- 1888 31 Aug The body of Mary Ann 'Polly' Nichols, the first of Jack the Ripper's five 'canonical' victims, is found.
- 1994 31 Aug The IRA announces a 'complete' ceasefire after a 25-year terrorist campaign that claimed 1,800 lives.
- 1997 31 Aug Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in a Paris underpass.

