Stolen from Lady Bracknell who half-inched it from Funky Mango, a Wiki-meme:

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. In the Search box, type the month and day (but not the year) of your birth.
3. Choose three events that happened on your birthday.
4. Choose two important birthdays and one interesting death.
5. Post it.

Bride of the Book God was born on 31 January, so:

Events

1606 – Guy Fawkes was executed for his role in the Gunpowder plot (see Antonia Fraser’s book on the topic)

1919 The Battle of George Square took place in Glasgow

1953 The North Sea flood causes over 1800 deaths in the Netherlands.

Births

1959 Phil Manzanera (of Roxy Music & 801 Live fame)

1959 Anthony LaPaglia (Without a Trace – never miss it)

Deaths

1788 Bonnie Prince Charlie

Nice to see I share my birthday with two of my absolute favourites!