In History, Today on January 31

Guy Fawkes is executed for his role in the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the English Parliament and assassinate King James I.

The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.

The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery in the United States.

Germany announces its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, a factor leading to the United States entering World War I.

The Battle of Stalingrad comes to an end with the surrender of German forces, marking a significant turning point in World War II.

President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.

The first successful American satellite, Explorer 1, is launched into orbit, marking the United States' entry into the space race.

Ham the Chimp travels into outer space aboard Mercury-Redstone 2, becoming the first hominid launched into space.

The Tet Offensive begins during the Vietnam War, as North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launch surprise attacks against South Vietnamese and U.S. forces.

The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow, symbolizing the thawing of Cold War tensions.

A Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands convicted Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.

The Boston Bomb Scare occurs when a marketing campaign for the television show 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force' is mistaken for a bomb threat, causing panic and the shutdown of major transportation routes.

Avatar, directed by James Cameron, became the highest-grossing film worldwide, surpassing Cameron's previous film Titanic.

The Egyptian government shuts down the country's internet access in response to the growing protests against President Hosni Mubarak's regime, part of the wider Arab Spring movement.

A rare 'super blue blood moon' occurs, a combination of a supermoon, a blue moon, and a total lunar eclipse, visible in parts of North America, Asia, and Australia.

The United Kingdom formally left the European Union, beginning an 11-month transition period and marking the first time a member state has left the EU.

The United States and its allies formally accuse Russia of planning to fabricate a pretext for invading Ukraine, escalating tensions in the region.