Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/January 31
This is a list of selected January 31 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
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January 31: Independence Day in Nauru (1968)
- 1862 – American astronomer Alvan Graham Clark first observed the faint white dwarf companion of Sirius (pictured), the brightest star in the night sky.
- 1917 – World War I: Germany announced its U-boats would resume unrestricted submarine warfare, less than two years after having suspended its attacks after the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.
- 1943 – World War II: American and Australian forces stopped a Japanese advance in the Battle of Wau during the New Guinea campaign.
- 1946 – In the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a new constitution established the six constituent republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.
- 1971 – The Vietnam Veterans Against the War opened the Winter Soldier Investigation, a three-day media event to publicize war crimes and other atrocities by American forces and their allies during the Vietnam War.