, all passenger flights from China, including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and Taiwan are suspended until further notice, on request of the Italian health authorities. Aircraft that were flying to Italy when the NOTAM was published, was cleared to land. On the same day, the WHO declared that the number of infected cases is 9826 and 213 confirmed death case

On 31 January 2020, an article in The Lancet estimated that 75,815 individuals (95% CrI 37,304–130,330) have been infected in Wuhan as of 25 January, with an estimated doubling time of 6.4 days in the period of study.