December 31
December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, as the final day of the Gregorian year.
Events
- 406 - Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia
- 1600 - British East India Company is chartered
- 1687 - The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.
- 1695 - A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax.
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at the Battle of Quebec.
- 1857 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, Ontario, as the capital of Canada
- 1862 - American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union (thus dividing Virginia in two); meanwhile, the Battle of Stones River is fought near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
- 1879 - Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time (Menlo Park, New Jersey).
- 1916 - The Hampton Terrace Hotel in North Augusta, South Carolina, one of the largest and most luxurious hotels in the USA at the time, burns to the ground.
- 1929 - Guy Lombardo plays Auld Lang Syne for the first time
- 1944 - World War II: Hungary declares war on Germany
- 1946 - President Harry Truman officially proclaims an end of hostilities in World War II.
- 1955 - General Motors becomes the first American corporation to make over USD $1 billion in a year.
- 1960 - The farthing coin, used in Britain since the 13th century, ceases to be legal tender.
- 1961 - The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than USD $12 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.
- 1986 - A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.
- 1990 - Russian Garry Kasparov holds his title by winning the World Chess Championship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov.
- 1991 - The Soviet Union officially dissolves.
- 1992 - Thames Television ceases broadcasting. Carlton Television takes over its London weekday franchise.
- 1995 - The publication of the last new Calvin and Hobbes cartoon strip.
- 1999 - Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, to be replaced by Vladimir Putin
- 1999 - Five hijackers, who had been holding 155 hostages on an Indian Airlines plane, leave the plane with two Islamic clerics that they had demanded be freed.
- 1999 - The Panama Canal comes completely under Panama's jurisdiction.
Births
- 1378 - Pope Callixtus III (d. 1458)
- 1514 - Andreas Vesal, physician (d. 1564)
- 1790 - Antoine Adamberger, actress (d. 1867)
- 1869 - Henri Matisse, painter and graphic artist (d. 1954)
- 1880 - George Marshall, recipient of Nobel Prize in Peace 1953 for the Marshall Plan (d. 1959)
- 1881 - Max Pechstein, painter and graphic artist (d. 1955)
- 1894 - Pola Negri, actress (d. 1987)
- 1905 - Jule Styne, composer (d. 1994)
- 1908 - Simon Wiesenthal, concentration camp survivor, activist
- 1920 - Rex Allen, actor, singer (d. 1999)
- 1930 - Odetta, singer
- 1932 - Mildred Scheel, physician, founder of Deutsche Krebsliga (d. 1985)
- 1932 - George Schlatter, television producer
- 1937 - Anthony Hopkins, actor
- 1941 - Alex Ferguson, football player and manager
- 1943 - John Denver, country/pop musician (d. 1997)
- 1943 - Ben Kingsley, actor
- 1945 - Taylor Hackford, producer, director
- 1945 - Diane von Fürstenberg, fashion designer
- 1947 - Burton Cummings, musician ("The Guess Who")
- 1948 - Donna Summer, singer
- 1951 - George Thorogood, musician
- 1958 - Bebe Neuwirth, actress
- 1959 - Val Kilmer, actor
- 1960 - John Allen Muhammad, convicted Beltway sniper
- 1971 - Brent Barry, NBA basketball player
Deaths
- 192 - Commodus, Roman Emperor (b. 161)
- 1384 - John Wyclif, theologian (b. 1328)
- 1888 - Samson Raphael Hirsch, rabbi (b. 1888)
- 1969 - George Lewis, jazz musician (b. 1900)
- 1972 - Roberto Clemente, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1934)
- 1980 - Marshall McLuhan, one of the founders of media studies (b. 1911)
- 1980 - Raoul Walsh, film director
- 1985 - Rick Nelson, singer (b. 1940)
- 1990 - Vasili Lazarev, cosmonaut (b. 1928)
- 1993 - Zviad Gamsakhurdia, scientist and writer, first President of the Republic of Georgia (b. 1939)
- 1993 - Brandon Teena, murder victim (b. 1972)
- 1997 - Floyd Cramer, musician
- 1997 - Michael Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy, killed in a skiing accident on Aspen Mountain in Colorado.
- 1999 - Sarah Knauss, dies at the age of 119 years - at death, the world's oldest person alive. (b. 1880).
- 1999 - Elliot Richardson, U.S. politician (b. 1920)
- 2000 - José Greco, dance
- 2000 - Alan Cranston, U.S. politician
Holidays and observances
December 30 - January 1 - November 30 - January 31 -- listing of all days
