August 31: The Day Princess Diana Died, a Tragedy That Mourned by the Whole World

August 31 carries several historical associations, but the date is most strongly linked in the article to the death of Princess Diana, described as a tragedy that plunged the world into mourning.

The date also marks Romanian Language Day and the birthdays of actors Richard Gere and Ioan Gyuri Pascu. In 1921, Romanian doctor Nicolae Paulescu published a study about an antidiabetic hormone that he named pancrein.

Other entries include the death of French poet and critic Charles Baudelaire in 1867. His only poetry collection, “The Flowers of Evil,” faced charges of offending public and religious morality soon after publication in 1857. Baudelaire and his two publishers were convicted, and six poems remained banned until 1949, when the verdict was overturned.

The article also records August 31, 1888, as the date Mary Ann Nicholls was killed in London, identified as the first victim of the murderer known as Jack the Ripper. The killing began a series of similar murders in Whitechapel and drew the attention of police and the international press.

In 1895, German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patented the airship that bore his name. The article also notes Thomas Edison’s 1897 patent for the kinetoscope, an early device for displaying moving images.