Today in History: In Paris, the Eiffel Tower Opened

March 31 is the 90th day of the year (91st in leap years) according to the Gregorian calendar. The number of days left until the end of the year is 275.

Railways

• 31 March 1868 3 for Rumelia Railways. The contract was signed with the Belgian brothers Van der Elst and his partners.
• 31 March 1919 The letter sent to the Supreme Supervisor of the Baghdad, was asked to make the correspondence in Baghdad Railway Company in French.
• 31 March 1922 An agreement was signed between Italy and the Istanbul Government (Garroni-Izzet Pasha). According to the agreement, Italy would evacuate Southwestern Anatolia, whereas Zonguldak would obtain concessions in the operation of coals and railway construction.

Events

• 1517 – The 95 Theses of Martin Luther's Catholic Church Criticism of the Protestant Reformation.
• 1774 - American War of Independence: The Government of Great Britain closes the port of Boston.
• 1866 - The Spanish Navy bombarded the Chilean port of Valparaíso.
• 1848 - Two sisters Margaret and Kate Fox became the first professional mediums, claiming to have a relationship with the spirit world.
• 1889 – The Eiffel Tower, built by Gustave Eiffel, was opened in Paris to mark the 1789th anniversary of the French Revolution of 100.
• 1909 – Construction of the RMS Titanic begins.
• 1901 – The four-cylinder vehicle ordered to Daimler by Emile Jelinek, Consul General of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was delivered to its owner. Jelinek named her new vehicle after her daughter "Mercedes".
• 1917 – The United States buys part of the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million.
• 1918 – Daylight saving time is introduced in the USA for the first time.
• 1921 – In the Second Battle of İnönü, the counterattack of the Turkish Army began.
• 1923 – Treaty of Lausanne: Representatives of the Entente Powers gathered in London, responding to Turkey's note on March 8, urging them to continue the talks that were interrupted in Lausanne.
• 1925 – In the region where the Sheikh Said Rebellion took place, the law on the execution of the death sentences given by the Divan-ı Harb without requiring approval was accepted.
• 1928 – 7,0 people died in an earthquake with a magnitude of 50 in Torbalı, İzmir.
• 1931 - An earthquake in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, killed 2000 people.
• 1964 – There was a military coup in Brazil.
• 1965 – The United States entered the hot war by sending 3500 Marines to Vietnam.
• 1975 – The First Nationalist Front Government (39th Government) was established under the Presidency of Süleyman Demirel.
• 1979 – The last British Troops in Malta withdrew from the Island.
• 1980 – The Process Leading to the 12 September 1980 Coup in Turkey (1979 - 12 September 1980): Chief of General Staff Gen. Kenan Evren told the Minister of National Defense Ahmet İhsan Birioğlu that a new president should be elected as soon as possible. 58 more people escaped from Van Prison. Two police officers trying to take down a bomb banner in Istanbul were shattered. A total of 2 people were killed in 10 cities.
• 1985 – WrestleMania, the most prestigious wrestling event of the WWE and the world, was won.
• 1990 – Yusuf Kurçenli, who took part in the program of the Ninth Istanbul Film Festival. Blackout Nights The movie was banned by the Supervisory Board.
• 2005 - Makemake (dwarf planet) is discovered by a team led by Michael E. Brown.
• 2008 – Italian artist Pippa Bacca was found dead in a forest area near Tavşanlı village in Kocaeli's Gebze district. The suspect Murat K. was arrested for allegedly killing Bacca.
• 2014 – Last Forever-2, the last episode of How I Met Your Mother, aired.
• 2015 – Electricity system collapsed in Turkey. There were interruptions of up to 79 hours across 10 provinces.
• 2019 – 2019 Turkey local elections were held.

