August 31
Subject to Britannica's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
1888
1888: The first victim of Jack the Ripper
In the early morning hours on this day in 1888, Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols was found dead in the Whitechapel district of London’s East End. The 43-year-old mother of five was living apart from her husband and struggling with alcoholism and poverty. Polly was the first of five women believed with certainty to have been murdered by the same man, a killer who would soon acquire his enduring appellation: Jack the Ripper.
READ MORE
© Chronicle/Alamy; Photo Illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Featured Event
Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file no. LC-DIG-ppmsca-09326)
During the American Civil War, the Confederate evacuation of Atlanta began this day in 1864, shortly before Union troops led by William Tecumseh Sherman occupied the city, providing a much-needed victory for the North. [How much do you know about the American Civil War?]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Glenn Harvey/Alamy
The world is too little aware of the waste of life, limb and land which anti-personnel landmines are causing among some of the poorest people on Earth.
On this day in 1997, Princess Diana died in Paris following an automobile accident—first thought to be caused by paparazzi but later blamed on the driver—that also claimed the lives of her companion Dodi Fayed and the driver.
Famous Birthdays
More on August 31
© Igo Estrela/Getty Images
2016
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was impeached and removed from office after the country’s Senate found her guilty of having used state bank funds to cover up a budget deficit in the run-up to her reelection in 2014. [Test your knowledge of Latin American history.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski
1992
An 11-day standoff in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, between government officials and an armed family headed by self-proclaimed white separatist Randy Weaver ended with his surrender; three people—Weaver’s wife, Vicki, his 14-year-old son, Sammy, and U.S. Marshal William Degan—had been killed during the siege.
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1991
Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan declared independence from the Soviet Union. [Take our history buff quiz.]
Copyright Wesolowski/Sygma
1980
Polish labour activist Lech Wałęsa and Mieczysław Jagielski, Poland’s first deputy premier, signed an agreement that conceded to workers the right to organize freely and independently. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about famous Europeans.]
Adrian Pingstone
1966
The Harrier “jump-jet” fighter-bomber made its first flight. [Test your knowledge of aircraft and aviation.]
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu
1850
King Kamehameha III officially declared Honolulu a city and the capital of his kingdom. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Hawaii.]
Courtesy of The National Portrait Gallery, London
1751
Robert Clive of Britain seized Arcot, India, and then withstood a 53-day siege that began a few weeks later. [How much do you know about India?]
© plrang/Fotolia
12 ce
The Roman emperor Caligula was born; his brief reign (37–41), which was marked by unpredictable and tyrannical behaviour, ended with his murder. [Take our quiz about the Roman Empire.]