History of 31 March
- 1991 – Albania offered a multi-party election for the first time in 50 years. Incumbent President Ramiz Alia won.
- 1991 – Iraqi forces recaptured the northern city of Kirkuk from Kurdish guerillas.
- 1993 – Brandon Lee was killed accidentally while filming a movie.
- 1994 – “Nature” magazine announced that a complete skull of Australopithecus afarensis had been found in Ethiopia. The finding is of humankind’s earliest ancestor.
- 1998 – U.N. Security Council imposed an arms embargo on Yugoslavia.
- 1998 – Buddy Hackett received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- 1998 – For the first time in U.S. history the federal government’s detailed financial statement was released. This occurred under the Clinton administration.
- 1999 – Three U.S. soldiers were captured by Yugoslav soldiers three miles from the Yugoslav border in Macedonia.
- 1999 – Fabio was hit in the face by a bird during a promotional ride of a new roller coaster at the Busch Gardens theme park in Williamsburg, VA. Fabio received a one-inch cut across his nose.
- 2000 – In Uganda, officials set the number of deaths linked to a doomsday religious cult, the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments, at more than 900. In Kanungu, a March 17 fire at the cult’s church killed more than 530 and authorities subsequently found mass graves at various sites linked to the cult.
- 2004 – Air America Radio launched five stations around the U.S.
- 2004 – Google Inc. announced that it would be introducing a free e-mail service called Gmail.
- 2016 – Apple released the iPhone SE.
- 2018 – Start of the 2018 Armenian revolution.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Ryan Bingham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1981 – Thomas Chatelle, Belgian footballer
- 1981 – Han Tae-you, South Korean footballer
- 1981 – Pa Dembo Touray, Gambian footballer
- 1981 – Maarten van der Weijden, Dutch swimmer
- 1982 – Tal Ben Haim, Israeli footballer
- 1982 – Bam Childress, American football player
- 1982 – Audrey Kawasaki, American painter
- 1983 – Hashim Amla, South African cricketer
- 1983 – Ashleigh Ball, Canadian voice actress, and musician
- 1983 – Sophie Hunger, Swiss-German musician
- 1983 – Vlasios Maras, Greek gymnast
- 1983 – Nigel Plum, Australian rugby league player
- 1984 – David Clarkson, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Eddie Johnson, American soccer player[15]
- 1984 – James Jones, American football player
- 1984 – Martins Dukurs, Latvian sled racer
- 1984 – Kaie Kand, Estonian heptathlete
- 1984 – Alberto Junior Rodríguez, Peruvian footballer
- 1984 – Ed Williamson, English rugby player
- 1985 – Steve Bernier, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Jo-Lonn Dunbar, American football player
- 1985 – Jesper Hansen, Danish footballer
- 1985 – Ivan Mishyn, Ukrainian race car driver
- 1985 – Kory Sheets, American football player
- 1985 – Jalmar Sjöberg, Swedish wrestler
- 1986 – Andreas Dober, Austrian footballer
- 1986 – James King, Scottish rugby player
- 1986 – Paulo Machado, Portuguese footballer
- 1987 – Nordin Amrabat, Dutch footballer
- 1987 – Hugo Ayala, Mexican footballer
- 1987 – Amaury Bischoff, Portuguese footballer
- 1987 – Humpy Koneru, Indian chess player
- 1987 – Kirill Starkov, Danish ice hockey player
- 1987 – Nelli Zhiganshina, Russian figure skater
- 1988 – Thomas De Corte, Belgian footballer
- 1988 – Conrad Sewell, Australian singer, and songwriter
- 1988 – Dorin Dickerson, American football player
- 1988 – DeAndre Liggins, American basketball player
- 1988 – Louis van der Westhuizen, Namibian cricketer
- 1989 – Alberto Martín Romo García Adámez, Spanish footballer
- 1989 – Nejc Vidmar, Slovenian footballer
- 1989 – Liu Zige, Chinese swimmer
- 1990 – George Iloka, American football player
- 1990 – Sandra Roma, a Swedish tennis player
- 1990 – Bang Yong-guk, South Korean rapper
- 1991 – Milan Milanović, Serbian footballer
- 1991 – Rodney Sneijder, Dutch footballer
- 1992 – Stijn de Looijer, Dutch footballer
- 1992 – Beatričė Rožinskaitė, Lithuanian figure skater
- 1992 – Adam Zampa, Australian cricketer
- 1993 – Mikael Ishak, Swedish footballer
- 1994 – Tyler Wright, an Australian surfer
- 1994 – Mads Würtz Schmidt, Danish road cyclist
- 1998 – Jakob Chychrun, American-born Canadian ice hockey player
- 1999 – Japhet Tanganga, English footballer