January 31

1862 – Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an eighteen inch telescope at Northwestern University.
1958 – Explorer 1 – The first successful launch of an American satellite into orbit.
1958 – James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt.
1961 – Mercury-Redstone 2 – Ham the Chimp travels into outer space.
1966 - The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program.
1971 – Apollo 14 Mission – Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.
2405 - Joseph Daher is assigned as commanding officer of the USS Titan, CL-2007.