Inventions, firsts, and turning points tied to today’s date — each one sourced and dated.
On 31 May 1916, the rival dreadnought fleets of Britain and Germany finally collided in the North Sea.
On May 31, 1911, the bare steel hull of the Titanic slid into Belfast Lough before a crowd of thousands—nearly a year before its only voyage.
On May 31, 1889, a neglected dam upstream failed and sent a wall of water through a Pennsylvania steel town, killing 2,209 people.
