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What happened in history on this day: March 31?
Since 1995, I have been collecting information on a variety of topics,
creating several timelines of history.
Here you will find specific events from those databases
for this day, on the topics of personal computers, video games, the Walt Disney Company,
Chevrolet Corvettes, A&W Root Beer, Sweden, and Canadian coins.
On March 31 in ...
- 1995 - Microsoft ships Microsoft Bob for Windows. Price is US$99. One of the helper characters is Java the dinosaur.
- 1997 - The consumer software division of Pixar Animation Studios is dissolved.
- 1998 - Blizzard releases the StarCraft game for personal computers in the US.
- 1998 - Shipments of personal computers in Japan during the past twelve months: 6.85 million.
- 1999 - Processor unit shares in the PC market: Advanced Micro Devices 46.7%, Intel 42.2%, Cyrix 11%.
- 1999 - Shipments of personal computers in Japan during the past twelve months: 7.53 million.
- 2002 - The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. A personal computer is shown at a phone company.
- 2002 - The Fox Broadcasting Company airs the Futurama TV show in the US. A video commercial is a parody of the 1984 advertisement for the Apple Macintosh computer.
- 2007 - Since April 2004, Microsoft has paid US$300 million in legal fees and $4 billion in litigation settlements.
- 1926 - Disney ships the 32nd Alice Comedy film, Alice in the Wooly West, to M.J. Winkler Productions.
- 1930 - The first episode of the first Mickey Mouse adventure story comic strip, "Mickey Mouse in Death Valley" is published in newspapers.
- 1930 - At this date, about 60 theaters are operating Mickey Mouse Clubs.
- 1944 - The Donald Duck film Donald Duck and the Gorilla is released to theaters. Huey, Dewey, and Louie also appear.
- 1958 - The Grand Canyon Diorama attraction opens in Disneyland, part of the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad. At 306 feet long, it is the world's longest seamless hand-woven canvas. The attraction cost US$367,814 to build.
- 1968 - The NBC TV network airs the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color show, featuring The Mystery of Edward Sims, part one.
- 1974 - The NBC TV network airs The Wonderful World of Disney show, featuring the documentary film The Magic of Walt Disney World.
- 1988 - Disney removes the film Sleeping Beauty from the videocassette market. It sold 1.2 million copies, bringing in US$21.6 million in revenue.
- 1990 - The NBC TV network begins airing the series Carol & Co..
- 1991 - The NBC TV network airs the two-hour pilot The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage.
- 1991 - The Disney Channel airs the Disney Channel Premiere Film Perfect Harmony.
- 1993 - Disney releases the film Pollyanna on laserdisc for US$45.
- 1995 - Buena Vista Pictures releases the Touchstone Pictures live-action feature film Jefferson in Paris to theaters in New York and Los Angeles.
- 1996 - The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. Four children choose a vacation spot; one says "So, it's a choice between Disney World and Knoxville.". "Knoxville!" they reply.
- 1999 - Disney releases the Touchstone Pictures live-action feature film 10 Things I Hate About You to theaters in the USA.
- 1999 - Disney completes the 100% purchase of the Anaheim Angels baseball team.
- 2000 - Disney releases the Touchstone Pictures live-action feature film High Fidelity to theaters in the USA.
- 2002 - Over the past twelve months, attendance at Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea was 22 million visitors.
- 2002 - The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. A book is titled Who Wants to be a Braziliannaire?, a reference to the Disney-ABC TV show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?.
- 2003 - Over the past twelve months, attendance at Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea was 25 million visitors.
- 2003 - IMAX Corporation releases the animated feature film The Lion King to theaters in Russia.
- 2009 - The ABC TV network premieres the TV series Cupid.
- 2012 - The Disney Fantasy cruise ship makes its maiden voyage, from Port Canaveral, Florida.
- 2007 - At the St. Petersburg street circuit in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg race is held, round two of the American Le Mans Series.
