From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
December 31
is the 365th day of the year (366th in
leap years
) in the
Gregorian calendar
. This date is well known for
New Year's Eve
as it is the last
day
of a given
calendar year
, as the following
day
is
January 1st
, the first
day
of the following
year
.
- 192
-
Narcissus
murders Roman Emperor
Commodus
.
- 406
-
Vandals
,
Alans
and
Suebians
cross the
Rhine
, beginning the invasion of
Gaul
.
- 1225
? The Ly
Dynasty
in
Vietnam
ends after 216 years, as
Tran Thai Tong
, still a boy, becomes
Emperor
. This is the beginning of the Tran Dynasty.
- 1472
? The throwing of
snowballs
is banned in
Amsterdam
.
- 1494
-
First Italian War
: Troops of King
Charles VIII of France
enter
Rome
.
- 1600
? The
British East India Company
is created.
- 1660
-
James II of England
is named
Duke
of
Normandy
by
Louis XIV of France
.
- 1687
- The first
Huguenots
set sail from
France
for the
Cape of Good Hope
.
- 1695
-
Window
tax
is introduced in
England
. As a result, many people
brick
up their windows in order not to have to pay the tax.
- 1703
? An
earthquake
and
tsunami
damage
Tokyo
,
Odawara
and several nearby towns, killing around 10,000 people.
- 1720
? A storm
flood
ravages the North German coast, separating a dune on
Heligoland
from the main
island
.
- 1775
?
American Revolutionary War
: In the
Battle of Quebec
, British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army General
Richard Montgomery
.
- 1790
-
Efimeris
, the oldest Greek
newspaper
still in print, is published for the first time.
- 1796
-
Baltimore
,
Maryland
, is incorporated as a
city
.
- 1857
?
Queen Victoria
chooses
Ottawa
as the capital of
Canada
.
- 1862
?
Abraham Lincoln
signs the Act creating the state of
West Virginia
and thus splitting
Virginia
in two.
- 1862
-
American Civil War
: The
Battle of Stones River
in
Tennessee
begins.
- 1862
- The
battleship
USS
Monitor
sinks in a
storm
in heavy seas off
Cape Hatteras
,
North Carolina
.
- 1878
- In
Mannheim
,
Germany
,
Karl Benz
files a
patent
on his reliable two-stroke
gas
engine
.
- 1879
?
Thomas Edison
publicly demonstrates incandescent
light
in
Menlo Park
,
New Jersey
.
- 1891
? A new immigration depot is opened on
Ellis Island
,
New York
.
- 1904
? What is now
Times Square
,
New York
, holds its first
New Year
celebration.
- 1909
? The
Manhattan Bridge
is opened.
- 1917
- British
troop
transporter
Osmanieh
hits a mine laid by German U-boat
UC 34
off
Alexandria
,
Egypt
, sinking with 99 deaths.
- 1923
? The
BBC
broadcasts the chimes of
Big Ben
in
London
for the first time.
- 1929
- The Glen
Cinema
Disaster in
Paisley
,
Scotland
, kills 70
children
.
- 1944
?
World War II
:
Hungary
declares
war
on
Germany
.
- 1946
?
President of the United States
Harry S. Truman
officially declares an end to hostilities in
World War II
.
- 1948
- The 100,000th landing of the
Berlin
Airlift occurs.
- 1951
- The
Marshall Plan
expires after giving over
$
13.3
billion
to help war-torn parts of
Europe
.
- 1955
-
General Motors
becomes the first US
Corporation
to make over a
billion
US
Dollars
in a year.
- 1960
- The
farthing
coin
stops being the legal tender in the
United Kingdom
.
- 1963
? The Central African Federation officially breaks apart, and eventually becomes
Zambia
,
Malawi
and
Rhodesia
.
- 1964
? A three-day census in
East Germany
ends, determining the population to be 17,003,632.
- 1965
?
Jean-Bedel Bokassa
leads a coup against
David Dacko
in the
Central African Republic
.
- 1968
?
Marien Ngouabi
becomes
President
of the
Republic of the Congo
.
- 1973
-
AC/DC
is formed.
- 1981
? In a military coup in
Ghana
,
Jerry Rawlings
takes control.
- 1983
? A military coup in
Nigeria
is led by
Muhammadu Buhari
.
