1931

Events from the year **1931 in the United States**.

* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Nicholas Longworth (R-OH) (until March 4), John Nance Garner (D-TX) (starting December 7)
* Senate Majority Leader: James Eli Watson (R-IN)
* Congress: 71st (until March 4), 72nd (starting March 4)

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: Bibb Graves (Democratic) (until January 19), Benjamin M. Miller (Democratic) (starting January 19)
* Governor of Arizona: John Calhoun Phillips (Republican) (until January 5), George W. P. Hunt (Democratic) (starting January 5)
* Governor of Arkansas: Harvey Parnell (Democratic)
* Governor of California: Clement C. Young (Republican) (until January 6), James Rolph Jr. (Republican) (starting January 6)
* Governor of Colorado: Billy Adams (Democratic)
* Governor of Connecticut: John H. Trumbull (Republican) (until January 7), Wilbur Lucius Cross (Democratic) (starting January 7)
* Governor of Delaware: C. Douglass Buck (Republican)
* Governor of Florida: Doyle E. Carlton (Democratic)
* Governor of Georgia: Lamartine G. Hardman (Democratic) (until June 27), Richard Russell Jr. (Democratic) (starting June 27)
* Governor of Idaho: H. C. Baldridge (Republican) (until January 5), C. Ben Ross (Democratic) (until January 5)
* Governor of Illinois: Louis L. Emmerson (Republican)
* Governor of Indiana: Harry G. Leslie (Republican)
* Governor of Iowa: John Hammill (Republican) (until January 15), Daniel Webster Turner (Republican) (starting January 15)
* Governor of Kansas: Clyde M. Reed (Republican) (until January 12), Harry H. Woodring (Democratic) (starting January 12)
* Governor of Kentucky: Flem D. Sampson (Republican) (until December 8), Ruby Laffoon (Democratic) (starting December 8)
* Governor of Louisiana: Huey P. Long (Democratic)
* Governor of Maine: William Tudor Gardiner (Republican)
* Governor of Maryland: Albert C. Ritchie (Democratic)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Frank G. Allen (Republican) (until January 8), Joseph B. Ely (Democratic) (starting January 8)
* Governor of Michigan: Fred W. Green (Republican) (until January 1), Wilber Marion Brucker (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Governor of Minnesota: Theodore Christianson (Republican) (until January 6), Floyd B. Olson (Farmer-Labor) (starting January 6)
* Governor of Mississippi: Theodore G. Bilbo (Democratic)
* Governor of Missouri: Henry S. Caulfield (Republican)
* Governor of Montana: John E. Erickson (Democratic)
* Governor of Nebraska: Arthur J. Weaver (Republican) (until January 8), Charles W. Bryan (Democratic) (starting January 8)
* Governor of Nevada: Fred B. Balzar (Republican)
* Governor of New Hampshire: Charles W. Tobey (Republican) (until January 1), John Gilbert Winant (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Governor of New Jersey: Morgan Foster Larson (Republican)
* Governor of New Mexico: Richard C. Dillon (Republican) (until January 1), Arthur Seligman (Democratic) (starting January 1)
* Governor of New York: Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic)
* Governor of North Carolina: Oliver Max Gardner (Democratic)
* Governor of North Dakota: George F. Shafer (Republican)
* Governor of Ohio: Myers Y. Cooper (Republican) (until January 12), George White (Democratic) (starting January 12)
* Governor of Oklahoma: William J. Holloway (Democratic) (until January 1), William H. Murray (Democratic) (starting January 1)
* Governor of Oregon: A. W. Norblad (Republican) (until January 12), Julius L. Meier (Independent) (starting January 12)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: John Stuchell Fisher (Republican) (until January 20), Gifford Pinchot (Republican) (starting January 20)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Norman S. Case (Republican)
* Governor of South Carolina: John Gardiner Richards Jr. (Democratic) (until January 20), Ibra Charles Blackwood (Democratic) (starting January 20)
* Governor of South Dakota: William J. Bulow (Democratic) (until January 6), Warren Green (Republican) (starting January 6)
* Governor of Tennessee: Henry Hollis Horton (Democratic)
* Governor of Texas: Dan Moody (Democratic) (until January 20), Ross S. Sterling (Democratic) (starting January 20)
* Governor of Utah: George Dern (Democratic)
* Governor of Vermont: John E. Weeks (Republican) (until January 8), Stanley C. Wilson (Republican) (starting January 8)
* Governor of Virginia: John Garland Pollard (Democratic)
* Governor of Washington: Roland H. Hartley (Republican)
* Governor of West Virginia: William G. Conley (Republican)
* Governor of Wisconsin: Walter J. Kohler Sr. (Republican) (until January 5), Philip La Follette (Republican) (starting January 5)
* Governor of Wyoming: Frank C. Emerson (Republican) (until February 18), Alonzo M. Clark (Republican) (starting February 18)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Alabama: William C. Davis (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas: William Lee Cazort (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of California: H. L. Carnahan (Republican) (until January 6), Frank Merriam (Republican) (starting January 6)
* Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: Edwin C. Johnson (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), vacant (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Ernest E. Rogers (Republican) (until January 7), Samuel R. Spencer (Republican) (starting January 7)
* Lieutenant Governor of Delaware: James H. Hazel (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Idaho: O. E. Hailey (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: Fred E. Sterling (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Edgar D. Bush (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: Arch W. McFarlane (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Jacob W. Graybill (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: James Breathitt Jr. (Democratic) (until December 8), Happy Chandler (Democratic) (starting December 8)
* Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Paul N. Cyr (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), Alvin O. King (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: William S. Youngman (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Luren D. Dickinson (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: Charles Edward Adams (Republican) (until January 6), Henry M. Arens (Farmer Labor) (starting January 6)
* Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: Bidwell Adam (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Edward Henry Winter (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Montana: Frank A. Hazelbaker (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: George A. Williams (Republican) (until January 6), Theodore Metcalfe (Republican) (starting January 6)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Morley Griswold (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico: Andrew W. Hockenhull (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Herbert H. Lehman (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: Richard T. Fountain (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: John W. Carr (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: John T. Brown (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma: Robert Burns (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: Arthur H. James (Republican) (until January 20), Edward C. Shannon (Republican) (starting January 20)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: James G. Connelly (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: E. B. Jackson (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: John T. Grigsby (Democratic) (until January 6), Odell K. Whitney (Republican) (starting January 6)
* Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: Sam R. Bratton (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Texas: Barry Miller (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Stanley C. Wilson (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: James H. Price (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Washington: John Arthur Gellatly (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Henry A. Huber (Republican)

