TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2012

Today is Tuesday, January 31, the 31st day of 2012. There 335 days left in the year.

1627 ― Spanish government goes bankrupt

1871 ― Millions of birds fly over western San Francisco, darken the sky

1901 ― Chekhov's ``Three Sisters" opens at the Moscow Art Theater

1905 ― First auto to exceed 100 mph (161 kph), A. G. MacDonald, Daytona Beach

1906 ― Strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake, Colombia, 8.6 Richter

1915 ― First (German) poison gas attack, against Russians

1929 ― Leon Trotsky expelled from Russia to Turkey

1950 ― President Truman reveals that he ordered the Atomic Energy Commission to develop the hydrogen bomb

1978 ― ``Elvis The Legend Lives!" opens at Palace Theater New York City for 101 performances

1985 ― South African President P.W. Botha offers to free Mandela if he denounces violence