- Finishing 1st in LMGT1 class and 8th overall is the Corvette Racing #4 Corvette C6.R driven by Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta.
- Placing 2nd in LMGT1 class and 23rd overall but not finishing the race is the Corvette Racing #3 Corvette C6.R driven by Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen.
- 1919 - French Marshal Ferdinand Foch says to leaders of Great Britain and the USA that without the Rhine frontier in French possession, the Versailles settlement would be no more than "the armistice for twenty years".
- 1939 - (afternoon) British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announces in an address to the House of Commons that the British and French governments would lend support to the Polish government if its independence is threatened.
- 1940 - German armed merchant raider Atlantis leaves Germany.
- 1941 - German 5th Light Division attacks British forces at Mersa el Brega, but are unable to defeat them.
- 1941 - German merchant ships Muenchen and Hermouthis are scuttled by their crews to avoid capture by Royal Canadian Navy armed merchant cruiser Prince Henry, which intercepted them off Peru.
- 1941 - (evening) Bomber Command drops its first 4,000-pound bomb, by a Wellington aircraft over Emden, Germany.
- 1941 - (night) German 8th Machine Gun Battalion successfully drives British forces from Mersa el Brega, gaining Bren gun-carriers and 30 lorries.
- 1942 - (0200 hours) Operation Performance begins. Ten British-chartered Norwegian ships begin leaving Göteborg, Sweden, for Britain, loaded with special steels vital to the British war effort. Only two ships make it through the German blockade to Leith, Scotland, but deliver a valuable 5,000 tons of cargo.
- 1945 - British bombers make a heavy attack on the Blohm and Voss submarine yards at Hamburg, Germany.
- 1945 - Soviets launch another major air and artillery bombardment of Breslau, Germany.
- 1945 - Canada's Commonwealth air training program ends. 131,500 aircrew graduated.
- 2005 - Micronesia issues ten postage stamps marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.
- 1990 - Unit sales of Nintendo Game Boy game systems over the past twelve months: about 2.8 million.
- 1991 - Unit sales of Nintendo Game Boy game systems over the past twelve months: about 8 million.
- 1992 - Unit sales of Nintendo Game Boy game systems over the past twelve months: about 10.5 million.
- 1993 - Unit sales of Nintendo Game Boy game systems over the past twelve months: about 7.8 million.
- 1994 - Unit sales of Nintendo Game Boy game systems over the past twelve months: about 7.5 million.
- 1995 - Unit sales of Nintendo Game Boy game systems over the past twelve months: about 5.5 million.
- 1996 - Unit sales of Nintendo Game Boy game systems over the past twelve months: about 4.1 million.
- 1997 - Unit sales of Nintendo Game Boy game systems over the past twelve months: about 7 million.
- 1997 - Unit sales of Nintendo 64 game systems in North America to date: 2.5 million.
- 2001 - Sega halts production of the Dreamcast system.
- 2001 - Unit sales of the Super Mario 64 video game to date: 9.52 million.
- 2001 - Unit sales of the GoldenEye 007 video game to date: 7.61 million.
- 2001 - Unit sales of the Mario Kart 64 video game to date: 7.16 million.
- 2001 - Unit sales of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time video game to date: 6.04 million.
- 2001 - Unit sales of the Pokémon Stadium video game to date: 4.3 million.
- 2002 - Nintendo reports it has sold 3.8 million GameCube systems to date.
- 2002 - Worldwide shipments of the Dreamcast system: about 10 million.
- 2003 - Unit shipments of video game systems worldwide to date: PlayStation 2 51.2 million, Xbox 13 million, GameCube 9.4 million, Game Boy (all types) 120 million.
- 2003 - Unit shipments of the Nintendo GameCube during the past twelve months: 5.6 million.
- 2003 - Unit shipments of the Nintendo Game Boy Advance during the past twelve months: 15.7 million.
- 2007 - To date, Sony has shipped 5.5 million PlayStation 3 systems worldwide.
- 2007 - To date, Sony has sold 117.89 million PlayStation 2 units worldwide.
- 2007 - To date, Sony has sold 100 million PlayStation units worldwide.
- 2007 - To date, Sony has sold 8.4 million PlayStation Portable units worldwide.
- 2007 - To date, Nintendo has sold 23.6 million Nintendo DS units worldwide.
- 1953 - Swede Dag Hammarskjold is elected Secretary General of the United Nations.
- 2002 - The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. A hostage taker refers to the Stockholm Syndrome in explaining why his hostage created a scrapbook documenting their time together.
- 2008 - Pernod Ricard of France buys V&S Group from the government of Sweden for US$8.9 billion.
- 1951 - At a Canada Coin Exchange sale, an uncirculated 1921 50c coin sells for $200. John Pittman buys an uncirculated 1889 10c coin for $67.
- 1965 - The contest for submitting 1967 coinage designs closes.
- 1990 - In New York City, New York, Auctions by Bowers and Merena holds an auction of Canadian coins. Some highlights in rough Canadian dollars:
- 5 cents 1872-H SP-67: $10,000;
- 5 cents 1881-H SP-67: $10,000;
- 10 cents 1901: $10,000;
- 50 cents 1872-H MS-64 Proof: $28,500;
- 50 cents 1904: $15,000;
- 50 cents 1908 Gem: $20,000.
- 1995 - The Minister of Public Works and Government Services announces the government's intention to make the 1c coin of bronze-plated steel, and the 5c-50c coins of nickel-plated steel, effective January 1, 1996. The reason for the change is to make the coins cheaper to produce.
- 1835 - US Secretary of State John Forsyth writes to Mint Director Samuel Moore asking for two more sets of US coins (including 1804 $1 and $10) for presentation to rulers of Japan and Cochin China.
- 1837 - US Mint Chief Coiner Eckfeldt delivers 600 Gobrecht dollars dated 1836 struck in medal alignment.
- 1838 - The US Mint releases first 1838 dimes to circulation.
- 1853 - US Senate confirms Thomas Pettit as US Mint Director.
- 1861 - Confederate States' officials take possession of the New Orleans Mint.
- 1936 - Congress authorizes 1936 Stephen Foster / Cincinnati Music Center commemorative half dollar.
- 1971 - The US Mint begins regular production of Eisenhower silver-copper dollars.
- 1988 - An act of Congress restores the mint status of the San Francisco Assay Office facility.
- 1877 - Test Cricket debut of Fred "Demon" Spofforth, Australia versus England at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
- 1909 - American Major League Baseball rules that players who jump contracts are suspended for five years.
- 1923 - Stanley Cup: Ottawa Senators (NHL) sweep Edmonton Eskimos (WCHL) in two games.
- 1935 - Fusahige Suzuki runs world record marathon (2:07:09).
- 1955 - Collie Smith scores 104 on cricket debut West Indies versus Australia, Kingston.
- 1968 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Palm Beach County Golf Open.
- 1968 - Seattle's American League club is named Pilots.
- 1970 - US Federal bankruptcy court allows Seattle Pilots to be sold to Milwaukee.
- 1973 - Philadelphia Flyers score 8 goals in one period vs New York Islanders, on 60 shots.
- 1973 - Ken Norton defeats Muhammad Ali in a 12-round split decision.
- 1975 - 37th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Kentucky 92-55; this is John Wooden's final game and UCLA's 10th NCAA championship in 12 years.
- 1976 - Cleveland Cavaliers clinch their first ever NBA playoff berth.
- 1978 - Red Rum wins third consecutive Grand National and retires.
- 1980 - Larry Holmes TKOs Leroy Jones in 8 rounds for WBC heavyweight boxing title.
- 1980 - Mike Weaver knocks out John Tate in 15 rounds for WBA heavyweight boxing title.
