On May 31, 1759, the Albanian iconographer Kostandin Shpataraku is mentioned in the Code of the Church of Saint Nicolas in Elbasan, for the decoration of this shrine, which is an important monument of Albanian medieval culture and art.

On May 31, 1905, workers and apprentices from Shkodra went on an economic strike. This is one of the first strikes of Albanian workers seeking their rights.

On May 31, 1912, the “Dukagjin Plain Group”, led by Bajram Curri, surrounded the Ottoman forces in Peja, without being able to liberate the city.

On May 31, 1924, Endri Keko was born. He was the son of a family that had immigrated to America, and became among the founders and first directors of the “New Albania” Movie Studio. His first work is the documentary “Light on Albania”, which also marks the birth of this cinematographic genre in Albania. Endri Keko has produced more than 150 documentary movies. As a screenplay writer, Endri Keko is the author of over 50 documentary movie scripts and a large number of articles, art criticism and memoirs on the development of cinematography.

On May 31, 1977, engineer Koço Theodhosi, WW2 fighter, politician and statesman, passed away. He was convicted by the communist regime in May 1975 and was shot on May 31, 1977.

On May 31, 1982, the well-known Italian linguist and prominent Albanian scholar Karlo Tagliavini passed away. For many succesive years he gave lectures on the Albanian language and literature in the auditoriums of the University of Padua.

On May 31, 2000, director Viktor Stratoberdha passed away in Canada. As a student, he collaborated on the shooting of the movie “Skanderbeg”. His first work is the documentary “Happy Holidays”, which was premiered in 1955. The second movie was titled “Congratulations fellow students”, an attempt to give artistic value to the documentary movie genre. The director Stratoberdha made a feature movie of the “Cinéma vérité” type, which was banned by the former regime, exiling the author in Berat.

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