August 31: Independence Day for Trinidad and Tobago (1962), Malaysia (1957), Kyrgyzstan (1991)
- 1888 - Jack the Ripper claimed his first victim.
- 1920 - First radio news program broadcast in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1992 - Pascal Lissouba was inaugurated as the President of the Republic of the Congo after a multi-party presidential election, ending a long history of one-party Marxist rule.
- 1997 - Diana, Princess of Wales died in a Paris car crash.