What happened on March 31 ?

250 - Constantius Chlorus, Roman Emperor (d. 306)

1499 - Pope Pius IV (d. 1565)

1504 - Guru Angad Dev, second Sikh guru (d. 1552)

1519 - King Henry II of France (d. 1559)

1536 - Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shogun (d. 1565)

1596 - René Descartes, French mathematician (d. 1650)

1621 - Andrew Marvell, English poet (d. 1678)

1651 - Karl II, Elector Palatine (d. 1685)

1675 - Pope Benedict XIV (d. 1758)

1718 - Marianne Victoria of Borbón, queen regent of Portugal (d. 1781)

1723 - King Frederick V of Denmark (d. 1766)

1732 - Franz Josef Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1809)

1777 - Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist (d. 1859)

1778 - Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist (d. 1858)

1809 - Edward FitzGerald, English poet (d. 1883)

1811 - Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, German chemist and inventor (d. 1899)

1819 - Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1901)

1871 - Arthur Griffith, President of Ireland (d. 1922)

1872 - Alexandra Kollontai, Russian ambassador to Norway (d.1952)

1878 - Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946)

1885 - Pascin, Bulgarian painter (d. 1930)

1890 - William Lawrence Bragg, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)

1891 - Victor Varconi, Hungarian film actor (d. 1976)

1906 - Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)

1911 - Elisabeth Grümmer, Alsatian soprano (d. 1986)

1914 - Octavio Paz, Mexican diplomat and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)

1915 - Albert Hourani, English historian (d. 1993)

1922 - Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (d. 1999)

1924 - Leo Buscaglia, American author (d. 1998)

1926 - John Fowles, English author (d. 2005)

1927 - César Chávez, American labor activist (d. 1993)

1927 - William Daniels, American actor

1928 - Lefty Frizzell, American singer and songwriter (d. 1975)

1928 - Gordie Howe, Canadian hockey player

1929 - Lucille Bliss, American voice actress

1929 - Liz Claiborne, Belgian fashion designer

1929 - Bertram Fields, American lawyer

1931 - Miller Barber, American professional golfer

1933 - Nichita St?nescu, Romanian poet (d. 1983)

1934 - Richard Chamberlain, American actor

1934 - Shirley Jones, American singer and actress

1934 - Carlo Rubbia, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1935 - Herb Alpert, American trumpeter and band leader

1935 - Judith Rossner, American author

1936 - Bob Pulford, Canadian hockey player

1936 - Marge Piercy, American writer

1938 - Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi

1938 - David Steel, Scottish politician

1939 - Zviad Gamsakhurdia, first President of Georgia (d. 1993)

1939 - Volker Schlöndorff, German film director

1940 - Patrick Leahy, U.S. Senator from Vermont

1940 - Barney Frank, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts

1942 - Michael Savage, talk radio host and commentator

1943 - Christopher Walken, American actor

1945 - Valerie Curtin, American actress, writer, and producer

1945 - Gabe Kaplan, American actor and comedian

1946 - Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (d. 1984)

1947 - Cesar Gaviria Trujillo, President of Colombia

1948 - Al Gore, Vice President of the United States

1948 - Rhea Perlman, American actress

1950 - Ed Marinaro, American football player and actor

1950 - Andras Adorjan, Hungarian chess player

1955 - Angus Young, Scottish-born musician (AC/DC)

1957 - Marc McClure, American actor

1963 - Paul Mercurio, Australian actor/dancer

1965 - Tom Barrasso, American hockey player

1966 - Roger Black, British athlete

1971 - Pavel Bure, Russian hockey player

1971 - Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor

1973 - Bold Forbes, Puerto Rican racehorse (d. 2000)

1974 - Stefan Olsdal, Swedish bassist (Placebo)

1974 - Benjamin Eicher, Swiss film director

1976 - Josh Saviano, American actor

1978 - Stephen Clemence, English footballer

1978 - Jérôme Rothen, French footballer

1980 - Chien-Ming Wang, Taiwanese Major League Baseball player

1982 - Philippe Mexès, French footballer

1983 - Paddy McCarthy, Irish footballer