Births

• 250 – Constantius Chlorus, Roman Emperor (d. 306)
• 1536 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese Ruler (d. 1565)
• 1596 – René Descartes, French philosopher and mathematician (d. 1650)
• 1723 – Frederik V, Duke of Denmark-Norway and Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1766)
• 1732 – Franz Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1809)
• 1778 – Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch aristocrat, zoologist, ornithologist, and curator (d. 1858)
• 1809 – Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, Russian writer (d. 1852)
• 1811 – Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, German chemist and inventor (d. 1899)
• 1833 – Mary Abigail Dodge, American essayist and publisher (d. 1896)
• 1872 – Alexandra Kollontai, Soviet revolutionary writer and diplomat (known for her efforts to radically change social customs and the position of women in Russia, world's first female Ambassador (d. 1952)
• 1872 – Arthur Griffith, Irish writer and politician (founder of the Irish liberation movement Sinn Féin (“We Ourselves”) and first Vice President and later President of the Republic of Ireland) (d. 1922)
• 1906 – Siniciro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and Nobel Prize laureate in Physics (d. 1979)
• 1914 – Octavio Paz, Mexican diplomat and author (d. 1998)
• 1922 – Richard Kiley, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1922 – Zeyyat Selimoğlu, Turkish writer and translator (d. 2000)
• 1926 – John Robert Fowles, English novelist and essayist (d. 2005)
• 1932 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director (d. 2013)
• 1933 – Beklan Algan, Turkish actor, writer and director (d. 2010)
• 1938 – Ahmet Ayık, Turkish wrestler
• 1943 – Christopher Walken, American actor
• 1945 – Engin Alan, Turkish soldier and politician
• 1948 - Al Gore, American politician
• 1948 - Rhea Perlman, American actress
• 1948 – Sinan Bengier, Turkish theater and film actor
• 1955 – Angus Young, Scottish-Australian musician and AC/DC guitarist
• 1962 – Olli Rehn, Finnish politician
• 1971 – Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor
• 1972 – Alejandro Amenábar, Spanish director
• 1972 - Facundo Arana, Argentine actor
• 1974 – Stefan Olsdal, Swedish musician
• 1978 – Jérôme Rothen, French football player
• 1978 – Stephen Clemence, English football player and manager
• Pashhan Yilmazel, Turkish actor
• Ambroise Michel, French actress and comedian
• 1987 – Georg Listing, German musician and bass guitarist of Tokio Hotel

Deaths

• 1631 – John Donne, English poet (b. 1572)
• 1727 – Isaac Newton, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1643)
• 1763 – Marco Foscarini, 117th Duke of the Republic of Venice (b. 1696)
• 1837 – John Constable, English painter (b. 1776)
• 1850 – John C. Calhoun, American statesman (b. 1782)
• 1855 – Charlotte Brontë, English novelist (famous for Jane Eyre) (b. 1816)
• 1869 – Allan Kardec, French author and founder of Experimental Spiritualism (b. 1804)
• 1870 – Thomas Cooke, Canadian Catholic priest and missionary (b. 1792)
• 1898 – Eleanor Marx, Marxist writer and political activist (b. 1855)
• 1907 – Léo Taxil, French journalist and author (b. 1854)
• 1910 – Jean Moreas, Greek-French poet (b. 1856)
• 1917 – Emil Adolf von Behring, German physician and Nobel Prize laureate in Medicine or Physiology (b. 1854)
• 1943 – Pavel Milyukov, Russian historian and liberal politician (b. 1859)
• 1945 – Anne Frank, Jewish writer (famous for her diaries, icon of the Holocaust) (b. 1929)
• 1945 – Hans Fischer, German chemist (b. 1881)
• 1970 – Semyon Tymoshenko, Soviet commander (b. 1895)
• 1975 – Munis Faik Ozansoy, Turkish poet and writer (b. 1911)
• 1976 – Paul Strand, American photographer (b. 1890)
• 1980 – Jesse Owens, American athlete (b. 1913)
• 1981 – Enid Bagnold, English writer (b. 1889)
• 1986 – Jerry Paris, American actor (b. 1925)
• 1993 – Brandon Lee, Chinese-American actor (b. 1965)
• 1995 – Selena, American singer-songwriter (b. 1971)
• 2001 – Clifford Shull, American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate in Physics (b. 1915)
• 2008 – Jules Dassin, American film director (b. 1911)
• 2008 – Pippa Bacca, Italian artist and activist (b. 1974)
• 2009 – Atilla Konuk, Turkish politician and athlete (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Aydın Babaoğlu, Turkish film actor (b. 1953)
• 2009 – Raúl Alfonsín, Argentine lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
• 2010 – Ana Novac, Romanian writer (b. 1929)
• 2010 – Alp Can, Turkish journalist (b. 1961)
• 2013 – Yaşar Güner, Turkish theater, cinema and TV series actor (b. 1943)
• 2015 – Mehmet Selim Kiraz, Turkish prosecutor (b. 1969)
• 2016 – Denise Robertson, British show host (b. 1932)
• 2016 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician (b. 1927)
• 2016 – Zaha Hadid, British architect (b. 1950)
• 2016 – Imre Kertész, Hungarian writer and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1929)
• 2017 – Halit Akçatepe, Turkish theater, cinema and TV series actor (b. 1938)
• 2018 – Mükerrem Kemertaş, Turkish singer (b. 1938)
• 2019 – Nipsey Hussle, American Hip-Hop artist (b. 1985)

Holidays and special occasions

• “Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis”