January 31, 1944

1944John Inverarity, Australian cricketer and coach^[†]

Robert John Inverarity is a former Australian cricketer who played six Test matches. A right-handed batsman and left-arm orthodox spin bowler in his playing career, Inverarity was also one of the enduring captains in the Australian Sheffield Shield during the late 1970s and early 1980s, captaining both Western Australia and South Australia.

1944Charlie Musselwhite, American musician and singer-songwriter^[†]

Charles Douglas Musselwhite is an American blues harmonica player and bandleader who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal figure in helping to revive the Chicago Blues movement of the 1960s. He has often been identified as a "white bluesman".

1944World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.^[†]

Kwajalein Atoll is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents often shorten to Kwaj. The total land area of the atoll is just over 6 square miles (16 km2). It lies in the Ralik Chain, 2,100 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.

1944World War II: During the Anzio campaign, the 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby's Rangers) is destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy.^[†]

The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that commenced January 22, 1944. The battle began with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle, and ended on June 4, 1944, with the invasion of Rome. The operation was opposed by German and by Italian Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI) forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno.