What happened on 31 January?

6 events from the Ever-When timeline, ranked by how much they mattered.

1. 2020 UK leaves the European Union Britain formally leaves the EU after 47 years of membership.
2. 1797 Born: Franz Schubert Viennese composer of immense melodic gift; master of the lied.
3. 1977 Centre Pompidou opens Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers turn the building inside-out; high-tech architecture is born.
4. 1958 Explorer 1: first American satellite Four months after Sputnik, von Braun's Juno rocket answers — and Explorer 1's Geiger counter discovers the Van Allen radiation belts, spaceflight's first scientific discovery.
5. 1858 SS Great Eastern launched Five times bigger than any ship afloat, Brunel's last giant sticks on the slipway for three months; he collapses on deck and dies days after her maiden trial.
6. 1968 Battle of Hue Brutal month-long urban combat during the Tet Offensive; US and South Vietnamese forces retook the city.