May 31 in history — What Happened Today in History

Bicesse Accords in Angola lay out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations' UNAVEM II peacekeeping mission.

The Ariane 2 rocket is launched on its maiden flight, carrying Intelsat VA F-14, but the mission ends in failure.

United States–Canada tornado outbreak: Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.

The United States Senate votes to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of the Cambodian Civil War.

Indian Airlines Flight 440 crashes near Palam Airport in Delhi, killing 48.

In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.

The 7.9 Mw Ancash earthquake shakes Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) and a landslide buries the town of Yungay, Peru. Between 66,794 and 70,000 were killed and 50,000 were injured.

The West Indies Federation dissolves.

The South African Constitution of 1961 becomes effective, thus creating the Republic of South Africa, which remains outside the Commonwealth of Nations until 1 June 1994, when South Africa is returned to Commonwealth membership.

In Moscow City Court, the Rokotov–Faibishenko show trial begins, despite the Khrushchev Thaw to reverse Stalinist elements in Soviet society.

The U.S. Supreme Court expands on its Brown v. Board of Education decision by ordering district courts and school districts to enforce educational desegregation "at all deliberate speed."

The Uniform Code of Military Justice takes effect as the legal system of the United States Armed Forces.

Ferenc Nagy, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Hungary, resigns from office after blackmail from the Hungarian Communist Party accusing him of being part of a plot against the state. This grants the Communists effective control of the Hungarian government.

World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.

Anglo-Iraqi War: The United Kingdom completes the re-occupation of Iraq and returns 'Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.

A 7.7 Mw earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan killing 40,000.

Hope Development School fire kills 24 people, mostly disabled children.

The Tulsa race massacre kills at least 39, but other estimates of black fatalities vary from 55 to about 300.

World War I: Battle of Jutland: The British Grand Fleet engages the High Seas Fleet in the largest naval battle of the war, which proves indecisive.

The RMS Titanic is launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz flees the country during the Mexican Revolution.

The South Africa Act comes into force, establishing the Union of South Africa.

The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), convenes for the first time.

The attempted regicide of Spanish King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie on their wedding day instead kills 24.

Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.

Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people die after a dam fails and sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

The arrival at Plymouth of Tāwhiao, King of Maoris, to claim the protection of Queen Victoria.

Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson, Icelandic politician

Azealia Banks, American singer-songwriter and rapper

Erik Karlsson, Swedish ice hockey player

Marco Reus, German footballer

Waka Flocka Flame, American rapper

Robert Gesink, Dutch cyclist

Jordy Nelson, American football player

Andrew Bailey, American baseball player

Milorad Čavić, Serbian swimmer

Nate Robinson, American basketball player

Brett Firman, Australian rugby league player

Mikael Antonsson, Swedish footballer

Daniele Bonera, Italian footballer

Marilyn Beck, American journalist (born 1928)

Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer and coach (born 1952)

Hoss Ellington, American race car driver (born 1935)

Martha Hyer, American actress (born 1924)

Lewis Katz, American businessman and philanthropist (born 1942)

Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, English author (born 1922)

Gerald E. Brown, American physicist and academic (born 1926)

Frederic Lindsay, Scottish author and educator (born 1933)

Miguel Méndez, American author and poet (born 1930)

Tim Samaras, American engineer and storm chaser (born 1957)

Jairo Mora Sandoval, Costa Rican environmentalist (born 1987)

Jean Stapleton, American actress (born 1923)

Christopher Challis, English cinematographer (born 1919)