## Events

### January

* January 1 – The American Federation of Labor's National Committee for Modification of the Volstead Act is formed to work for the repeal of Prohibition in the United States.
* January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics.
* January 6 – Thomas Edison submits his last patent application.

### February

* February 1 – Food riots break out in Minneapolis and other parts of the United States.
* February 20 – California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.

### March

* March 1 – Battleship USS *Arizona* is placed back in full commission after a refit.
* March 3 – *The Star-Spangled Banner* is adopted as the United States national anthem.
* March 17 – Nevada legalizes gambling.
* March 25 – The Scottsboro Boys are arrested in Alabama and charged with sexual activity.

### April

* April 1 – Canyon de Chelly National Monument is established.
* April 15 – The Castellemmarese War ends with the assassination of Joe "The Boss" Masseria, briefly leaving Salvatore Maranzano as *capo di tutti i capi* ("boss of all bosses") and undisputed ruler of the American Mafia. Maranzano is himself assassinated less than 6 months later, leading to the establishment of the Five Families.
* April 18 – Cheverly, Maryland is incorporated.
* April 22 – The U.S., Austria, United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Italy and Sweden recognize the Spanish Republic.

### May

* May 1 – Construction of the Empire State Building is completed in New York City.
* May 7 – "Siege of West 91st Street": 18-year-old serial murderer Francis "Two Gun" Crowley surrenders after a 2-hour gun battle with New York City Police Department witnessed by 15,000 bystanders.
* May 20 – Lake of the Ozarks completed.

### June

* June 19 – In an attempt to stop the banking crisis in Central Europe from causing a worldwide financial meltdown, President Herbert Hoover issues the Hoover Moratorium.
* June 23 – Wiley Post and Harold Gatty take off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in an attempt to accomplish the first round-the-world flight in a single-engine plane.

### July

* July 1 – John Haven Emerson of Cambridge, Massachusetts perfects the Emerson iron lung just in time for the growing polio epidemic.
* July 26 – The International Bible Students Association adopts the name Jehovah's Witnesses at a convention in Columbus, Ohio.

### August

* August 16 – Texas experiences an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.5, the most powerful earthquake in its recorded history.

### September

* September 1 – Construction of Rockefeller Center on Manhattan begins.

### October

* October 1 – The Caltech Department of Physics Faculty and graduate students meet with Albert Einstein as a guest.
* October 10 – The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4 games to 3, to win their second World Series title in baseball.
* October 17 – American gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion in Chicago.
* October 24 – The George Washington Bridge across the Hudson River is dedicated; it opens to traffic the following day. At 3,500 feet (1,100 m), it nearly doubles the previous record for the longest main span in the world.

