January 31st, 1939

Born on January 31st, 1939

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 31,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 97 days, exactly on September 11th, 2026, people who were born on January 31st, 1939 will be 32,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on January 31st?

January 31st, 1850

Ute Wars: On behalf of Utah territorial governor Brigham Young, militia leader Daniel H. Wells drafted an order for the Utah Territorial Militia to exterminate Timpanogos men deemed hostile, leading to the Provo River Massacre.

January 31st, 1827

Mexican soldiers and Texan militiamen marched into Nacogdoches, Texas, to end the Fredonian Rebellion.

January 31st, 1703

Forty-seven rōnin (depicted) attacked the home of Kira Yoshinaka and killed him in an act of revenge for Asano Naganori, their dead feudal lord.

January 31st, 2013

A gas leak underneath the Pemex Executive Tower in Mexico City caused an explosion (aftermath pictured) that killed at least 37 people and injured another 121.

January 31st, 2010

James Cameron's Avatar became the first film to earn over US$2 billion worldwide.

January 31st, 2000

Alaska Airlines Flight 261, experiencing problems with its horizontal stabilizer system, crashed in the Pacific Ocean off Anacapa Island, California, killing all 88 people on board.

January 31st, 1988

Doug Williams became the first African-American quarterback to play in the Super Bowl, leading the Washington Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII.

January 31st, 1961

Aboard NASA's Mercury-Redstone 2, the chimpanzee Ham became the first hominid to be launched into outer space.

January 31st, 1957

A DC-7B operated by Douglas Aircraft collided in mid-air with a U.S. Air Force F-89 and crashed into a schoolyard in Pacoima, California.

January 31st, 1900

Datu Muhammad Salleh, leader of a series of major disturbances in North Borneo, was shot dead in Tambunan, but his followers did not give up for five more years.

January 31st, 1862

American astronomer Alvan Graham Clark first observed the faint white dwarf companion of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.

January 31st, 1747

The London Lock Hospital, the first voluntary hospital specialising in the treatment of venereal diseases, opened.

January 31st, 1578

Eighty Years' War: Spanish forces won a crushing victory at the Battle of Gembloux, threatening the States General of the Netherlands and contributing to its move from Brussels to Antwerp.

January 31st, 1208

Sverker II was defeated at the Battle of Lena by Erik Knutsson, who succeeded him as King of Sweden.

January 31st, 0314

Sylvester I (bust depicted), during whose pontificate many churches in Rome were constructed by Constantine the Great, began his reign as pope.

Birthdays
... of famous people, actors, celebrities and stars on January 31st

Same year
Born in 1939

87

Helga Piur

German actress and voice actress

*May 24th, 1939, Berlin

87

Hans Kloft

German historian of classical antiquity

*April 10th, 1939, Düsseldorf

83

Hans-Christian Ströbele

German lawyer and politician (1939–2022)

*June 7th, 1939, Halle (Saale) †August 29th, 2022, Moabit

83

Tina Turner

American-born Swiss singer and songwriter (1939–2023)

*November 26th, 1939, Brownsville †May 24th, 2023, Küsnacht

77

Dudley Storey

New Zealand rower

*November 27th, 1939, Wairoa †March 6th, 2017, Auckland

77

Bill White

Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach (1939-2017)

*August 26th, 1939, Toronto †May 21st, 2017, Toronto

78

Oscar Fulloné

Argentine association football player and manager (1939-2017)

*April 4th, 1939, La Plata †May 22nd, 2017, Casablanca

70

Dixie Carter

American actress (1939–2010)

*May 25th, 1939, McLemoresville †April 10th, 2010, Houston

84

Heinrich Messner

Austrian alpine skier

*September 1st, 1939, Obernberg am Brenner †October 19th, 2023

86

Margaret Atwood

Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pépiniériste and inventor

*November 18th, 1939, Ottawa

86

Yves Meyer

French mathematician

*July 19th, 1939, Paris

87

Monika von Starck

German painter and sculptor

*February 3rd, 1939, Cologne

74

Karen Black

American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter (1939-2013)

*July 1st, 1939, Park Ridge †August 8th, 2013, Santa Monica

78

Irio De Paula

Brazilian composer (1939–2017)

*May 10th, 1939, Rio de Janeiro †May 23rd, 2017, Rome

87

Ian McKellen

British actor (born 1939)

*May 25th, 1939, Burnley

59

Dusty Springfield

British singer (1939–1999)

*April 16th, 1939, London †March 2nd, 1999, Henley-on-Thames

78

Peter Grünberg

German physicist, and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (1939-2018)

*May 18th, 1939, Plzeň †April 7th, 2018, Jülich

80

Karel Gott

Czech singer and actor

*July 14th, 1939, Plzeň †October 1st, 2019, Prague

80

Ginger Baker

British drummer (1939–2019)

*August 19th, 1939, Lewisham †October 6th, 2019, Canterbury

86

Brenda Vaccaro

American actress

*November 18th, 1939, Brooklyn

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on January 31st

Fixed holidays (Christian feast day) which are celebrated on January 31st.

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Born on January 31st, 1939
Future birthdays

Leap year

No: With 365 days 1939 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
January 1939