March 31

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
Eiffel Tower opens, 1889
American Revolution
Abigail Adams urges husband to "remember the ladies", 1776
Automotive
Knute Rockne, Studebaker namesake, dies, 1931
Civil War
North and South skirmish near Dinwiddie Court House, 1865
Cold War
Warsaw Pact ends, 1991
Crime
Evidence of murder is uncovered in New Mexico, 1999
Disaster
Mississippi River reaches peak flood level, 1973
General Interest
Jews to be expelled from Spain, 1492
Treaty of Kanagawa signed with Japan, 1854
Dalai Lama begins exile, 1959
Hollywood
The Matrix released, 1999
Literary
First installment of The Pickwick Papers, Dickens' first novel, 1836
Music
Oklahoma! premieres on Broadway, 1943
Old West
Western novelist Vardis Fisher born, 1895
Presidential
Abigail Adams asks her husband to "remember the ladies", 1776
Sports
Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden wins 10th national title, 1975
Longest strike in Major League Baseball history ends, 1995
Vietnam War
Johnson publicly denies actions contemplated in Vietnam, 1965
Johnson announces bombing halt, 1968
Fighting intensifies with North Vietnamese offensive, 1972
World War I
The First Moroccan Crisis, 1905
World War II
Germany's Atlantis launches, 1940

General Interest

Mar 31, 1492:

Jews to be expelled from Spain

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In Spain, a royal edict is issued by the nation's Catholic rulers declaring that all Jews who refuse to convert to Christianity will be expelled from the country. Most Spanish Jews chose exile rather than the renunciation of their religion and culture, and the Spanish economy suffered with the loss of an important portion of its workforce. Many Spanish Jews went to North Africa, the Netherlands, and the Americas, where their skills, capital, and commercial connections were put to good use. Among those who chose conversion, some risked their lives by secretly practicing Judaism, while many sincere converts were nonetheless persecuted by the Spanish Inquisition. The Spanish Muslims, or Moors, were ordered to convert to Christianity in 1502.

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This Week in History, Mar 31 - Apr 6

Mar 31, 1492
Jews to be expelled from Spain
Mar 31, 1854
Treaty of Kanagawa signed with Japan
Mar 31, 1959
Dalai Lama begins exile
Apr 01, 1621
The Pilgrim-Wampanoag peace treaty
Apr 01, 1918
RAF founded
Apr 01, 1924
Hitler sent to Landsberg jail
Apr 02, 1513
Ponce de Leon discovers Florida
Apr 02, 1917
Jeannette Rankin assumes office
Apr 02, 1982
Argentina invades Falklands
Apr 03, 1882
Jesse James shot in the back
Apr 03, 1936
Bruno Hauptmann executed
Apr 03, 1948
Truman signs Marshall Plan
Apr 03, 1996
Unabomber arrested
Apr 03, 1996
Ron Brown killed in plane crash
Apr 04, 1841
President Harrison dies after one month in office
Apr 04, 1918
Second Battle of the Somme ends
Apr 04, 1949
NATO established
Apr 05, 1951
Rosenbergs sentenced to die
Apr 05, 1955
Winston Churchill resigns
Apr 05, 1992
Abortion rights advocates march on Washington
Apr 06, 1830
Mormon Church established
Apr 06, 1909
Peary's expedition reaches North Pole?
Apr 06, 1917
America enters World War I

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