- 1986
? In
San Juan, Puerto Rico
a
fire
at the Dupont Plaza
Hotel
kills 97 people.
- 1987
?
Robert Mugabe
becomes
President
of
Zimbabwe
.
- 1988
-
Pittsburgh Penguins
'
Mario Lemieux
becomes the only
NHL
player, to this date, to score goals in five different ways - even strength, shorthand, power play, penalty shot and empty net, in an 8-6 win over the
New Jersey Devils
.
- 1989
?
Arved Fuchs
and
Reinhold Messner
reach the
South Pole
on their cross-
Antarctica
journey.
- 1990
?
Garry Kasparov
successfully defends his world
chess
title against
Anatoly Karpov
.
- 1991
? The
Soviet Union
officially comes to an end.
- 1992
?
Czechoslovakia
peacefully dissolves, splitting into the
Czech Republic
and
Slovakia
the next day.
- 1994
? This date is skipped altogether in
Kiribati
, as the
International Date Line
is shifted to the east of the
Line Islands
and
Phoenix Islands
.
- 1999
?
Boris Yeltsin
resigns as
President of Russia
.
- 1999
? The
Panama Canal
is transferred from
US
control to
Panama
's control.
- 695
?
Muhammad bin Qasim al-Thaqafi
, founded
Islam
in
South Asia
(d.
715
)
- 1378
?
Pope Callixtus III
(d.
1458
)
- 1491
?
Jacques Cartier
, French explorer (d.
1557
)
- 1499
-
Diane de Poitiers
(d.
1566
)
- 1514
-
Andreas Vesalius
,
Flemish
anatomist
(d.
1564
)
- 1572
?
Emperor Go-Yozei
of
Japan
(d.
1617
)
- 1585
-
Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba
, Spanish
military
leader and politician (d.
1645
)
- 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
)
- 1741
?
Isabella Maria of Parma
(d.
1763
)
- 1798
-
Friedrich Robert Faehlmann
, Estonian
physician
, philologist and academic (d.
1850
)
- 1815
-
George G. Meade
, American
general
and
engineer
(d.
1872
)
- 1830
?
Isma'il Pasha
, Governor of Egypt (d.
1895
)
- 1830
-
Alexander Smith
, Scottish
poet
(d.
1861
)
- 1838
-
Emile Loubet
,
President of France
(d.
1929
)
- 1842
?
Giovanni Boldini
, Italian painter (d.
1931
)
- 1844
-
Ebe W. Tunnell
,
Governor
of
Delaware
(d.
1917
)
- 1846
-
Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis
, Dutch politician (d.
1919
)
- 1855
?
Giovanni Pascoli
, Italian
poet
(d.
1912
)
- 1857
-
King Kelly
, American
baseball
player (d.
1894
)
- 1860
-
Berthold Lasker
, German
chess
player (d.
1928
)
- 1863
?
Alfredo Panzini
, Italian writer (d.
1939
)
- 1864
-
Hans am Ende
, German painter (d.
1918
)
- 1864
-
Robert Grant Aitken
, American
astronomer
(d.
1951
)
- 1869
?
Henri Matisse
, French painter (d.
1954
)
- 1874
-
Julius Meier
, German-American politician, 20th
Governor
of
Oregon
(d.
1937
)
- 1877
?
Viktor Dyk
, Czech poet, dramatist and politician (d.
1931
)
- 1878
?
Elizabeth Arden
, Canadian businesswoman (d.
1966
)
- 1878
?
Horacio Quiroga
, Argentine-Uruguayan writer (d.
1937
)
- 1880
?
George Marshall
, 50th
United States Secretary of State
(d.
1959
)
- 1880
-
Fred Beebe
, American
baseball
player (d.
1957
)
- 1881
?
Max Pechstein
, German painter (d.
1955
)
- 1884
?
Bobby Byrne
, American
baseball
player (d.
1964
)
- 1885
-
Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein
(d.
1970
)
- 1899
?
Silvestre Revueltas
, Mexican composer (d.
1940
)
- 1901
-
Karl-August Fagerholm
,
Prime Minister
of
Finland
(d.
1984
)
- 1903
-
Nathan Milstein
,
Ukrainian
-born
violinist
(d.
