31 August in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons. 31 August is the birth anniversary of Amrita Pritam, Mallipudi Raju Pallam Mangapati, Rituparno Ghosh, and Shivaji Sawant.
31 August is also observed as the death anniversary of Pranab Mukherjee, and Kashmiri Lal Zakir.
Birth Anniversary
31 August in Indian history is observed as the birth anniversary of the following personalities:
Amrita Pritam (31 August 1919 – 31 October 2005) was a famous poet, novelist, and essayist, who is considered the best poetess of the 20th century Punjabi language. His popularity is equal across the border in Pakistan as well. He ruled the Punjabi world for six decades. Amrita Pritam has written about 100 books in total, including her famous autobiography ‘Rasidi Ticket’.
Mallipudi Raju Pallam Mangapati is a well-known politician and former Human Resource Development Minister. M. Mangapati Pallam Raju was also elected a member of the 9th, 14th, and 15th Lok Sabha. Pallam Raju’s constituency is Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, and the party is the Indian National Congress.
Rituparno Ghosh (31 August 1963 – 30 May 2013) was a famous director, writer, and actor in Bengali films. National Award winner Rituparno Ghosh was known nationally and internationally for films like ‘Chokher Bali’, ‘Raincoat’ and ‘Abohuman’. He and his films won a record twelve ‘National Awards’.
Shivaji Sawant (31 August 1940 – 18 September 2002) full name ‘Shivaji Govindrao Sawant’, was a famous writer of Marathi language.
Read More: 30 August in Indian and World History
Death Anniversary
31 August in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:
Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 1935 – 31 August 2020) was the 13th President of India. He was a prominent leader of the Indian National Congress. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by the Indian National Congress appointed him as the candidate for the President of India in July 2012 and in the presidential election, Pranab Mukherjee defeated the opposition candidate P.A. Had won by defeating Sangma.
Kashmiri Lal Zakir (7 April 1919 – 31 August 2016) was an eminent Urdu poet, novelist and short story writer. Kashmiri Lal Zakir was also the director of the Haryana Urdu Academy. His compositions became popular not only in India but also in Pakistan.
Read More: 29 August in Indian and World History
Notable events on 31 August in Indian and World History
31 August 1870 – Maria Montessori a notable Italian physician and educator, was born.
31 August 1881 – Tennis Championship was played for the first time in America.
31 August 1919 – Amrita Pritam was a notable Indian novelist, essayist, and poet, who expressed herself in both Punjabi and Hindi languages, was born.
31 August 1920 – News was broadcast for the first time on radio in the American city of Detroit.
31 August 1929 – Julio Ramón Ribeyro a distinguished Peruvian writer renowned for his mastery of the short story genre, was born.
31 August 1945 – Nand Kishore Acharya, an Indian playwright, poet, and critic, was born.
31 August 1949 – Hugh David Politzer, an American theoretical physicist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, was born.
31 August 1956-The then President of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad approved the State Reorganization Bill.
31 August 1959 – American baseball player Sandy Koufax sets a National League record.
31 August 1962-Caribbean countries Tobago and Trinidad became independent from Britain.
31 August 1964 – California officially becomes the most populous state in the US.
31 August 1968 – Two-stage rounding rocket Rohini-MSV1 was successfully launched in India.
31 October 1973 – Lucha Reyes – a Peruvian performer and one of the most respected singers of her country – died.
31 August 1983 – India’s satellite INSAT-1B was broadcast from America’s Space Shuttle Challenger.
31 August 1985 – Macfarlane Burnet, an Australian virologist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, died.
31 August 1990 – East and West Germany sign a treaty to harmonize political and legal systems.
31 August 1991 – Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan declare their independence from the Soviet Union.
31 August 1993 – Russia withdraws its last troops from Lithuania.
31 August 1995 – For the first time, Amnesty International registered an objection on human rights in China.
31 August 1996 – Britain’s Labor Party also introduced CTBT on the lines of India. Opposed to the provision of the Convention that requires the member states of the Conference on Disarmament to sign the treaty.
31 August 1997 – Britain’s princess and former wife of Prince Charles, Diana died in a car accident in Paris.
31 August 1999-The United Nations and Western countries expressed satisfaction over the peacefully completed referendum for the independence of East Timor.
31 August 2002-Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif withdrew his nomination paper.
31 August 2002 – George Porter, a British chemist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, died.
31 August 2004 – Italian General Guido Palmeri was appointed as the Principal Military Observer of the United Nations Observer Group in India and Pakistan for one year.
31 August 2005 – Joseph Rotblat, a British physicist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, died.
31 August 2005-816 people were killed in a stampede due to the fear of a fidayeen attack on a religious occasion in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.
31 August 2007-The 10th anniversary of Prince Diana was celebrated in Britain.
31 August 2008- The government resolved the Amarnath land dispute.