1783
Arts
Admitted to the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture
By royal command, Vigée Le Brun was admitted to the Académie Royale, one of only a handful of women granted membership before the Revolution.
View detailsThis Day
31May
24 indexed achievements across recorded history.
1804
Arts
Birth of Jeanne-Louise Dumont in Paris
Born Jeanne-Louise Dumont on 31 May 1804 in Paris, into a family of sculptors, beginning a life that would make her one of the era's leading composers.
View details1841
Arts
First concert as Clara Schumann
First concert under the name Clara Schumann in Leipzig, also featuring the premiere of Robert Schumann’s First Symphony.
View details1841
Arts
First concert as Clara Schumann
Clara's first concert under the name Schumann, featuring Robert's work.
View details1861
Activism
Birth of Emily Perkins Bissell
Birth of Emily Perkins Bissell in Wilmington, Delaware, to Champion Aristarcus and Josephine Wales Bissell.
View details1866
Science
Elected first president of the American Equal Rights Association
Mott became the first president of the American Equal Rights Association, formed to campaign for universal suffrage regardless of race or sex.
View details1871
Law
First woman graduate of Washington University School of Law
Couzins graduated as the first female law graduate from Washington University in 1871.
View details1900
Science
Smashes saloon stock in Kiowa, Kansas
Carrie Nation destroyed liquor stock at saloons in Kiowa, Kansas, an early act in her militant temperance crusade.
View details1910
Science
Death of Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell died in Hastings, Sussex, England, at the age of 89, having devoted her life to advancing women in medicine.
View details1924
Law
Birth of Patricia Roberts Harris
Patricia Roberts Harris was born in Mattoon, Illinois, the daughter of Hildren and Bert Roberts.
View details1924
Politics
Birth of Patricia Roberts Harris
Patricia Roberts Harris was born in Mattoon, Illinois, United States.
View details1947
Sports
First American woman to win the British Ladies Amateur
Zaharias won the British Ladies Amateur Championship, the first American woman to do so.
View details1948
Literature
Birth of Svetlana Alexievich
Svetlana Alexandrovna Alexievich was born in Stanislav, Ukrainian SSR.
View details1963
Literature
Death of Edith Hamilton
Edith Hamilton passed away on May 31, 1963, in Washington, D.C., at the age of 95.
View details1969
Politics
Wellesley commencement address gains attention
Hillary delivered the student commencement address at Wellesley College, making national headlines.
View details1978
Arts
Death in Berlin-Heiligensee, Germany
Hannah Höch died on May 31, 1978, in Berlin-Heiligensee, the West Berlin neighborhood that had been her home since 1934.
View details1983
Activism
Released Patu!, a landmark documentary on the 1981 Springbok Tour protests
Mita directed Patu!, a documentary chronicling the mass protests against the 1981 South African rugby tour, becoming a defining work of NZ political cinema.
View details1987
Exploration
Los Angeles Times profile on Blum’s mountains and science
Los Angeles Times publishes a major profile highlighting Blum’s Everest, Annapurna, and Himalayan traverse achievements.
View details1997
Sports
First professional debut by a woman in modern men's baseball
Borders debuted as a relief pitcher for the St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League, becoming the first woman to pitch in men's professional baseball in the modern era.
View details2010
Arts
Died in Auckland, New Zealand, aged 67
Merata Mita died on 31 May 2010 in Auckland, New Zealand, leaving behind a legacy as a pioneering indigenous filmmaker and activist.
View details2010
2011
Science
Detention of Rustam Makhmudov as murder suspect
Rustam Makhmudov was detained in Chechnya as a suspect in the 2006 murder of Anna Politkovskaya.
View details2012
Science
Presentation of World Academy of Ceramics International Ceramics Prize
Haile received the World Academy of Ceramics International Ceramics Prize for Research & Innovation in 2012.
View details2022
Arts
Appointed Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (France)
Appointed Officer of the Legion of Honour, France, on May 31, 2022.
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