On January 31, 1793…
“President George Washington wrote a letter of sympathy to Marchioness de Lafayette upon the captivity of her husband (who was taken prisoner by the Austrians the year prior) and informed her that he had deposited with Nicholas Van Stophorst, Amsterdam, two hundred guineas, subject to her order.”*

In the years following his loyal service to the United States, under the command of George Washington during the American Revolutionary War, the Marquis de Lafayette was held as a prisoner in Austria for 5 years.
Lafayette was considered a threat to monarchy and was taken into custody in Austria after fleeing the guillotine in France.

The monument that you see of Lafayette shaking hands with George Washington was created by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (the man who designed the Statue of Liberty) and it stands in Morningside Park in Manhattan.
It’s a replica of the Washington and Lafayette monument that stands at the Place des États-Unis in Paris, France.

The gesture by George Washington in supporting Lafayette’s family with a financial contribution demonstrates the powerful bond that the two had even after the American Revolutionary War.
Washington considered Lafayette a son.

*From Washington Day by Day, published in 1895

Image c. 1920 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

By January 31, 1913, Pittsburgh architectural firm MacClure & Spahr had submitted final plans for the South Side Bath House now the Oliver Bath House (shown) in Pittsburgh, PA.

Union Civil War veteran and American iron and steel industrialist Henry W. Oliver had plans to build a bath house in Pittsburgh and gift it to the city.
At that time there were less than 100 bath houses in the U.S.

Unfortunately, in the early planning stages of the project, Oliver died in 1904.
Nine years later his wife and daughter resurrected their late loved one’s plan and the building was completed in 1915.

Today the building is a historic landmark and is owned by the City of Pittsburgh. In recent years, it has been used as an indoor swimming pool.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

A photograph of a painting of Confederate ironclads “Chicora” and “Palmetto State” in Charleston harbor

On January 31, 1863, Confederate ironclads “Chicora” and “Palmetto State” rammed through Union blockade vessels in Charleston, South Carolina.

Scene in the house on the passage of the proposition to amend the constitution on January 31, 1865.

It was on this day that the House of Representatives passed the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery.

Image: Wood engraving from Harper’s Weekly via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Late in the evening on Tuesday, January 31, 1882 a fire broke out at the World Building in New York City.
High winds that evening caused flames to spread to other buildings and within hours an entire city block was destroyed.

The launch of Explorer 1, the first satellite successfully launched into space by the United States, occurred on January 31, 1958.

On January 31, 1919 Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia.

Famous Quote: “I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me… all I ask is that you respect me as a human being.”

Image: 1946 via Wikimedia Commons public domain

Born January 31, 1872, Zane Grey practiced dentistry by day and wrote Western adventure stories in the evening with the support and editing skills of his wife Dolly. His best-selling “Riders of the Purple Sage” was published in 1912. Over a hundred of his books and stories were made into Western films or television episodes.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US.

On January 31, 1905 a lavish French monarch-themed costume ball was thrown by James Hazen Hyde at a hotel in New York City. He was the son of the founder of one of the world’s largest insurance companies at the time. The bill for the ball was over two hundred thousand dollars then which is worth nearly 7 million dollars today.

Image: Portrait of James Hazen Hyde, by Théobald Chartran via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Vice Pres. Coolidge and House Speaker Gillett exercising in House gym.

January 31, 1923

Image via LOC, no known restrictions

Margaret Sullavan as Luisa “Lu” Ginglebusher in the romantic comedy film “The Good Fairy” which was released on January 31, 1935.

Image via Alamy

On January 31, 1933, The Lone Ranger debuted on a radio station in Detroit. The broadcast was an immediate success as about 3,000 more radio episodes would air.
The program eventually made its way to TV and feature films.

Image of Jay Silverheels, Ralph Moody, and Clayton Moore in the motion picture The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold, 1958 via NYPL Digital Collections, no known restrictions

The grandchildren of the late Admiral Robert E. Peary
Edward Stafford, Jr., left, and Peary Stafford in Washington on January 31, 1923.

The U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Suwannee underway in the Puget Sound on January 31, 1945 after repairs from Kamikaze attacks from the previous October.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, no known restrictions