Quick glance of 31 March in the pages of History

March 31: Here are the major events that occurred on 31 March….

• 31 March, 1774: The first post office in India was established by the East India Company in 1774 in Calcutta (now known as Kolkata). The post office charged two annas per 100 miles.
• 31 March, 1836: Charles Dickens began his literary journey through the novel ‘The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club’, for which he adopted a pseudonym called Boz. The first edition of this famous literary work was published on March 31, 1836. Eventually more installments of this great work were printed since it became a much sought after literary work.
• 31 March, 1867: Prarthana Samaj was established. It was a movement for religious and social reform in Bombay based on earlier reform movements. Prarthana Samaj was founded by Atmaram Pandurang in 1867 when Kesab Chandra sen visited Maharashtra, with an aim to make people believe in one God and worship only one God. It became popular after Mahadev Govind Ranade joined. 
• 31 March, 1889: The Eiffel Tower was officially opened on this day as the entrance way to the “Exposition Universelle”, an international trade fair celebrating the centenary of the French Revolution and the birth of the Republic. It is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
• 31 March, 1909: Touted as one of the most luxurious vessels ever made, the construction of the ‘Titanic’ commenced on this day. The ship met with an ill fate in 1912, during its very first voyage, resulting in the death of many people onboard.
• 31 March, 1911: The monument was erected to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary at Apollo Bunder on their visit to India in 1911. Built in Indo-Saracenic style, the foundation stone for the Gateway of India was laid on this India. The structure is an arch made of basalt, 26 metres (85 feet) high.
• 31 March, 1959: The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, has crossed the border into India after a 15 day journey on foot from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, over the Himalayan mountains seeking asylum. This follows the Chinese repression of the rebellion by Tibetans in Lhasa. The Dalai Lama, is granted political asylum in India.
• 31 March, 1964: On this day, the last tram travelled on the streets of Mumbai between Bori Bunder and Khodadad tram terminus (now Dadar T.T.). The last tram was scheduled at 10pm from Bori Bunder.
• 31 March, 1972: Meena Kumari, one of India’s most popular film stars, was born on 1 August 1932. Known as the ‘Tragedy Queen’, both for her on-screen roles and off-screen persona, she died on this day at the age of 39.
• 31 March, 2004: Google Inc. announced that it would be introducing a free e-mail service called Gmail.