May 31: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

The video for Psy’s Gangnam Style reached two billion views on YouTube.

The Discovery Space Shuttle was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-124.

The mission's primary payload was the Japanese Kibō Experiment Module, which the shuttle ferried to the International Space Station (ISS). It's the largest single module ever installed on the ISS. It was astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff's first mission, and he brought the first bagels into space!

Rihanna released her third studio album titled “Good Girl Gone Bad.”

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the 3rd film based on the books by J. K. Rowling, was released in UK cinemas.

A 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit the coast of Peru, killing as many as 70,000 people.

The 45-second earthquake occurred at 3:23 PM, and although its epicenter was actually off the coast of Peru, the damage was still extreme. Its area of effect was 32,000 square miles, but most of the damage came from a resulting landslide. The landslide buried the towns of Yungay and Ranrahirca, where most of the casualties were found.

Imperial Japan began a series of submarine attacks on Sydney.

On the night of May 31, three Japanese midget-class submarines entered Sydney Harbour to destroy any aircraft carriers or battleships they came across. Two were detected and taken out of action before they could do any damage. The third missed its target, the USS Chicago, sinking a ferry instead.

20th Century Fox was founded after a merger of Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures.

The RMS Titanic was launched from Belfast, where it was also constructed.

Congress passed the Enforcement Act.

This act was to counter any attacks on voting rights of African Americans from state officials or racist groups.

The New Orleans Minting facility closed.

Confederate minting operations continued until the bullion ran out. The staff stayed on duty until the 31st. After that, the mint was used for quartering Confederate troops.

The Copyright Act of 1790 became the first federal copyright act to be established in the United States.

English civil servant Samuel Pepys recorded his last diary entry.

Due to poor eyesight, Pepys finally had to stop working on his famous diary. The diary covered about a decade of his life and is regarded as Britain's most celebrated diary.

Battle of the Kalka River occurred.

The Mongol armies of Genghis Khan, led by Subutai, defeated the Rus army. The Mongols won by pretending to retreat, which spread out the Rus army. When the Mongols assumed battle formation on the Kalka River, the Rus army attacked without waiting for the rest of their spread apart army.

Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great, became the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty of Egypt.