July 31

• July 31, 431
  First Council of Ephesus ends with emergence of cult of the Virgin Mary and exile of Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople, who do not believe that Christ was truly God
• July 31, 904
  Arab forces capture Byzantium city of Thessaloniki for a short term
• July 31, 1498
  During his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus arrives at an island he named Trinidad because of its 3 hills
• July 31, 1703
  English novelist Daniel Defoe is made to stand in the pillory as punishment for offending the government and church with his satire "The Shortest Way With Dissenters", but is pelted with flowers
• July 31, 1922
  18-year-old Ralph Samuelson rides world's first water skis in Minnesota, United States
• July 31, 1932
  The Nazi party becomes the largest single party in the German parliament after German federal election
• July 31, 2007
  Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, the longest-running British Army operation, comes to an end
• July 31, 2011
  In Thailand over 12.8 million people are affected by severe flooding, which couses damages estimated at US$45 billion and leaves 790 people killed, with 58 of the country's 77 provinces affected