Famous people born on January 31st
January 31 gathers an unusually wide range of influential figures across technology, literature, music, sport, and public service. The date spans centuries, from early-modern statecraft to contemporary pop culture and computer science. Together, these birthdays trace how creativity and leadership can take radically different forms while leaving an outsized impact.
Notable highlights
- Guido van Rossum (1956) - Created Python, a programming language prized for readability and a vast open-source ecosystem.
- Justin Timberlake (1981) - Helped define 2000s pop and later became a major crossover entertainer in music, film, and live performance.
- Jackie Robinson (1919) - Broke MLB's modern color barrier in 1947, reshaping American sports and civil rights history.
- Franz Schubert (1797) - A master of song, he expanded the German lieder tradition with emotionally direct, harmonically rich writing.
- Philip Glass (1937) - A leading minimalist composer whose repeating structures influenced modern classical music and film scoring.
- Johnny Rotten (1956) - Fronted the Sex Pistols, becoming a defining voice of punk's confrontational style and cultural shockwave.
- Norman Mailer (1923) - A major postwar American author known for blending reportage and narrative in influential nonfiction and novels.
- Tallulah Bankhead (1903) - A bold stage and screen presence whose wit and persona made her a lasting icon of theatrical glamour.
- Nolan Ryan (1947) - Set enduring pitching standards, including an MLB-record seven no-hitters and a career defined by power and longevity.
- Ieyasu Tokugawa (1543) - Founded the Tokugawa shogunate, establishing a political order that shaped Japan for more than two centuries.
On this day
- 1865 - The U.S. House of Representatives approved the 13th Amendment, advancing the constitutional end of slavery.
- 1917 - Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, a major escalation that helped draw the United States toward World War I.
- 1950 - U.S. President Harry S. Truman announced the development of the hydrogen bomb following the Soviet nuclear test.
- 2001 - A devastating earthquake struck Gujarat, India, causing widespread destruction and major loss of life.