31 March 1658

A Sunday in history

Weekday

Sunday

Season

Spring (N. Hemisphere)

Century

17th century

Records

496

  1. 2023

    A tornado caused the collapse of a venue hosting a sold-out concert in Belvidere, Illinois, United States, resulting in one death and 48 injuries.

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  2. 2018

    Nikol Pashinyan began his protest walk, starting in the city of Gyumri, opening the 2018 Armenian revolution.

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  3. 2004

    The Old National Library Building in Singapore was closed to make way for a tunnel, despite widespread protests.

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  4. 1995

    American singer-songwriter Selena, known as the "queen of Tejano music", was murdered by the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldívar, in Corpus Christi, Texas, deeply affecting the Latino community.

    Source
  5. 1995

    TAROM Flight 371 (pictured) crashed near Balotești, Romania, killing all 60 people on board.

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  6. 1992

    USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, was decommissioned in Long Beach, California.

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  7. 1986

    Mexicana de Aviación Flight 940 crashed into the Sierra Madre Oriental near Maravatío, killing 167 people.

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  8. 1964

    The Brazilian Armed Forces overthrew President João Goulart, establishing a military dictatorship that lasted 21 years.

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  9. 1959

    After a two-week escape journey from Tibet, the 14th Dalai Lama reached the Tawang Monastery in Arunachal Pradesh in India.

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  10. 1942

    Second World War: Because of a mutiny by Indian soldiers against their British officers, Japanese troops captured Christmas Island without any resistance.

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  11. 1930

    To avoid government censorship, Hollywood movie studios instituted their own set of industry censorship guidelines, popularly known as the Hays Code.

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  12. 1921

    The Australian Air Force was formed, replacing the short-lived Australian Air Corps and separating it from the Army.

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  13. 1913

    Arnold Schoenberg conducted the Vienna Concert Society in a concert of expressionist music that so shocked the audience that they began to riot.

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  14. 1910

    Six English towns amalgamated to form a single county borough called Stoke-on-Trent, the first union of its type.

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  15. 1901

    A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the Black Sea, the most powerful ever recorded in the area.

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  16. 1899

    Philippine–American War: Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, was captured by American forces.

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  17. 1854

    U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry (Japanese depiction pictured) and the Tokugawa shogunate signed the Convention of Kanagawa, forcing the opening of Japanese ports to American trade.

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  18. 1800

    After fighting through the night, the French Navy ship of the line Guillaume Tell surrendered to a British squadron in the Malta Channel.

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  19. 1761

    Lisbon experienced its second major earthquake in six years, with effects felt as far north as Scotland.

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  20. 1521

    Ferdinand Magellan and members of his crew participated in the first Catholic Mass in the Philippines.

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  21. 1492

    Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile sign the Alhambra Decree, ordering all Jews to convert to Christianity or be expelled from the country.

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  22. 1174

    A conspiracy against Saladin, aiming to restore the Fatimid Caliphate, was revealed in Cairo.

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  23. 1146

    French abbot Bernard of Clairvaux preached a sermon to a crowd at a council in Vézelay, with King Louis VII in attendance, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade.

    Source

Photo archive

24 historic images from this day — tap to open the gallery.

What was life like?

Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.

Sources & fact check

Every claim is traced to primary sources, archives, universities and the press — with an explicit confidence rating. Dossiers are generated once and cached permanently.