February 1931


The following events occurred in February 1931:

Sunday, February 1, 1931

Monday, February 2, 1931

Tuesday, February 3, 1931

  • The 1931 [Hawke's Bay earthquake|Hawke's Bay earthquake] killed 256 people in New Zealand and devastated the region around Hawke's Bay.
  • The state legislature of Arkansas passed a motion to pray for the soul of the satirical writer H. L. Mencken after he called the state "the Apex of Moronia".
  • At the Piazza Colonna in Rome, authorities moved to arrest two anarchists, one of them the naturalized American Michele Schirru, for plotting to assassinate Benito Mussolini. One anarchist fled, but Schirru pulled out a gun and killed one policeman. Schirru then shot himself, but survived to face trial.
  • The adventure film Trader Horn premiered at the Astor Theatre in New York City.

Wednesday, February 4, 1931

  • A Royal Air Force Blackburn Iris flying boat plunged into Plymouth Sound and exploded, killing 9 of its crew. One of the first to the rescue was T. E. Lawrence, then stationed at the RAF Mount Batten.
  • The National League adopted a new, deader baseball for the 1931 season in an effort to cut down on very high scoring rates.
  • Buster Keaton got into a violent brawl with his mistress, the actress Kathleen Key, until MGM studio police rushed into Keaton's dressing room and hauled Key away. The fight made national headlines, but MGM had Keaton make up an explanation that they were arguing over a bet they'd made that the actress could lose 20 pounds in ten days. Keaton then cut a secret $10,000 check to Key in order to keep their love affair out of the press.
  • Born: Isabel Perón, president of Argentina from 1974 to 1976, the first woman to serve as president of a country.

Thursday, February 5, 1931

Friday, February 6, 1931

  • Kijūrō Shidehara made a speech in the Japanese National Diet in which he explained that Emperor Hirohito's approval of the London Naval Treaty was confirmation that it did not endanger the country's security. Opposition members took this to mean that any defects in the treaty were a reflection on the emperor, and one member pulled out a dagger during the ensuing debate. Shidehara left the building under heavy guard as a brawl broke out in an anteroom of the Diet, injuring 12.
  • Born:
  • *Rip Torn, U.S. film and TV actor and comedian; in Temple, Texas
  • *Mamie Van Doren, U.S. actress, model and singer, in Rowena, South Dakota

Saturday, February 7, 1931

Sunday, February 8, 1931

Monday, February 9, 1931

Tuesday, February 10, 1931

  • Several days of festivities began marking the transfer of the capital of India to New Delhi.
  • The 107 Nazi deputies of the Reichstag walked out and began a boycott of parliament in protest of new reforms which included the removal of parliamentary immunity from deputies against whom court cases were pending. The German National People's Party joined in the boycott.

Wednesday, February 11, 1931

  • Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Snowden warned the House of Commons, "I say with all the seriousness I can command that the national position is so grave that drastic and disagreeable measures will have to be taken if Budget equilibrium is to be maintained and if industrial progress is to be made ... No Budget in the world could stand such an excessive strain as that which has been placed upon it by the increase of unemployment during the last 12 months."
  • Born: Larry Merchant, American sportswriter and commentator, in Brooklyn
  • Died:
  • *Charles Dryden, 70, American sports writer and humorist
  • *Charles Algernon Parsons, 76, British engineer known for the invention of the compound steam turbine

Thursday, February 12, 1931

Friday, February 13, 1931

  • New Delhi became the capital of India.
  • The Lancashire cotton weaver's lockout ended when the owners capitulated and agreed to let the weavers keep their old pay scale and working hours.
  • Born: Geoff Edwards, American television actor, radio personality and TV game show host, in Westfield, New Jersey

Saturday, February 14, 1931

Sunday, February 15, 1931

  • Hungary swept the fifth 1931 [World Table Tennis Championships|World Table Tennis Championships].
  • Died:
  • *Lillian Leitzel, 39, German-born U.S. acrobat and circus performer, died two days after falling while performing at a circus in Copenhagen;
  • *Louis Mann, 65, American stage actor

Monday, February 16, 1931

Tuesday, February 17, 1931

Wednesday, February 18, 1931

Thursday, February 19, 1931

Friday, February 20, 1931

  • King Zog I of Albania survived an assassination attempt as he was leaving the Vienna State Opera building. Two Albanian students opened fire as members of the royal entourage emerged from the building, killing one of Zog's bodyguards and injuring two others. However, the king left through a different exit and was unharmed.

Saturday, February 21, 1931

  • A hurricane in the Fiji Islands killed 230 people.
  • A coal mine explosion in Eschweiler in Germany killed 31 people.
  • The Soviet Union revoked the citizenship of Leon Trotsky.

Sunday, February 22, 1931

  • An estimated 40,000 German republicans demonstrated in the Berlin Lustgarten in favour of the republic and against antidemocratic parties. At the same time, 5,000 members of the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold marched in uniform. Isolated clashes were reported in other German cities where similar demonstrations took place.

Monday, February 23, 1931

  • The Sicilian capital of Palermo was flooded by torrential rains.
  • A pipe bomb exploded inside a vent in the Cuban presidential palace, but no one was hurt.
  • Died: Dame Nellie Melba, 69, Australian operatic soprano

Tuesday, February 24, 1931

  • Cuban President Gerardo Machado survived the second attempt on his life within 24 hours when police seized a youth who attempted to draw a pistol while Machado was making a speech dedicating the new capitol.
  • Norwegian ski jumper Sigmund Ruud set a new world record with a jump of 81 meters.
  • The U.S. Supreme Court decided United States v. Sprague, upholding the validity of the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the prohibition against the sale of alcohol in the United States.
  • Born: Brian Close, English cricketer and the youngest man to play Test cricket for the England national team; in Rawdon, West Yorkshire

Wednesday, February 25, 1931

Thursday, February 26, 1931

Friday, February 27, 1931

  • Al Capone was sentenced in Chicago to six months in prison for contempt of court. He was released on bond pending appeal.
  • The New York World family of newspapers were sold to the Scripps-Howard syndicate for $5 million. The World ceased publication and was merged with the New York Telegram to form the New York World-Telegram.
  • The Canadian government banned the importation of Soviet goods, explaining that they did not want to economically strengthen communism. The Soviet Union banned Canadian goods in reprisal.

Saturday, February 28, 1931

  • Sir Oswald Mosley resigned from the Labour Party and immediately announced the formation of a new political organization known as the New Party. "We differ from the old parties in our demand for a complete revision of parliament which will change it from a talk shop into a workshop", Mosley explained in a statement. "We challenge the 50-year-old system of free trade which exposes industry in the home market to the chaos of world conditions, such as price fluctuations, dumping and competition of sweated labor, which result in the lowering of wages and industrial decay."
  • Born:
  • *Dean Smith, U.S. college basketball coach who won 879 games for the University of North Carolina and two NCAA championships; in Emporia, Kansas
  • *Gavin MacLeod, American TV and film actor known for The Love Boat and The Mary Tyler Moore Show; in Mount Kisco, New York
  • Died: Rear Admiral Thomas S. Rodgers, 72, U.S. Navy officer