All times in UTC ·
Dashed edge = started before, or continues beyond, this day
Events on Friday 18 September 1931 1
1931Mukden IncidentJapan stages a railway bombing to justify invading ManchuriaJapanese officers of the Kwantung Army set off a small explosive on the South Manchuria Railway near Mukden and blamed Chinese dissidents. Japan used the incident as a pretext to occupy Manchuria. The following year it set up the puppet state of Manchukuo there.