1831
| Years: 1828 1829 1830 - 1831 - 1832 1833 1834 | |
| Decades: 1800s 1810s 1820s - 1830s - 1840s 1850s 1860s | |
| Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century 1831 in topic: Lists of leaders: | |
1831 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar).
Events
- February-March - Revolts in Modena, Parma and the Papal States are put down by Austrian troops
- February 20 - Battle of Grochow. Polish rebel forces divide a Russian army.
- March 1 - Democrat Samuel Smith becomes President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate until December 4
- March 9 – French Foreign Legion founded
- March 19 - City Bank of New York is the site of the first bank robbery in United States history ($245,000 taken).
- April 7 - Pedro I of Brazil abdicates as emperor of Brazil in favor of his son Pedro II of Brazil.
- May 26 - Battle of Ostrolenka. The Poles fight another indecisive battle.
- June 1 - James Clark Ross discovers the position of the North Magnetic Pole on the Boothia Peninsula.
- July 21 - Inauguration of Leopold I of Belgium, first king of the Belgians
- August 2 - Dutch invasion of Belgium. It is repelled by a French army
- August 21 - Outbreak of Nat Turner's slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. Approximately 55 whites stabbed, shot and clubbed to death.
- September 6-8 - Battle of Warsaw - The Russians take the Polish capital and crush resistance.
- September 22 - UK House of Commons passes the Reform Bill - it is later defeated in the House of Lords
- October 26 – Cholera epidemic begins in Sunderland, England
- October 30 - In Southampton County, Virginia, escaped slave Nat Turner is captured and arrested for leading the bloodiest slave revolt in United States history.
- October 31 - Rioters burn down 100 houses in Bristol, UK - intervention by 14th Dragoons leads to death of hundreds
- November 11 - In Jerusalem, Virginia, Nat Turner is hanged after inciting a violent slave uprising.
- December 27 - Charles Darwin embarks on his historic journey aboard the HMS Beagle.
- The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper is first published.
- Cholera in Hamburg
Births
- January 7 - Heinrich von Stephan, German postal union organizer (d. 1897)
- January 26 - Mary Mapes Dodged, writer (d. 1907)
- March 3 - George Pullman, American inventor and industrialist (d. 1897)
- March 6 - Friedrich von Bodelschwingh, theologian (d. 1910)
- March 12 - Clement Studebaker, American automobile pioneer (d. 1901)
- March 20 - Solomon L. Spink, U.S. Congressman from Illinois (d. 1881)
- June 1 - John Bell Hood, American Confederate general (d. 1879)
- June 13 - James Clark Maxwell, Scottish physicist (d. 1879)
- June 28 - Joseph Joachim, Austrian violinist (d. 1907)
- July 22 - Emperor Komei of Japan (d. 1867)
- 12 August - Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Russian-born author and theosophist (d. 1891)
- September 18 - Siegfried Marcus, German-Austrian automobile pioneer (d. 1898)
- October 6 - Richard Dedekind, German mathematician (d. 1916)
- October 18 - Emperor Frederick III of Germany (d. 1888)
- October 31 - Romualdo Pacheco, Governor of California (d. 1899)
Deaths
- January 21 - Achim von Arnim, German poet (b. 1781)
- February 14 - Vincente Guerrero, Mexican revolutionary leader (b. 1782)
- February 17 - Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (b. 1785)
- February 25 - Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German writer (b. 1752)
- April 27 - Charles Felix of Savoy, King of Sardinia (b. 1765)
- June 27 - Sophie Germain, French mathematician (b. 1776)
- July 4 - James Monroe, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758)
- November 11 - Nat Turner, American slave rebel (b. 1800)
- November 14 - Georg Hegel, German philosopher (b. 1770)
- November 16 - Carl von Clausewitz, German military strategist (b. 1780)