On this day, July 31

1715 A fleet of Spanish ships carrying gold, silver and jewelry sank during a hurricane off the east Florida coast; of some 2,500 crew members, more than 1,000 died.

1888 Under the name of the Pittsburgh Reduction Co., the first aluminum-producing company was organized at the home of Capt. Alfred E. Hunt, 272 Shady Lane (Ave.), by five young men, all under 35. They were Capt. Hunt, a military figure; Charles Martin Hall, developer of the new metal; Romaine C. Cole; George H. Clapp; and Howard Lash.

1981 The 50-day Major League Baseball strike ended.

1996 Kurt Angle of Mt. Lebanon won the gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin

Today’s birthdays: Actor Don Murray, 92. Jazz composer-musician Kenny Burrell, 90. Actor France Nuyen, 82. Actor Geraldine Chaplin, 77. Singer Gary Lewis, 76. Actor Susan Wooldridge, 71. International Tennis Hall of Famer Evonne Goolagong Cawley, 70. Actor Barry Van Dyke, 70. Actor Alan Autry, 69. Jazz composer-musician Michael Wolff, 69. Actor Michael Biehn, 65. Rock singer-musician Daniel Ash (Love and Rockets), 64. Actor Dirk Blocker, 64.

Entrepreneur and Mt. Lebanon native Mark Cuban, 63. Rock musician Bill Berry, 63. Actor Wesley Snipes, 59. Country singer Chad Brock, 58. Musician Fatboy Slim, 58. Author J.K. Rowling, 56. Actor Dean Cain, 55. Actor Jim True-Frost, 55. Actor Ben Chaplin, 52. Actor Loren Dean, 52. Actor Eve Best, 50. Actor Annie Parisse, 46. Actor Robert Telfer, 44. Country singer-musician Zac Brown, 43. Actorproducer-writer B.J. Novak, 42. Actor Eric Lively, 40. Singer Shannon Curfman, 36. Penguins center Evgeni Malkin, 35.

Thought for today: “History is idle gossip about a happening whose truth is lost the instant it has taken place.”