- 1606 31 Jan Guy Fawkes and fellow surviving Gunpowder Plotters are hanged, drawn and quartered at Westminster.
- 1917 31 Jan Germany notifies the US government that it is beginning unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic.
- 1919 31 Jan Tanks are deployed for the first time in a civil conflict, amid fears of a revolution in 'Red' Clydeside.

