On This Day: August 31st

Peninsular War: Spanish troops repel a French attack in the Battle of San Marcial.

Irish Rebellion: Irish rebels, with French assistance, establish the short-lived Republic of Connacht.

War of the First Coalition: The British capture Trincomalee (present-day Sri Lanka) from the Dutch in order to keep it out of French hands.

William Livingston, the first Governor of New Jersey, begins serving his first term.

Under the influence of the Ottoman government, patriarch Symeon I convenes a synod of the Eastern Orthodox Churches in Constantinople which defines the ritual for admitting Catholics to the Eastern Orthodox Churches and condemns the church union of Ferrara-Florence.

King Henry V of England dies of dysentery while in France and his son, Henry VI, becomes king at the age of nine months.

The 8.8-9.4 Caldera earthquake shakes Chile's Atacama Region causing tsunami in Chile, Hawaii, and Japan.

King Haakon V moves the capital of Norway from Bergen to Oslo.

Al-Kamil becomes sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty.

After a sudden gastric illness, Byzantine Empress Theodora dies childless, thus ending the Macedonian dynasty.