Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/May 31
May 31: Independence Day in South Africa (1910), World No Tobacco Day
- 1678 - The Godiva procession in Coventry, England, began.
- 1889 - Johnstown Flood: A flood killed over 2200 people in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States.
- 1916 - The German Kaiserliche Marine and British Royal Navy clashed in the Battle of Jutland, the largest World War I naval battle.
- 1974 - Syria and Israel signed a disengagement agreement to resolve the Yom Kippur War.
- 1977 - The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System was completed.