Events
of the day
Martyr’s
Day (India)
World
Leprosy Day
World
Leprosy Day is observed internationally
on January 31 or its nearest Sunday to increase
the public awareness of the Leprosy or Hansen's
Disease.
1790
– The first boat specializing as a lifeboat
is tested on the River Tyne.
1820 – Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity
Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica.
1847 – Yerba Buena, California is renamed
San Francisco.
1933 – Adolf Hitler is sworn in as Chancellor
of Germany.
1945 – World War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff,
overfilled with refugees, sinks in the Baltic
Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine,
leading to the deadliest known maritime
disaster, killing approximately 9,400 people.
1959 – MS Hans Hedtoft, said to be the safest
ship afloat and "unsinkable" like
the RMS Titanic, struck an iceberg on her
maiden voyage and sank, killing all 95 aboard.
1979 – A Varig 707-323C freighter, flown
by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears
over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after
taking off from Tokyo.
1995 – Workers from the National Institutes
of Health announce the success of clinical
trials testing the first preventive treatment
for sickle-cell disease.
2000 – Off the coast of Ivory Coast, Kenya
Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic
Ocean, killing 169.
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