Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/March 31
This is a list of selected March 31 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article, featured list or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
March 31: César Chávez Day in various U.S. states; King Nangklao Memorial Day in Thailand
- 1146 – French abbot Bernard of Clairvaux preached a sermon to a crowd at Vézelay, with King Louis VII in attendance, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade.
- 1822 – Greek War of Independence: Ottoman troops began the massacre of over 20,000 Greeks on the island of Chios.
- 1854 – U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry (pictured) and the Tokugawa shogunate signed the Convention of Kanagawa, forcing the opening of Japanese ports to American trade.
- 1910 – The six English towns of Burslem, Tunstall, Stoke-upon-Trent, Hanley, Fenton and Longton, amalgamated to form a single county borough.
- 1995 – Mexican American singer Selena, known as "The Queen of Tejano music", was shot and killed in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldívar.