On This Day: July 31st

A De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver and Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser collide over Soldotna, Alaska, killing all seven people on board both aircraft, including state representative Gary Knopp.

Gas explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung kill at least 20 people and injure more than 270.

Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.

East Coast Jets Flight 81 crashes near Owatonna Degner Regional Airport in Owatonna, Minnesota, killing all eight people on board.

Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.

Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother, Raúl.

Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector: NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the Moon's surface.

FedEx Express Flight 14 crashes at Newark International Airport, injuring five.

The nation of Georgia joins the United Nations.

Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal, killing all 113 people on board.