Emperor Augustus celebrated the Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games), over three days and nights, starting on May 31, BCE, to mark the end of one saeculum (a 100-110 year generation) and the beginning of a new, peaceful era, signaling a renewal of Rome. This massive festival was heavily promoted to demonstrate the stability of Augustus's rule.
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On This Day in History: May 31
Explore the historical events that shaped our world on May 31st. From major milestones to cultural achievements, see what happened on this day in history. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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Johann Beringer, a German scholar, professor and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Würzburg, begins acquiring the controversial "Lügensteine" or "lying stones" on May 31, 1725. Unbeknownst to him, the stones were part of an elaborate hoax to discredit him.
He was supplied with the stones by three local youths he had hired to collect fossils in the area of Mount Eibelstadt near Würzburg, Germany. The stones were actually hand-carved and planted by two of his colleagues, J. Ignatz Roderick and Johann Georg von Eckhart, who wanted to ruin his reputation due to his perceived arrogance. Beringer, completely taken in by the deception, collected around 2,000 of the stones and convinced the stones were genuine fossils of divine origin, published his detailed study book on April 13,1726, "Lithographiae Wirceburgensis" shortly before discovering the fraud.
Beringer initiated judicial proceedings against the hoaxers to clear his name, winning the court case, but the scandal permanently damaged his scientific reputation. Over 400 of the roughly 2,000 original "lying stones" still exist today in various museum collections.
The Great Clock, located at the top of the 320-foot-high Elizabeth Tower in London, known as "Big Ben", starts ticking on May 31, 1859 and the Great Bell's strikes are heard for the first time on July 11, 1859 A brief history of Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower
The Second Boer War, the armed conflict between Britain and the two Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State in South Africa, ends on May 31, 1902, with a British victory leading to the signing of the treaty of Vereeniging and the incorporation of the two Boer Republics into the British Empire.
The war was costly for both sides with high casualties and thousands of civilian deaths in concentration camps. More
Image: The Second Boer War, 1899-1902 - Unit of British cavalry or mounted yeomanry crossing a river. This photograph Q 72039 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums. (Public domain)
The Union of South Africa is created, on May 31, 1910, becoming a sovereign state within the British empire as General Louis Botha forms a government as prime minister.
1916, May 31 - June 1
The Battle of Jutland, World War I’s largest naval conflict, took place on May 31 to June 1, 1916, off the coast of Denmark. It resulted in Britain losing 14 ships (including three battlecruisers) and 6,784 men and Germany losing 11 ships and 3,209 men. Although a numerical advantage for Germany, it was not able to meaningfully re-engage the British Navy during the remaining of the war.
The Tulsa Race Massacre began on May 31, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deputies and armed by city government officials, attacked Black people, Black institutions, and Black wealth.
An estimated 300 people were killed and approximately 35 acres of commercial and residential property within the Greenwood District, known as Black Wall Street, were destroyed. The Tulsa city Riot is considered one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history. More
Image source: The Library of Congress, Public domain.
A 7.7 earthquake takes place at Quetta, Balochistan, British India (now part of Pakistan), on May 31, 1935, close to the border with southern Afghanistan. Between 30,000 and 60,000 people died from the impact. More
The Union of South Africa officially became the Republic of South Africa, on May 31, 1961 breaking its ties with the British monarchy and withdrawing from the Commonwealth of Nations due to international opposition to its apartheid policies. Governor-General Charles Robert Swart formally took office as State President. More
A magnitude 7.75 earthquake on the Richter scale, off the coast of Peru, on May 31, 1970, causes major destruction and triggers the world's deadliest avalanche in the Peruvian town of Yungay, Ancash, totally destroying the town and ten nearby villages; killing between 66,000-70,000 people.
Image source: Photo by Walter Welsch - Published on The American Alpine Club
The last weld of the 800 miles (1,300 km), 48 inches in diameter, Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is completed, on May 31, 1977, to allow oil transportation from Prudhoe Bay in northern Alaska to the Valdez Marine Terminal in Prince William Sound.
Construction began in April 1974, with the actual pipeline construction starting on March 27, 1975. The project cost $8 billion to complete. The first oil flowed on June 20, 1977.
Image: View of the Denali Fault after the 7.9 magnitude earthquake of 3 November 2002, Alaska, USA, along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in the zone where it was engineered to cross the fault (the pipeline rests on sliders rather than rigid pillar supports). The fault trace passes beneath the pipeline between the 2nd and 3rd slider supports at the far end of the zone. A large arc in the pipe can be seen in the pipe on the right, due to shortening of the zigzag-shaped pipeline trace within the fault zone. It was snowing when the photo was taken. More