^{“The Spanish Armada off the English Coast,” by Cornelis Claus van Wieringen (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam)}

Today in History

• The Alhambra Decree expels all Jews from Spain (1492)
• The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England (1588)
• Aurangzeb becomes Mughal emperor (1658)
• Daniel Defoe is place in a pillory for political satire, but is pelted with flowers (19703)
• The first US patent is issued (1970)
• Germany adopts the Weimar constitution (1919)
• The Nazi Party wins more than 38% of the vote in German national elections (1932)
• Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the Moon (1964)
• The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy (Black Tot Day) (1970)
• Apollo 15 astronauts become the last to ride in a Lunar Rover (1971)
• The US and Soviet Union sign the START I treaty (1991)
• Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother Raúl (2006)
• Michael Phelps sets a record for most medals won at the Olympics (2012)

Birthdays

• William Quantrill, Confederate guerrilla (1837)
• S. S. Kresge, founder of Kmart (1867)
• Fred Quimby, animator (1886)
• Milton Friedman, economics (1912)
• Irv Kupcinet, journalist (1912)
• Bill Todman, game show producer with Goodson-Todman (1916)
• Curt Gowdy, sportscaster (1919)
• Primo Levi, Holocaust survivor, chemist, and author (1919)
• Ahmet Ertegun, founded Atlantic Records (1923)
• Jimmy Evert, tennis player (1924)
• Ted Cassidy, actor (1932)
• Lobo, singer-songwriter (1943)
• Geraldine Chaplin, actress (1944)
• Sherry Lansing, film producer (1944)
• Gary Lewis, rock musician (1946)
• Evonne Goolagong, tennis player (1951)
• Faye Kellerman, author (152)
• Wesley Snipes, actor (1962)
• J. K. Rowling, creator of Harry Potter (1965)
• Dean Cain, actor (1966)

Deaths

• Aurelia Cotta, mother of Julius Caesar (54 BCE)
• Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits (1556)
• Denis Diderot, philosopher (1784)
• Andrew Johnson, 17th US President (1875)
• Franz Liszt, composer (1886)
• Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, pilot and poet (1944)
• Joseph E. Levine, filmmaker (1987)
• Guido Crepax, comics illustrator (2003)
• Gore Vidal, author (2012)
• Rowdy Roddy Piper, wrestler (2015)
• Jeanne Moreau, actress (2017)

Holidays and Celebrations

• Ka Hae Hawai’i Day (Hawii)
• Martyrdom Day of Shahid Udham Singh (Haryana and Punjab, India)
• National Mutt Day (US)
• Treasury Day (Poland)
• Uncommon Instruments Awareness Day (US)
• Warrior’s Day (Malaysia)
• World Ranger Day

July 31 is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years). There are 153 days remaining until the end of the year.