What is 1931?
{{Year nav|1931}} {{Year in various calendars|1931}} '''1931''' ([[Roman numerals|MCMXXXI]]) was a [[common year starting on Thursday]] in the [[Gregorian calendar]], the 1931st year of the [[Common Era]] (CE) and ''[[Anno Domini]]'' (AD) designations, {{Year article header/year number|1931}}. ==Events == [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2005-1017-525, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche.jpg|thumb|[[Ferdinand Porsche]] holding a [[steering wheel]]]] * [[January 27]] – [[Pierre Laval]] forms a government in France * [[February 16]] – [[Pehr Evind Svinhufvud]] is elected president of Finland * [[March 31]] – An [[1931 Nicaragua earthquake|earthquake]] destroys [[Managua]], [[Nicaragua]], killing 2,000 people * [[April 25]] – The automobile manufacturer [[Porsche]] is founded by [[Ferdinand Porsche]] in [[Stuttgart]] * [[May 1]] – Construction of the [[Empire State Building]] is completed in [[New York City]] * [[June 3]] – [[Salvador Dalí]]'s ''[[The Persistence of Memory]]'' is put on display for the first time * [[July 9]] – Irish racing driver [[Kaye Don]] breaks the world [[water speed record]] at Lake Garda, Italy<ref>''BBC History'', July 2011, p12.</ref> * [[July 20]] – A [[1931 Lublin tornado|violent tornado strikes]] the city of [[Lublin]], [[Poland]]. * August – [[Warner Brothers]] releases the first [[Merrie Melodies]] cartoon * September- The [[1931 Belize hurricane]] strikes Belize (then British Honduras), killing over 2,500 people * [[September 22]] – The [[United Kingdom]] abandons the [[gold standard]] * [[October 5]] &ndash; American aviators [[Clyde Edward Pangborn]] and Hugh Herndon, Jr. complete the first [[non-stop flight]] across the Pacific Ocean. They travel from [[Misawa, Aomori|Misawa, Japan]] to [[East Wenatchee, Washington]] in 41½ hours.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pangborn-Herndon Memorial Site|url=http://www.nps.gov/nr//travel/aviation/pan.htm|work=Aviation: From Sand Dunes To Sonic Booms|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|accessdate=22 December 2016}}</ref> * [[November 7]] – The [[Chinese Soviet Republic]