What happened on January 31 ?

1338 - King Charles V of France (d. 1380)

1512 - King Henry of Portugal (d. 1580)

1543 - Tokugawa Ieyasu, Shogun of Japan (d. 1616)

1550 - Henry I, Duke of Guise, French Catholic leader (d. 1588)

1597 - John Regis, French saint (d. 1640)

1624 - Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher (d. 1669)

1686 - Hans Egede, Norwegian Lutheran missionary (d. 1758)

1752 - Gouverneur Morris, American lawmaker and diplomat (d. 1816)

1759 - François Devienne, French composer (d. 1803)

1797 - Franz Schubert, Austrian composer (d. 1828)

1866 - Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)

1868 - Theodore William Richards, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)

1872 - Zane Grey, American Western writer (d. 1939)

1881 - Irving Langmuir, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)

1884 - Theodor Heuss, German politician and publicist (d. 1963)

1889 - Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958)

1892 - Eddie Cantor, American actor and singer (d. 1964)

1894 - Isham Jones, American musician (d. 1956)

1902 - Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)

1902 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician, diplomat, and writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1986)

1905 - John O'Hara, American writer (d. 1970)

1913 - Don Hutson, American football player (d. 1997)

1914 - Sri Daya Mata, Hindu religious figure

1914 - Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer (d. 1994)

1914 - Carey Loftin, American actor and stuntman (d. 1997)

1915 - Alan Lomax, American singer and musicologist (d. 2002)

1915 - Thomas Merton, American monk and author (d. 1968)

1915 - Garry Moore, American comedian and game show host (d. 1993)

1919 - Jackie Robinson, baseball player (d. 1972)

1921 - John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)

1921 - Carol Channing, American actress

1921 - E. Fay Jones, American architect

1921 - Mario Lanza, American singer and actor (d. 1959)

1922 - Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)

1923 - Norman Mailer, American writer and journalist

1925 - Benjamin Hooks, American head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

1929 - Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1929 - Jean Simmons, English actress

1931 - Ernie Banks, baseball player

1935 - Kenzaburo Oe, Japanese writer, Nobel Prize laureate

1937 - Philip Glass, American composer

1937 - Suzanne Pleshette, American actress

1938 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

1938 - James G. Watt, American politician

1940 - Jessica Walter, American actress

1941 - Richard A. "Dick" Gephardt, American politician

1942 - Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress

1942 - Derek Jarman, British director and writer (d. 1994)

1944 - Charlie Musselwhite, American musician

1945 - Joseph Kosuth, American conceptual artist

1946 - Terry Kath, American musician (d. 1978)

1947 - Jonathan Banks, American actor

1947 - Nolan Ryan, baseball player

1948 - Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician

1949 - Ken Wilber, American philosopher

1951 - Dave Benton, Aruban-born singer

1952 - Nadya Rusheva, Russian painter (d. 1969)

1954 - Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch guitarist (Whitesnake)

1956 - Johnny Rotten, British singer (Sex Pistols)

1958 - Dave Finlay, professional wrestler

1959 - Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor

1960 - Grant Morrison, British comic book author and chaos magician

1961 - Lloyd Cole, British singer and songwriter

1964 - Jeff Hanneman, American guitarist (Slayer)

1964 - Billey Shamrock, Swedish singer and songwriter

1967 - Fat Mike, American singer/bassist

1970 - Minnie Driver, British actress

1971 - Patrick Kielty, Northern Irish comedian and television presenter

1973 - Portia de Rossi, Australian actress

1974 - Wil Anderson, Australian comedian

1976 - Buddy Rice, American race car driver

1980 - Tiffany Limos, American actress

1981 - Justin Timberlake, American singer

1982 - Elena Paparizou, Greek singer

1982 - J?nis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player

1982 - Andreas Görlitz, German international footballer