- 1985 - 4th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Old Dominion beats Georgia 70-65.
- 1986 - 48th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Louisville beats Duke 72-69.
- 1987 - 49th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Indiana beats Syracuse 74-73.
- 1990 - Dionisio Castro cycles world record 20 km (57:18.4).
- 1991 - 10th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Tennessee beats Virginia 70-67.
- 1991 - 20th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Amy Alcott.
- 1991 - Saint Louis Blues' Brett Hull scores his 86th goal.
- 1992 - Delhi beats Tamil Nadu on first innings to win cricket Ranji Trophy.
- 1994 - Walkway from Cleveland's Tower City to Jacobs Field officially opens.
- 1995 - First game at Coors Stadium, Colorado (replacement Colorado Rockies beat New York Yankees 4-1).
- 1995 - Bombay beats Punjab on first innings to win cricket Ranji Trophy.
- 1995 - Federal judge orders injunction to end US baseball strike.
- 1996 - 15th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Tennessee beats Georgia 83-65.
- 1996 - First baseball Opening Day in March takes place in Seattle.
- 1996 - 25th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Patty Sheehan.
- 1996 - Karnataka defeats Tamil Nadu on first innings to win Ranji Trophy.
- 1997 - 59th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Arizona beats Kentucky 84-79 (overtime).
- 1998 - Tampa Bay Devil Rays' first game; they host Detroit Tigers.
- 2022 - At Honda Center in Anaheim, California, USA, NHL regular season game: Dallas Stars beats Anaheim Ducks by score 3-2.
- 2022 - At Scotiabank Saddledrome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, NHL regular season game: Los Angeles Kings beats Calgary Flames by score 3-2.
- 2022 - At Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, USA, NHL regular season game: Colorado Avalanche beats San Jose Sharks by score 4-2.
- 2022 - At Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, NHL regular season game: Pittsburgh Penguins beats Minnesota Wild by score 4-3.
- 2022 - At PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, NHL regular season game: Carolina Hurricanes beats Montreal Canadiens by score 4-0.
- 2022 - At UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, USA, NHL regular season game: New York Islanders beats Columbus Blue Jackets by score 5-2.
- 2022 - At FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, USA, NHL regular season game: Florida Panthers beats Chicago Blackhawks by score 4-0.
- 2022 - At Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, NHL regular season game: Toronto Maple Leafs beats Winnepeg Jets by score 7-3.
- 2022 - At TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, NHL regular season game: Boston Bruins beats New Jersey Devils by score 8-1.
- 1966 - USSR launches Luna 10, first lunar orbiter.
- 1971 - From Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA launches a rocket with Canadian ISIS-B satellite into space, to conduct twelve experiments studying the ionosphere.
- 1978 - USSR launches Kosmos 1000 navigational satellite.
- 1996 - Space Shuttle STS 76 (Atlantis 16), lands.
- 1997 - Pioneer 10 ends its mission.
- 2009 - In Moscow, Russia, six volunteer "astronauts" are locked inside a mock spacecraft, to see if they can stand the simulated conditions of a manned flight to Mars, which would take over 100 days. Those who last more than 100 days experiencing the same isolation and claustrophobia as astronauts will earn a US$20,000 reward.
- 1850 - US population hits 23,191,876 (Black population: 3,638,808 (15.7%)).
- 1853 - US Senate confirms Thomas Pettit as US Mint Director.
- 1854 - Treaty of Kanagawa: US Commodore Matthew Perry forces Japan to opens ports to foreign trade.
- 1861 - Confederate forces seize control of the New Orleans Mint, Louisiana, CSA.
- 1862 - Civil War action at Island #10 on the Mississippi River.
- 1865 - Battle of Boydton, Virginia (White Oaks Roads, Dinwiddie Court House).
- 1865 - Confederate General Pickette moves to Five Forks, abandoning the defense of Peterburg.
- 1880 - Wabash, Indiana, USA is first town completely illuminated by electric lighting.
