March 31 is the birthday of French mathematician and philosopher RENÉ DESCARTES (1596-1650).

"Ego cogito ergo sum."

Descartes "was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Mathematics was paramount to his method of inquiry, and he connected the previously separate fields of geometry and algebra into analytic geometry. Descartes spent much of his working life in the Dutch Republic, initially serving the Dutch States Army, and later becoming a central intellectual of the Dutch Golden Age. Although he served a Protestant state and was later counted as a deist by critics, Descartes was Roman Catholic." (Wikipedia)

March 31 is the birthday of Austrian composer FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809).

"I was cut off from the world. There was no one to confuse or torment me, and I was forced to become original."

Haydn "was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led him to be called 'Father of the Symphony' and 'Father of the String quartet.'

Haydn arose from humble origins, the child of working people in a rural village. He established his career first by serving as a chorister at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, then through an arduous period as a freelance musician. Eventually he found career success, spending much of his working life as music director for the wealthy Esterházy family at their palace of Eszterháza in rural Hungary. Though he had his own orchestra there, it isolated him from other composers and trends in music so that he was, as he put it, 'forced to become original.' During this period his music circulated widely in publication, eventually making him the most celebrated composer in Europe." (Wikipedia)

March 31 is the birthday of the colorful Russian ballet impresario SERGE DIAGHILEV (1872-1929).

"Your Majesty, I am like you. I do no work. I do nothing, but I am indispensable."

Diaghilev was founder of the Ballets Russes, which was responsible for producing some of the greatest art of the 20th century. Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Nijinsky, Léon Bakst and many, many more created music, sets, costumes and scenarios for the company.

One of Diaghilev's most famous Ballets Russes productions was THE FIREBIRD with music by IStravinsky, choreography by Michel Fokine and costumes by Bakst.

March 31 is the birthday of the first African-American heavyweight champion JACK JOHNSON (1878-1946).

"If it seems like you are playing around and not practicing, that's when you know you really love it."

"Among the period's most dominant champions, Johnson remains a boxing legend, with his 1910 fight against James J. Jeffries dubbed the 'fight of the century.' According to filmmaker Ken Burns, 'for more than thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notorious African-American on Earth.' Transcending boxing, he became part of the culture and the history of racism in America." (Wikipedia)

Below is rare footage of Johnson conducting a jazz band at the Checkers Club in Harlem in 1929.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: On March 31, 1492, Queen Isabella of Castile issues the Alhambra Decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish and Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: On March 31, 1901, Antonín Dvořák's fairy tale opera RUSALKA opened at the National Opera House in Prague. The gorgeous soprano aria HYMN TO THE MOON is from Rusalka.