On This Day - What happened 31 July

On July 31, 1793 Jefferson submitted his resignation from Washington's cabinet. Washington signed the Naval Act of 1794 and commissioned the first six federal frigates to combat Barbary pirates.

Russia, in support of Serbia, declared partial mobilization against Austria-Hungary. German Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg waited until the 31st for an appropriate response, when Germany declared Erklärung des Kriegszustandes or State of Danger of War.

The exchange was closed shortly after the beginning of World War I (July 31, 1914), but it partially re-opened on November 28 of that year in order to help the war effort by trading bonds and completely reopened for stock trading in mid-December.

On 31 July the Hungarian army retreated towards Budapest.

The Syracuse riot of 1919 were a violent racial riot, on July 31, 1919, between white and black workers of the Globe Malleable Iron Works in Syracuse, New York.

The German federal election, July 1932 is held, and the Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler, becomes the largest party in the Reichstag.

On July 31, French General Charles Chanson was assassinated during a propaganda suicide attack at Sa Đéc in South Vietnam that was blamed on the Việt Minh although it was argued in some quarters that Cao Đài nationalist Trình Minh Thế could have been involved in its planning.

On July 31, 1975, At 7:00 a.m. Hoffa's wife called her son and daughter by telephone, saying their father had not come home.

On July 31, 1975, At 7:20 a.m. Linteau went to the Machus Red Fox and found Hoffa's unlocked car in the parking lot, but there was no sign of Hoffa or any indication of what had happened to him.

On July 31, 1975, At 6:00 p.m., Hoffa's son, James P. Hoffa, filed a missing persons report.

On July 31, 1975, Hoffa's wife called the police, who later arrived at the scene. State police were brought in and the FBI was alerted.

Discussions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, mediated on the Arab League's behalf by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, were held on 31 July and led Mubarak to believe that a peaceful course could be established.

In 2000, Peres ran for a seven-year term as Israel's President, a ceremonial head of state position which usually authorizes the selection of Prime Minister. However, he lost to Likud candidate Moshe Katsav.

In recognition of Jolie's conservation efforts in Cambodia, King Norodom Sihamoni awarded her Cambodian citizenship on July 31, 2005.

On 31 July 2006, Fidel Castro's personal secretary, Carlos Valenciaga, announced on state-run television that Fidel Castro would provisionally hand over the duties of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (party chief), President of the Council of State of Cuba (head of state), President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba (prime minister), and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to Raúl Castro while Fidel underwent and recovered from intestinal surgery to repair gastrointestinal bleeding.

Castro underwent surgery for intestinal bleeding, and on 31 July 2006, delegated his presidential duties to Raúl Castro.

Ballack's debut for Chelsea came on 31 July 2006, during a practice match at UCLA's intramural football pitch. Chelsea presented him to the media the following day where the club also gave him his favoured number 13 shirt, worn throughout his career.

IndyMac Bancorp filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on July 31, 2008.

On July 31, they launched the Outlook.com webmail service to compete with Gmail.

On 31 July 2018, BMW announced to build 1 billion euro car factory in Hungary. The plant, to be built near Debrecen, will have a production capacity of 150,000 cars a year.

On July 31, Facebook said that the company had deleted 17 accounts related to the 2018 American elections.

During the second debate in Detroit on July 31, Yang answered questions on topics including civil rights, healthcare, immigration, party strategy, climate, and the economy. He spoke for a total of 8.7 minutes, which was again the least of any candidate on either night. He was the only second-night candidate who did not spend any time in "back-and-forths" with other candidates. Yang drew attention for his decision to not wear a necktie in either debate. In his closing statement, Yang called out the media and the debate formats a September interview with Politico, Yang further clarified his stance on candidates attacking each other at the debates. According to Yang, there "is this sense of manufactured outrage and rehearsed attack lines", and as "a proxy for the American public", he finds "the process to be very false and somewhat misdirected" "It's not left, it's not right, it's forward" has been compared to a similar slogan used by the Green Party of Canada. On August 8, Yang received 2% support in the fourth qualifying poll, thus meeting both qualification criteria for the third debate

The Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, was born in Dijon, Burgundy.

The British colonial governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Dudley, passed away at the age of 76.

Princess Augusta Frederica was born in London, England.