Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/May 31
May 31: Independence Day in South Africa (1910), World No Tobacco Day.
- 1669 - Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys (pictured) recorded the last entry in his diary.
- 1678 - The Godiva procession in Coventry, England began.
- 1889 - The South Fork Dam on Lake Conemaugh in Pennsylvania, USA failed, killing over 2,200 people in the Johnstown Flood.
- 1916 - The German Kaiserliche Marine and British Royal Navy clashed in the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle during World War I.
- 1970 - The Ancash earthquake devastated various coastal towns in Peru and resulted in a massive avalanche on the north side of Nevado Huascarán, burying the town of Yungay.