- 1886 - The North, Central, and South American Exposition closes in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- 1917 - The USA assumes control of the Danish West Indies.
- 1918 - First daylight savings time in US goes into effect.
- 1932 - Ford publicly unveils its V-8 engine.
- 1933 - First newspaper published on pine pulp paper, Soperton News (Georgia, USA).
- 1933 - US Congress authorizes Civilian Conservation Corps.
- 1943 - Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! opens on Broadway.
- 1943 - US errantly bombs Rotterdam, kills 326.
- 1945 - Maurice Rose, first US General in Germany, killed in action at age 45.
- 1945 - US artillery lands on Keise Shima; begins firing on Okinawa.
- 1948 - US Congress passes Marshall Aid Act to rehabilitate war-torn Europe.
- 1951 - US tanks cross 38 degrees of latitude in Korea.
- 1953 - US Department of Health, Education and Welfare established.
- 1954 - US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is established.
- 1955 - American banks Chase National (third largest bank) and Bank of the Manhattan Company (15th largest bank) merge to form Chase Manhattan Bank.
- 1955 - US Assay Office in Seattle, Washington, USA closes.
- 1958 - The Grand Canyon Diorama attraction opens in Disneyland, part of the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad. At 306 feet long, it is the world's longest seamless hand-woven canvas.
- 1958 - US Navy forms atomic submarine division.
- 1958 - USSR suspends nuclear weapons tests, and urges US and Britain to do same.
- 1963 - Los Angeles, California, ends streetcar service after 90 years.
- 1965 - US orders the first combat troops to Vietnam.
- 1966 - 25,000 anti-war demonstrators march in New York City, New York.
- 1968 - US President Lyndon Johnson announces that he would neither seek nor accept the nomination of his party for re-election.
- 1971 - American Lieutenant William L Calley Junior sentenced to life for My Lai Massacre.
- 1971 - From Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA launches a rocket with Canadian ISIS-B satellite into space, to conduct twelve experiments studying the ionosphere.
- 1976 - New Jersey Court rules Karen Anne Quinlan may be disconnected from respirator.
- 1980 - US President Jimmy Carter deregulates banking industry.
- 1980 - Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operate final train.
- 1981 - First Golden Raspberry Awards: Can't Stop the Music wins.
- 1981 - The 53rd Academy Awards, hosted by Johnny Carson, are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Robert Redford's directorial debut in Ordinary People wins Best Picture and Best Director. Robert De Niro wins Best Actor; Sissy Spacek wins Best Actress.
- 1982 - Rock group Doobie Brothers split up.
- 1982 - Arkas tanker at Montz, Louisiana, spills 1.47 million gallons of oil.
- 1982 - The U.S. Gold Commission issues its 227-page report to Congress. It recommends that Treasury issue gold bullion coins, tentatively called American Eagles.
- 1984 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
- 1985 - 15th Easter Seal Telethon raises US$27,400,000.
- 1986 - In Central California, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurs.
- 1988 - The San Francisco Assay Office is renamed San Francisco Mint.
- 1989 - Donald Trump purchases Eastern Airlines' Northeast Shuttle.
- 1995 - In Corpus Christi, Texas, Latin superstar Selena Quintanilla Perez is shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar, the president of her own fan club.
- 2004 - Four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA are killed, and their bodies mutilated, after being ambushed in Fallujah, Iraq.
- 2020 - The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort arrives in New York at Pier 90 in support of the nation's COVID-19 response efforts. The ship will serve as a hospital for non-COVID-19 patients currently admitted to shore-based hospitals.
Other history:
- 1889 - 300 meter Eiffel Tower officially opens (commemorates French Revolution).
- 1949 - Newfoundland becomes Canada's 10th province.
- 2008 - Pernod Ricard, French drink company, wins auction to buy Sweden's Vin & Sprit company for 5.6 billion euros (US$8.9 billion).
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