Tuesday 31st of January 1606

Catholic conspirator Guy Guido Fawkes known planning the Gunpowder Plot is executed by hanging at the age of 36 in Palace of Westminster, London, Westminster, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Tuesday 31st of January 1797

Composer Franz Peter Schubert is born in Nussdorfer Straße 54, Wien, Himmelpfortgrund, Wien, Austria.

Tuesday 31st of January 1804

Ex-convict turned prospering businessman César-Joseph Guillaume Regnault known for inspiring Victor Hugo’s novel ‘Jean Valjean’ is born in Paris, XIIe, Île-de-France, France.

Friday 31st of January 1851

Double murderer Reuben Dunbar is executed by hanging at the age of 22 in New York Hospital, New York City, New York, United States.

Dunbar killed his two nephews 9-year-old David and 7-year-old Stephen V. Lester in Westerlo on 28 September 1850.

Monday 31st of January 1921

Tenor and actor Mario Lanza is born as Alfred Arnold Cocozza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Wednesday 31st of January 1923

Writer Norman Kingsley Mailer is born in Long Branch, New Jersey, United States.

Sunday 31st of January 1937

Minimal composer Philip Morris Glass is born in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.

Tuesday 31st of January 1939

Foot fetishist and serial killer Jerry Jerome Henry Brudos aka The Lust Killer is born in Webster, South Dakota, United States.

Friday 31st of January 1941

Founder and leader of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging Eugène Ney Terre'Blanche is born in Ventersdorp, Transvaal Province, South Africa.

Monday 31st of January 1949

Serial killer Robert Andrew 'Bob' Berdella aka The Kansas City Butcher is born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, United States.

Sunday 31st of January 1954

Electrical engineer and inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong known inventing frequency modulation (FM) radio transmission commits suicide by jumping from the thirteenth floor of his apartment at the age of 64 in New York City, New York, United States.

Armstrong was financially broken and mentally beaten after years of legal tussles with RCA over the FM patent dispute.

Sunday 31st of January 1954

Murderer Joseph Paul Jernigan known from the Visible Human Project is born in Geneva, Illinois, United States.

Monday 31st of January 1955

Leader of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) John Raleigh Mott dies of natural causes at the age of 90 in Orlando, Florida, United States.

Tuesday 31st of January 1956

Musician John Joseph Lydon aka Johnny Rotten known from the Sex Pistols is born in Benwell Road, London, Holloway, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Friday 31st of January 1964

27-year-old Serial killer Vladimir Ionesyan aka Mosgaz aka Iwan the Axeman is sentenced to death for five murders in Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia.

With the proceeds of his crimes Ionesyan supported his former‐ballerina girlfriend Alevtina Dmitrieva. She was sentenced to 15 years as his accomplice.

Tuesday 31st of January 1967

18-year-old Bozena Raczkiewicz is killed and mutilated by serial killer Łucjan Staniak aka The Red Spider of Katowice in Łódź, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland.

The neck of the bottle used to violate and mutilate Rackiewicz bore Staniak's fingerprints. He was arrested a few days later.

Friday 31st of January 1969

Spiritual master Meher Baba aka Avatar dies of intense muscular spasms that had no clear origin at the age of 75 in Meherazad, Pimpalgaon, Maharashtra, India.

Thursday 31st of January 1974

Film producer Samuel Goldwyn aka Samuel Goldfish dies of natural causes at the age of 95 in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Friday 31st of January 1975

34-year-old Clyde Hays is stabbed to death by serial killer Vaughn Greenwood aka The Skid Row Slasher in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Tuesday 31st of January 1978

19-year-old Elena Rytka is hammered and stabbed to death by serial killer Peter Sutcliffe aka The Yorkshire Ripper in Great Northern Street, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 31st of January 1979

50-year-old Serial killer Charles Ray Hatcher aka Evil Incarnate is released from a psychiatric hospital after serving 5 months for sodomising a 16-year-old boy in Norfolk Regional Center, Norfolk, Nebraska, United States.

Friday 31st of January 1986

76-year-old Virginie Labrette is tortured and killed by serial killer Thierry Paulin aka Le Tueur de la Pleine Lune in 25 rue de Wattignies, Paris, XIIe, Île-de-France, France.

Saturday 31st of January 1987

Artist and activist with Femen Oksana Shachko is born in Khmelnytskyi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine.

Tuesday 31st of January 1995

Murderer Clifton Charles Russell is executed by lethal injection at the age of 34 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Tuesday 31st of January 1995

Murderer Willie Ray Williams is executed by lethal injection at the age of 39 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Wednesday 31st of January 1996

91 die in Central Bank bomb explosion in Central Bank, Colombo, Basnahira Palata, Sri Lanka.

Another 1400 people are injured when a commando of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam crash a lorry containing about 440 pounds of high explosives through the main gate. The suicide bombers were Raju, Subramanium Vigneswaram aka Kittu and Sivasamy Dharmendra aka Raju.

Monday 31st of January 2000

88 die in Alaska Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-83 Flight 261 crash in Point Mugu, Anacapa Island, California, United States.

Due to the extreme impact forces, very few bodies were found intact. All occupants were identified using fingerprints, dental records, tattoos, personal items, and anthropological examination.

Thursday 31st of January 2002

Cop killer Randall Wayne Hafdahl aka Jack Douglas Cone is executed by lethal injection at the age of 49 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Hafdahl's last meal request was for chef salad with ranch dressing, double meat cheese burger (all the way), french fries, ketchup and a chocolate shake.

Tuesday 31st of January 2006

Double murderer Jaime Elizalde is executed by lethal injection at the age of 35 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Elizalde's last meal request was for fried chicken, onion rings, French fries, two bowls of peach cobbler, two milk shakes and two glasses of orange juice.

Wednesday 31st of January 2007

The neon sign on top of the Central Railway Station in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands.

Saturday 31st of January 2009

113 die in overturned truck oil spill ignition in Molo, Nakuru, Kenya.

The incident occurred when onlookers attempted to obtain remnants of the spilled fuel for personal use.

Tuesday 31st of January 2012

Artist Mike Michael Kelley commits suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning at the age of 58 in South Pasadena, California, United States.