### November

* November 10 – The 4th Academy Awards, hosted by Lawrence Grant, are presented at Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, with William LeBaron's *Cimarron* winning the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film also receives the most nominations and awards, with seven and three respectively. Norman Taurog wins Best Director for *Skippy*.
* November 26 – Deuterium is discovered by Harold Urey.

### December

* December 12 – The Eta chapter of Kappa Delta Phi is founded at The University of Maine at Machias.
* December 26 – Phi Iota Alpha, the oldest surviving Latino fraternity, is founded.
* December 31 – Ess Bee Dress Company is incorporated.

## Memoriam

* January 4
	+ Art Acord, actor (aged 40; Chihuahua, Mexico)
	+ Roger Connor, baseball player and MLB Hall of Famer (aged 73; Waterbury, CT, USA)
* January 14 – Hardy Richardson, baseball player (aged 75; Utica, NY, USA)
* January 21 – Alma Rubens, actress (aged 33; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* January 26 – Edward I. Edwards, 37th Governor of New Jersey (aged 67; Jersey City, NJ, USA)
* January 31 – Zina P. Young Card, Mormon leader and women's rights activist (aged 80; Salt Lake City, UT, USA)
* February 14 – Clarence Ransom Edwards, army officer (aged 72; Boston, MA, USA)
* February 18 – Louis Wolheim, actor (aged 50; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* February 28
	+ Laton Alton Huffman, photographer of the American frontier and Native American life (aged 76; Billings, MT, USA)
	+ Thomas S. Rodgers, admiral (aged 72; New York City, NY, USA)
* March 20 – Joseph B. Murdock, United States Navy admiral and New Hampshire politician (aged 80; Manchester, NH, USA)
* March 24 – Robert Edeson, actor (aged 62; Hollywood, CA, USA)
* March 25 – Ida B. Wells, African-American lynching crusader (aged 68; Chicago, IL, USA)
* March 28 – Ban Johnson, baseball executive (aged 67; St. Louis, MO, USA)
* March 31 – Knute Rockne, football coach (aged 43; Bazaar Township, KS, USA)
* April 8 – William C. Grimes, politician and businessman (aged 73; Santa Monica, CA, USA)
* April 9 – Nicholas Longworth, politician, Speaker of the House (aged 61; Aiken, SC, USA)
* April 16 – Martin Joseph Wade, U.S. representative from Iowa (aged 69; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* April 26 – George Herbert Mead, philosopher (aged 68; Chicago, IL, USA)
* May 2 – George Fisher Baker, financier and philanthropist (aged 91; New York City, NY, USA)
* May 14 – David Belasco, Broadway impresario, theater owner and playwright (aged 77; New York City, NY, USA)
* June 2 – Joseph W. Farnham, screenwriter (aged 46; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* July 5 – Arthur Starr Eakle, mineralogist (aged 68; Honolulu, HI Territory, USA)
* July 24 – George Arthur Boeckling, businessman, president of Cedar Point Pleasure Company (aged 91; Sandusky, OH, USA)
* July 27 – John J. Lentz, lawyer and politician (aged 75; Columbus, OH, USA)
* August 6 – Bix Beiderbecke, jazz trumpeter (aged 28; Queens, NY, USA)
* August 27 – Francis Marion Smith, businessman (aged 85; Oakland, CA, USA)
* August 29 – David T. Abercrombie, businessman, co-founder of Abercrombie & Fitch (aged 64; Ossining, NY, USA)
* September 6 – Juliana Walanika, the "Hawaiian Nightingale", court singer (aged 84; CA, USA)
* September 17 – Marvin Hart, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion (aged 55; Fern Creek, KY, USA)
* October 5 – Dwight Morrow, businessman, diplomat, and politician (aged 58; Englewood, NJ, USA)
* October 6 – Carrie Babcock Sherman, Second Lady of the United States as wife of James S. Sherman (aged 74; Utica, NY, USA)
* October 18 – Thomas Edison, inventor (aged 84; West Orange, NJ, USA)
* October 26 – Charles Comiskey, baseball owner (aged 72; Eagle River, WI, USA)
* October 31 – Charles E. Rushmore, businessman, attorney, namesake of Mount Rushmore (aged 73; NY, USA)
* November 4 – Buddy Bolden, African American musician (aged 54; Jackson, LA, USA)
* November 6 – Jack Chesbro, baseball player and MLB Hall of Famer (aged 57; Conway, MA, USA)
* December 5 – Vachel Lindsay, poet (aged 52; Springfield, IL, USA)
* December 18 – Jack Diamond, gangster (aged 34; Albany, NY, USA)
* December 23 – Tyrone Power Sr., actor (aged 62; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* December 26 – Melvil Dewey, librarian, inventor of Dewey Decimal Classification (aged 80; Lake Placid, FL, USA)