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December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in Leap Year s) in the Gregorian Calendar . It is the final day of the Gregorian year.
Events
- 406 - Vandals , Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine , beginning an invasion of Gallia .
- 1229 - James I Of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (nowadays Palma De Mallorca , Spain ) thus consuming the Christian conquest of the island of Mallorca .
- 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 .
- generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at the Battle Of Quebec .
- 1831 - Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City .
- 1857 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, Ontario , as the capital of Canada .
- signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union (thus dividing Virginia in two).
- 1862 - is fought near Murfreesboro, Tennessee .
- 1879 - Thomas Edison demonstrates Incandescent Lighting to the public for the first time.
- 1891 - A new immigration depot is opened on Ellis Island , New York .
- 1904 - The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square , then known as Longacre Square, in New York, New York .
- 1909 - Manhattan Bridge opens.
- 1916 - The Hampton Terrace Hotel in North Augusta, South Carolina , one of the largest and most luxurious hotels in the United States at the time, burns to the ground.
- 1923 - The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC .
- 1929 - Guy Lombardo performs '' Auld Lang Syne '' at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City for the first time.
- declares war on Germany .
- 1946 - President Harry Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II .
- 1955 - General Motors becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over USD $1 billion in a year.
- 1960 - The Farthing Coin ceases to be Legal Tender in the United Kingdom .
- 1961 - The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than USD $12 billion in Foreign Aid to rebuild Europe .
- 1963 - The Central African Federation officially collapses and splits into Zambia , Malawi and Rhodesia .
- 1968 - Marien Ngouabi assumed the presidency of the Republic Of The Congo .
- 1983 - The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
- 1986 - A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico , kills 97 and injures 140.
- 1990 - Garry Kasparov holds his title by winning the World Chess Championship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov .
- 1991 - The Soviet Union is officially dissolved.
- 1991 - The civil war in El Salvador ends.
- 1992 - In the last of the great ITV franchise renewals, Thames Television , Television South West and Television South cease broadcasting, replaced by Carlton Television , Westcountry Television and Meridian Television respectively.
- 1995 The last strip of the popular comic Calvin And Hobbes is published.
- 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 - At noon, according to the Torrijos-Carter Treaties , the United States Government handed Panama Canal control over to Panama . The Panama Canal Authority , the Panamanian Government Agency created to run the Canal takes over.
Births
- 1378 - Pope Callixtus III (d. 1458 )
- 1491 - Jacques Cartier , French explorer (d. 1557 )
- 1514 - Vesalius , Flemish anatomist (d. 1564 )
- 1572 - Emperor Go-Yozei Of Japan , (d. 1617 )
- 1668 - Herman Boerhaave , Dutch humanist and physician (d. 1738 )
- 1720 - Charles Edward Stuart , pretender to the British throne (d. 1788 )
- 1738 - Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis , British general (d. 1805 )
- 1763 - Pierre-Charles Villeneuve , French admiral (d. 1806 )
- 1869 - Henri Matisse , French painter and graphic artist (d. 1954 )
- 1880 - George Marshall , United States Secretary Of State , recipient of Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1959 )
- 1881 - Max Pechstein , German painter and graphic artist (d. 1955 )
- 1894 - Pola Negri , Polish actress (d. 1987 )
- 1903 - Nathan Milstein , Ukrainian violinist (d. 1992 )
- 1905 - Jule Styne , English-born composer (d. 1994 )
- 1908 - Simon Wiesenthal , Austrian Holocaust survivor and activist (d. 2005 )
- 1910 - Carl Dudley , American film director (died 1973 )
- 1919 - Tommy Byrne , baseball player
- 1920 - Rex Allen , American actor and singer (d. 1999 )
- 1928 - Siné , French cartoonist
- 1930 - Odetta , American singer
- 1931 - Bob Shaw , Northern Irish science fiction writer (d. 1996 )
- 1934 - Akram Awan , Islamic scholar, Sufi
- 1937 - Avram Hershko , Israeli biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize In Chemistry
- 1937 - Anthony Hopkins , Welsh actor
- 1938 - Rosalind Cash , American actress (d. 1995 )
- 1941 - Alex Ferguson , Scottish football player and manager
- 1942 - Andy Summers , British musician ( The Police )
- 1943 - John Denver , American musician (d. 1997 )
- 1943 - Ben Kingsley , English actor
- 1945 - Taylor Hackford , American film producer and director
- 1945 - Diane Von Fürstenberg , fashion designer
- 1945 - Connie Willis , American science fiction writer
- 1947 - Burton Cummings , Canadian musician ( The Guess Who )
- 1947 - Tim Matheson , American actor
- 1948 - Donna Summer , American singer
- 1949 - Ellen Datlow , American speculative fiction editor and anthologist
- 1949 - Susan Shwartz , American science fiction writer
- 1951 - George Thorogood , American musician
- 1951 - Tom Hamilton , American musician ( Aerosmith )
- 1953 - James Remar , American actor
- 1953 - Jane Badler , American actress
- 1958 - Bebe Neuwirth , American actress
- 1959 - Phill Kline , American politician
- 1959 - Val Kilmer , American actor
- 1959 - Paul Westerberg , American singer/songwriter, musician ( Replacements )
- 1960 - John Allen Muhammad , American serial killer
- 1963 - Scott Ian , British musician ( Anthrax )
- 1964 - Allen D'Nulderf , American stuntman
- 1971 - Brent Barry , American basketball player
- 1980 - Richie McCaw , New Zealand rugby player
- 1980 - Bob Bryar , American drummer ( My Chemical Romance )
Deaths
- 192 - Commodus , Roman Emperor (b. 161 )
- 1164 - Margrave Ottokar III Of Styria (b. 1124 )
- 1194 - Duke Leopold V Of Austria (killed at a tournament) (b. 1157 )
- 1297 - Humphrey De Bohun, 3rd Earl Of Hereford , English soldier (b. 1249 )
- 1302 - Frederick III, Duke Of Lorraine (b. 1238 )
- 1384 - John Wycliffe , English theologian and Bible translator
- 1424 - Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke Of Exeter , English military leader
- 1460 - Edmund, Earl Of Rutland , brother of Kings Edward IV Of England and Richard III Of England (executed) (b. 1443 )
- 1460 - Richard Neville, 5th Earl Of Salisbury , English politician (b. 1400 )
- 1510 - Bianca Maria Sforza , wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1472 )
- 1535 - William Skeffington , Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1465 )
- 1568 - Shimazu Tadayoshi , Japanese warlord (b. 1493 )
- 1575 - Pierino Belli , Italian soldier and jurist (b. 1502 )
- 1583 - Thomas Erastus , Swiss theologian (b. 1524 )
- 1610 - Ludolph Van Ceulen , German mathematician (b. 1540 )
- 1650 - Dorgon , Chinese emperor (b. 1612 )
- 1673 - Oliver St John , English statesman and judge
- 1679 - Giovanni Alfonso Borelli , Italian physiologist and physicist (b. 1608 )
- 1691 - Dudley North , English economist (b. 1641 )
- 1719 - John Flamsteed , English astonomer (b. 1646 )
- 1742 - Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine (b. 1661 )
- 1799 - Jean-François Marmontel , French historian and writer (b. 1723 )
- 1872 - Aleksis Kivi , Finnish author (b. 1834 )
- 1877 - Gustave Courbet , French painter (b. 1819 )
- 1888 - Samson Raphael Hirsch , German rabbi (b. 1808 )
- 1889 - Ion Creangă , Romanian writer (b. 1837 or 1839 )
- 1905 - Alexander Popov , Russian physicist (b. 1859 )
- 1921 - Boies Penrose , United States Senator from Pennsylvania (b. 1860 )
- 1936 - Miguel De Unamuno , Spanish writer and philosopher (b. 1864 )
- 1948 - Malcolm Campbell , English race car driver (b. 1885 )
- 1953 - Albert Plesman , Dutch aviation pioneer (b. 1889 )
- 1964 - Ólafur Thors , Icelandic politician and five times prime minister (b. 1892 )
- 1969 - George Lewis , American musician (b. 1900 )
- 1971 - Vikram Sarabhai , Indian physicist (b. 1919 )
- 1972 - Roberto Clemente , baseball player (b. 1934 )
- 1977 - Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah , Ruler of Kuwait (b. 1924 )
- 1980 - Marshall McLuhan , Canadian writer (b. 1911 )
- 1980 - Raoul Walsh , American film director (b. 1887 )
- 1985 - Rick Nelson , American singer (b. 1940 )
- 1990 - Vasili Lazarev , cosmonaut (b. 1928 )
- 1993 - Zviad Gamsakhurdia , first President Of Georgia (b. 1939 )
- 1997 - Floyd Cramer , American musician (b. 1933 )
- 1997 - Michael Kennedy , American politician (b. 1958 )
- 1999 - Elliot Richardson , American politician (b. 1920 )
- 2000 - Alan Cranston , American politician (b. 1914 )
- 2003 - Arthur R. Von Hippel German-born physicist (b. 1898 )
- 2004 - Gerard Debreu , French-born economist, Bank Of Sweden Prize winner (b. 1921 )
- 2005 - Phillip Whitehead , British politician (b. 1937 )
Holidays and observances
The evening is called . The day and evening are called Hogmanay in Scotland. In Japan the evening is called Ōmisoka . In the Philippines it is a public holiday.
External links
December 30 - January 1 - November 30 - January 31 — Listing Of All Days
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