History of 31 May
- 1994 – The U.S. announced it was no longer aiming long-range nuclear missiles at targets in the former Soviet Union.
- 1995 – Bob Dole singled out Time Warner for “the marketing of evil” in movies and music. Dole later admitted that he had not seen or heard much of what he had been criticizing.
- 2003 – In North Carolina, Eric Robert Rudolph was captured. He had been on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list for five years for several bombings including the 1996 Olympic bombing.
- 2004 – Iraq War in Anbar Province: In Fallujah, Iraq, four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed after being ambushed.
- 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
- 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 – Adam Zampa, Australian cricketer
- 1993 – Mikael Ishak, Swedish footballer
- 1994 – Samira Asghari, an Afghan member of the International Olympic Committee
- 1994 – Tyler Wright, an Australian surfer
- 1994 – Mads Würtz Schmidt, Danish road cyclist
- 1995 – Fiona Brown, footballer
- 1998 – Jakob Chychrun, American-born Canadian ice hockey player
- 1999 – Japhet Tanganga, English footballer