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.
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Events
\n*406 - Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia \n*1600 - British East India Company is chartered \n*1687 - The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope. \n*1695 - A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax. \n*1775 - American Revolutionary War: British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at the Battle of Quebec. \n*1857 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, Ontario, as the capital of Canada \n*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. \n*1879 - Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time (Menlo Park, New Jersey). \n*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.\n*1929 - Guy Lombardo plays Auld Lang Syne for the first time \n*1944 - World War II: Hungary declares war on Germany \n*1946 - President Harry Truman officially proclaims an end of hostilities in World War II. \n*1955 - General Motors becomes the first American corporation to make over USD $1 billion in a year. \n*1960 - The farthing coin, used in Britain since the 13th century, ceases to be legal tender. \n*1961 - The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than USD $12 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Europe. \n*1986 - A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140. \n*1990 - Russian Gary Kasparov holds his title by winning the World Chess Championship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov. \n*1991 - The Soviet Union officially dissolves.\n*1995 - The publication of the last new Calvin and Hobbes cartoon strip. \n*1999 - Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, to be replaced by Vladimir Putin \n*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.\n*1999 - The Panama Canal comes completely under Panama's jurisdiction.
Births
\n*1378 - Pope Callixtus III (d. 1458)\n*1514 - Andreas Vesal, physician (d. 1564)\n*1790 - Antoine Adamberger, actress (d. 1867)\n*1869 - Henri Matisse, painter and graphic artist (d. 1954)\n*1880 - George Marshall, recipient of Nobel Prize in Peace 1953 for the Marshall Plan (d. 1959)\n*1881 - Max Pechstein, painter and graphic artist (d. 1955)\n*1894 - Pola Negri, actress (d. 1987)\n*1905 - Jule Styne, composer (d. 1994)\n*1908 - Simon Wiesenthal, concentration camp survivor, activist\n*1920 - Rex Allen, actor, singer (d. 1999)\n*1930 - Odetta, singer\n*1932 - Mildred Scheel, physician, founder of Deutsche Krebsliga (d. 1985)\n*1932 - George Schlatter, television producer\n*1937 - Anthony Hopkins, actor\n*1941 - Alex Ferguson, football player and manager\n*1943 - John Denver, country/pop musician (d. 1997)\n*1943 - Ben Kingsley, actor\n*1945 - Taylor Hackford, producer, director\n*1945 - Diane von Fürstenberg, fashion designer\n*1947 - Burton Cummings, musician ("The Guess Who")\n*1948 - Donna Summer, singer\n*1951 - George Thorogood, musician\n*1958 - Bebe Neuwirth, actress\n*1959 - Val Kilmer, actor\n*1960 - John Allen Muhammad, convicted Beltway sniper\n*1971 - Brent Barry, NBA basketball player
Deaths
\n*192 - Commodus, Roman Emperor (b. 161)\n*1384 - John Wyclif, theologian (b. 1328)\n*1969 - George Lewis, jazz musician (b. 1900)\n*1972 - Roberto Clemente, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1934)\n*1980 - Marshall McLuhan, one of the founders of media studies (b. 1911)\n*1980 - Raoul Walsh, film director\n*1985 - Rick Nelson, singer (b. 1940)\n*1990 - Vasili Lazarev, cosmonaut (b. 1928)\n*1993 - Zviad Gamsakhurdia, scientist and writer, first President of the Republic of Georgia (b. 1939)\n*1993 - Brandon Teena, murder victim (b. 1972)\n*1997 - Floyd Cramer, musician\n*1997 - Michael Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy, killed in a skiing accident on Aspen Mountain in Colorado. \n*1999 - Sarah Knauss, dies at the age of 119 years - at death, the world's oldest person alive. (b. 1880). \n*1999 - Elliot Richardson, U.S politician (b. 1920)\n*2000 - José Greco, dancer\n*2000 - Alan Cranston, U.S politician
Holidays and observances
\n*The seventh day of Christmas in Western Christianity.\n*The evening is called New Year's Eve. In the Netherlands the traditional food is oil-dumpling. At 24:00 the beginning of the new year is celebrated, see January 1.\n*The day and evening are called Hogmanay in Scotland.\n*Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Sharaf (Honor) - First day of the 16th month of the Bahá'í Calendar
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December 30 -
January 1 -
November 30 -
January 31 --
listing of all days
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