Timeline January 1931

Events in January 1931 7

• 1852 – 1931 Joseph Joffre (1852-1931) Died 3 January 1931, aged 78 French general who was commander-in-chief of the French Army from 1914 to 1916. He led the Allied counter-attack at the First Battle of the Marne, which stopped the German advance on Paris. He was made a Marshal of France in 1916.
• 1881 – 1931 Anna Pavlova (1881-1931) Died 23 January 1931, aged 49 Russian prima ballerina, best known for The Dying Swan. She toured the world with her own company and brought ballet to audiences who had never seen it. She died of pleurisy in The Hague during a tour.
• 1931 Australian Open 1931 Men: Jack Crawford · Women: Coral Buttsworth
• 1931 – 2015 E.L. Doctorow (1931-2015) Died 21 July 2015, aged 84 E.L. Doctorow was an American novelist best known for Ragtime and Billy Bathgate, which blended historical fact with fiction. His work won multiple National Book Critics Circle Awards and influenced a generation of American historical fiction writers. Ragtime was adapted into both a film and a Tony Award-winning musical.
• 1931 Sam Cooke born in Clarksdale, Mississippi Raised in Chicago The son of a minister, he grows up singing in Chicago.
• 1931 – 2001 Mordecai Richler (1931-2001) Died 3 July 2001, aged 70 Richler was a novelist and essayist whose satirical books, including The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and Barney's Version, drew on the Jewish working-class Montreal of his youth. His mockery of Quebec nationalism made him a polarising figure at home. He also wrote the children's book Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.
• 1931 City Lights premieres Chaplin's silent romantic comedy opens in Los Angeles Charlie Chaplin released City Lights, in which his Tramp falls in love with a blind flower girl. He made it as a silent film with a synchronised score several years after sound films had arrived. It was a critical and commercial success and is often ranked among the greatest films ever made.