#TodayInHistory – July 31

July 31 – Some important events on this day.

30 BC 👉🏼 Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves minor victory over Octavian, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to Octavian’s invasion of Egypt
1556 👉🏼 Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, dies
1620 👉🏼 Pilgrim Fathers depart Leiden, Netherlands for England on their way to America

1703 👉🏼 Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.
Most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, he is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain, and is among the founders of the English novel. A prolific and versatile writer, he wrote more than 500 books, pamphlets and journals on various topics.

1751 👉🏼 Fire in Stockholm destroys 1,000 houses
1917 👉🏼 World War I: Battle of Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres) begins, goes on to cause approximately 500,000 casualties
1951 Japan Airlines is established
1961 👉🏼 Israel welcomes its one millionth immigrant

1970 👉🏼 Black Tot Day: the last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy (started 1740)
Black Tot Day is the name given to the last day on which the British Royal Navy issued sailors with a daily rum ration known as the daily tot. The Royal Australian Navy stopped the practice earlier in 1921 with the Canadian and New Zealander Royal Navies following in 1972 and 1990 respectively.

1976 👉🏼 Seychelles Independence (Independence day)
2007 👉🏼 Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end
2016 👉🏼 Yuriko Koike is the first woman to be elected Tokyo Governor