On August 31, 2016, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was impeached for using state bank funds to cover a budget deficit in the run-up to her re-election. On the same day in 2014, pro-democracy protests erupted after China issued a decision to not allow free elections in Hong Kong. The Chinese government said that all candidates running for office must get approval from them.
Here are some other events that took place on August 31.
12 AD:
Roman emperor Caligula was born. His four-year term -- from 37 to 41 AD -- was marked by unpredictable and tyrannical behaviour. He was killed in 41 AD.
1303: The War of Vespers in Sicily ended with an agreement between Charles of Valois, who invaded the country, and Frederick, the ruler of Sicily.
1751: Robert Clive, the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency, seized Arcot (in present-day Tamil Nadu) in India.
1850: King Kamehameha III officially declared Honolulu a city and the capital of his kingdom.
1888: The first alleged victim of Jack the Ripper -- Mary Ann Nichols -- was found mutilated and murdered in London. Mary Ann was a prostitute from London's East End.
1957: Federation of Malaya gains independence from Great Britain.
1991: Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan declared independence from the erstwhile Soviet Union.
1997: Diana, the princess of Wales, and one of the foremost celebrities of her time died in a car accident in Paris. Her driver was attempting to evade the ‘intrusive paparazzi’ when the accident took place.
2006: Indian Supreme Court upheld the execution of two women who kidnapped children as young as 2 years old to beg and steal and then murdered them.
2013: A chemical leak in the Chinese city of Shanghai killed 15 people and injured 26.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
