1931 Newspaper Headlines Summary
Our archive is a great place to start if you want to learn about events that happened in 1931, or find a particular story that interests you. It was an eventful year in history all over the world, filled with news of devastating natural disasters, economic crisis, and fascinating changes in world politics. See how journalists understood this information at the time, as well as how the public reacted. An original 1930 newspaper is a great way to understand history and how it was perceived in the moment, and gives a more authentic understanding of what was going on at the time.
10th February 1931
New Delhi becomes the capital of India.
14th February 1931
The original film version of “Dracula” is released, with Bela Lugosi reprising his Broadway role of Count Dracula.
27th March 1931
British novelist Arnold Bennett drinks local water in Paris to prove that it is safe to drink. He is poisoned and soon dies.
1st May 1931
Construction of the Empire State Building is completed in New York City.
5th June 1931
German Chancellor Dr. Heinrich Brüning visits London, where he warns Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald that the collapse of the Austrian banking system, caused by the bankruptcy of the ‘Creditanstalt‘, has also left the entire German banking system on the verge of collapse.
12th June 1931
Charlie Parker equals J.T. Hearne’s record of taking one-hundred wickets in a season by 12th June.
1st July 1931
Milan Central Station officially opens in Italy, becoming one of the main railway stations in Europe.
July-November 1931
The Huang He floods in China kill between 850,000 and 4,000,000 people.
24th August 1931
The Labour Government of Ramsay MacDonald resigns in Britain due to feeling overwhelmed by the “Great Depression“ crisis. It is replaced by a National Government of people that MacDonald draws from all parties, but mainly from the Conservatives. MacDonald continues as Prime Minister of the new National Government, but he is thrown out of the Labour Party, as MPs accuse him of betrayal.
31st August 1931
The Yangtze River floods in China, leaving twenty-three million people homeless.
10th September 1931
The worst hurricane in Belize history kills an estimated 1,500 people.
15th September 1931
The Invergordon Mutiny: Strikes are called by approximately one thousand British sailors in the Royal Navy, due to decreased salaries.
17th October 1931
American gangster Al Capone is sentenced to eleven years in prison for tax evasion in Chicago, Illinois.
11th December 1931
The British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster, which establishes a status of legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa.
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