On This Day - What happened 31 March

Bach was born in 1685 in Eisenach, in the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach, into an extensive musical family. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was the director of the town musicians, and all of his uncles were professional musicians. His father probably taught him to play the violin and harpsichord, and his brother Johann Christoph Bach taught him the clavichord and exposed him to much of the contemporary music.

Although plunged into the writing of his novel, Dickens set out to create a new journal, Household Words, the first issue of which appeared on 31 March 1850. This daunting task, however, did not seem to slow down the writing of David Copperfield: I am "busy as a bee", he writes happily to the actor William Macready.

British observers believed the war to be all but over after the capture of the two capital cities. However, the Boers had earlier met at the temporary new capital of the Orange Free State, Kroonstad, and planned a guerrilla campaign to hit the British supply and communication lines. The first engagement of this new form of warfare was at Sanna's Post on 31 March where 1,500 Boers under the command of Christiaan de Wet attacked Bloemfontein's waterworks about 37 kilometres (23 mi) east of the city, and ambushed a heavily escorted convoy, which caused 155 British casualties and the capture of seven guns, 117 wagons, and 428 British troops.

Hitler was discharged from the army on 31 March 1920 and began working full-time for the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers Party).

The Civilian Conservation Corps, a public works relief program, is created. It would last until 1942 and is an icon of the New Deal programs.

On 31 March 1935, Hồ Chí Minh became Member of the Politburo

He was baptized in the Royal Chapel of the Royal Palace in Oslo on 31 March 1937 by Bishop Johan Lunde.

Offended by the British "guarantee" on 31 March 1939 of Polish independence, he said, "I shall brew them a devil's drink".

On 28 March the Nationalists occupied Madrid and, by 31 March, they controlled all Spanish territory.

At dawn on 31 March 1942, a dozen Japanese bombers launched the attack, destroying the radio station. The same day, a Japanese fleet of nine vessels arrived, and the island was surrendered.

The Indian Ocean raid was a naval sortie carried out by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 31 March to 10 April 1942. Japanese aircraft carriers under Admiral Chūichi Nagumo struck Allied shipping and naval bases around Ceylon, but failed to locate and destroy the bulk of the British Eastern Fleet.

In February, the Soviets entered Upper Silesia.

Turing was later convinced by the advice of his brother and his own solicitor, and he entered a plea of guilty. The case, Regina v. Turing and Murray, was brought to trial on 31 March 1952. Turing was convicted and given a choice between imprisonment and probation. His probation would be conditional on his agreement to undergo hormonal physical changes designed to reduce libido. He accepted the option of injections of what was then called stilboestrol (now known as diethylstilbestrol or DES), a synthetic oestrogen; this feminization of his body was continued for the course of one year.

Dr. No novel was published. Dr. No is the sixth novel by the English author Ian Fleming to feature his British Secret Service agent James Bond. Fleming wrote the novel in early 1957 at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica.

A state funeral service was conducted at the Washington National Cathedral on March 31.

Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza under the tower on 31 March 1984.

There was an urgent need for a law to clearly define the powers of each federal subject. Such a law was passed on 31 March 1992, when Yeltsin and Ruslan Khasbulatov, then chairman of the Russian Supreme Soviet and an ethnic Chechen himself, signed the Federation Treaty bilaterally with 86 out of 88 federal subjects.

On 31 March 1993, the United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 816, calling on member states to enforce a no-fly zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Johnson defeated Bret Hart by disqualification in a title defense on the March 31, 1997, episode of Raw is War. Behind the scenes, Hart mentored Johnson for his first year in WWF and refused to be booked to take the title from him.

On March 31, 2002, Xerox restated its financials which reflected the reallocation of equipment sales revenue of more than $2 billion.

On March 31, 2002, French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier filed a $10 million lawsuit against Eminem and Dr. Dre, claiming that the beat for "Kill You" was taken from his instrumental "Pulsion". Loussier demanded that sales of The Marshall Mathers LP be halted, and any remaining copies destroyed. The case was later settled out of court.

The next night, Raw was billed as "The Rock Appreciation Night", in honor of his victory over Austin. That night, he was attacked by a debuting Goldberg.

On March 31, 2010, the YouTube website launched a new design, with the aim of simplifying the interface and increasing the time users spend on the site.

On 31 March 2013, Francis used his first Easter homily to make a plea for peace throughout the world, specifically mentioning the Middle East, Africa, and North and South Korea.

On March 31, 2016, Tesla unveiled the car (Model 3).

In the year to 31 March 2017, 580,000 people visited the palace, and 154,000 visited the gallery.

On 31 March 2018, Immobile scored twice in Lazio's 6–2 home win over Benevento, his 36th goal of the season, breaking Giorgio Chinaglia's previous record for most goals scored by a Lazio player in a single season, by two goals.

On 31 March, in his second appearance of the season, Ibrahimović scored two goals from the penalty spot, including one Panenka-style, in a 2–1 home win over the Portland Timbers. With this he reached 515 career goals, overtaking fellow countryman Gunnar Nordahl to become the Swedish player with the most goals in football history.

On 18 January 2020, Buckingham Palace announced that, following their decision to step back from royal duties, from 31 March 2020 Harry and his wife have agreed not to use their Royal Highness styles, but as a British prince he will not be stripped of his style and titles.

On March 31, 2020, Xerox abolished its $24 a share offer.

On 31 March 2021, Xiaomi announced a new logo for the company, designed by Kenya Hara.

The Archipelago of St Lazarus, Philippines was taken possession of by Ferdinand Magellan.

The English poet Andrew Marvell was born in Winestead, England.

There was a great earthquake in Cuzco, Peru.

The second Sikh guru, Angad Dev, was born in Panjab.

The British Governor of New York and New Jersey, Edward Hyde, passed away at the age of 61.

Henry II became King of France.

King Francis I of France died in 1547 complaining about the weight of the crown.

The first Mass in the Philippines is believed to have taken place on the Island of Limasawa, but may have also taken place on Masao in Butuan.