1931

German banks close
Spain becomes a republic

Empire State Building finished
"Star Spangled Banner" becomes the official US national anthem
Al Capone imprisoned for income tax evasion
Hattie Caraway 1st woman elected to the US Senate
Empire State Building finished
Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth
Dali's "Persistence of Memory"
1st electric guitar
1st stereophonic recording
Film - "Frankenstein", "The Public Enemy", "City Lights"
Radio show - "Little Orphan Annie"
James Dean, Joanne Woodward, Mikhail Gorbachev, Willie Mays, Andy Warhol, Barbara Walters, and Mickey Mantle born
Melvil Dewey, Vachel Lindsay, Anna Pavlova, Thomas A. Edison and Knute Rockne die