1992
)
- 1904
-
Umm Kulthum
,
Egyptian
singer (d.
1975
)
- 1905
-
Jules Styne
, American
songwriter
(d.
1994
)
- 1905
-
Guido Mollet
,
Prime Minister of France
(d.
1975
)
- 1908
?
Simon Wiesenthal
, Austrian
Holocaust
survivor (d.
2005
)
- 1909
-
Jonah Jones
, American
jazz
trumpeter (d.
2000
)
- 1910
-
Archie M. Gubbrud
,
Governor
of
South Dakota
(d.
1987
)
- 1914
-
Yrjo Nikkanen
, Finnish javelin thrower (d.
1985
)
- 1918
-
Ray Graves
, American football player and coach (d.
2015
)
- 1919
-
Recy Taylor
, American rape victim and civil rights activist (d.
2017
)
- 1924
-
Kjell Arnljot Wig
, Norwegian media personality (d.
2015
)
- 1924
?
Taylor Mead
, American actor (d.
2013
)
- 1928
-
Hugh McElhenny
,
American football
player
- 1928
?
Amarillo Slim
, American professional
poker
player (d.
2012
)
- 1928
-
Veijo Meri
, Finnish writer (d.
2015
)
- 1928
-
Sine
, French cartoonist (d.
2016
)
- 1929
-
Mies Bouwman
, Dutch entertainer (d.
2018
)
- 1930
-
Odetta
, American singer (d.
2008
)
- 1931
-
George Ardisson
, Italian actor (d.
2014
)
- 1931
-
Tom Rolf
, Swedish-American film editor (d.
2014
)
- 1931
?
Mildred Scheel
, German
physician
,
cancer
campaigner and First Lady (d.
1985
)
- 1934
-
Michael Bonallack
, English
golfer
- 1935
?
Peter Herbolzheimer
, German musician (d.
2010
)
- 1935
- King
Salman of Saudi Arabia
- 1936
?
Siw Malmkvist
, Swedish singer
- 1936
-
Umaru Dikko
, Nigerian politician (d.
2014
)
- 1937
?
Avram Hershko
, Israeli
biologist
- 1937
?
Anthony Hopkins
, Welsh actor
- 1937
-
Carl Emil Christiansen
, Danish
footballer
(d.
2018
)
- 1938
?
Rosalind Cash
, American actress (d.
1995
)
- 1938
-
Marien Ngouabi
, Congolese politician (d.
1977
)
- 1939
-
Peter Camejo
, American politician (d.
2008
)
- 1940
-
Tim Considine
, American actor
- 1941
?
Alex Ferguson
, Scottish football manager
- 1941
-
Sean S. Cunningham
, American
movie director
and
writer
- 1941
-
Sarah Miles
, English actress
- 1942
-
Taufiq Kiemas
, First Gentleman of
Indonesia
(d.
2013
)
- 1942
?
Andy Summers
, British
guitarist
- 1943
?
Ben Kingsley
, British actor
- 1943
?
John Denver
, American
singer-songwriter
(d.
1997
)
- 1943
-
Pete Quaife
, British musician (d.
2010
)
- 1944
- Neil Ross, American voice actor
- 1944
?
Taylor Hackford
, American director and producer
- 1945
-
Diane von Furstenberg
, Belgian-American
fashion
designer
- 1946
-
Lyudmila Pakhamova
, Soviet
ice
dancer (d.
1986
)
- 1946
-
Boris Dubin
, Russian sociologist and translator (d.
2014
)
- 1947
-
Burton Cummings
, Canadian
keyboardist
- 1947
-
Tim Matheson
, American actor
- 1948
?
Donna Summer
, American
disco
singer
(d.
2012
)
- 1948
-
Sandy Jardine
, Scottish
footballer
(d.
2014
)
- 1948
-
Joe Dallesandro
, American actor
- 1948
-
Viktor Mikhailovich Afanasyev
, Soviet-Russian
cosmonaut
- 1951
?
Tom Hamilton
, American
bassist
(
Aerosmith
)
- 1954
?
Alex Salmond
, Scottish politician, 4th
First Minister of Scotland
- 1954
?
Hermann Tilke
, German racing circuit designer
- 1954
?
Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir
, Icelandic politician
- 1956
-
Robert Goodwill
, English politician
- 1958
?
Bebe Neuwirth
, American actress
- 1959
?
Baron Waqa
, Nauruan musician and politician,
President
of
Nauru
- 1959
?
Val Kilmer
, American actor
- 1959
?
Paul Westerberg
, American musician
- 1960
?
Steve Bruce
, English
footballer
- 1960
?
John Allen Muhammad
, American spree killer (d.
2009
)
- 1961
-
Rick Aguilera
, American
baseball
player
- 1961
-
Jeremy Heywood
, English
economist
and civil servant
- 1963
-
Scott Ian
, American
guitarist
- 1964
-
Michael McDonald
, American actor and comedian
- 1965
?
Gong Li
, Chinese actress
- 1965
?
Nicholas Sparks
, American
writer
- 1966
-
Lisa Joyner
, American
journalist
and
actress
- 1970
?
Bryon Russell
, American
basketball
player
- 1972
?
Gregory Coupet
, French
footballer
- 1974
?
Mario Aerts
, Belgian
cyclist
- 1976
-
Matthew Hoggard
, English
cricketer
- 1977
-
Psy
, South Korean rapper
- 1977
-
Donald Trump Jr.
, son of
Donald Trump
- 1979
?
Bob Bryar
, drummer in
My Chemical Romance
- 1980
?
Richie McCaw
, New Zealand
rugby
player
- 1980
?
Fumie Suguri
, Japanese figure skater
- 1981
?
Margaret Simpson
,
Ghanaian
athlete
- 1981
-
Nathan Robinson
, Canadian
ice hockey
player
- 1982
?
Craig Gordon
, Scottish
footballer
- 1984
?
Corey Crawford
, Canadian
ice hockey
goaltender
- 1984
-
Calvin Zola
, Congolese
footballer
- 1986
-
Bronson Pelletier
, Canadian actor
- 1987
-
Javaris Crittenton
, American
basketball
player
- 1987
-
Emilie Le Pennec
, French gymnast
- 1990
?
Patrick Chan
, Canadian figure skater
- 1991
-
Camila Giorgi
, Italian
tennis
player
- 1995
-
Gabrielle Douglas
, American
gymnast
- 192
?
Commodus
,
Roman Emperor
(b.
161
)
- 335
?
Saint Silvester
,
Pope
and Saint whose day is marked on December 31
- 669
-
Li Shiji
, Chinese chancellor (b.
594
)
- 1164
? Margrave
Ottokar III of Styria
(b.
1124
)
- 1194
?
Leopold V of Austria
(killed at a tournament) (b.
1157
)
- 1302
-
Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine
(b.
1238
)
- 1384
?
John Wyclif
, English theologian (b.
1328
)
- 1460
-
Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury
(b.
1400
)
- 1510
?
Bianca Maria Sforza
, wife of
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
(b.
1472
)
- 1568
?
Shimazu Tadayoshi
, Japanese daimyo (b.
1493
)
- 1650
?
Dorgon
, Emperor of
China
(b.
1612
)
- 1679
-
Giovanni Alfonso Borelli
, Italian
physiologist
and
physicist
(b.
1608
)
- 1705
-
Catherine of Braganza
(b.
1638
)
- 1719
-
John Flamsteed
, English
astronomer
(b.
1646
)
- 1742
-
Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine
(b.
1661
)
- 1830
-
Stephanie Felicite, comtesse de Genlis
, French writer (b.
1746
)
- 1857
-
Edward Williams Clay
, American artist (b.
1799
)
- 1865
-
Fredrika Bremer
, Swedish writer (b.
1801
)
- 1872
?
Aleksis Kivi
, Finnish writer (b.
1834
)
- 1876
-
Catherine Laboure
, French nun and saint (b.
1806
)
- 1877
?
Gustave Courbet
, French painter (b.
1819
)
- 1882
-
Leon Gambetta
, French politician (b.
1838
)
- 1888
?
Samson Raphael Hirsch
,
rabbi
(b.
1808
)
- 1894
-
Thomas Joannes Stieltjes
, Dutch
mathematician
(b.
1856
)
- 1905
-
Alexander Popov
, Russian
physicist
(b.
1859
)
- 1936
?
Miguel de Unamuno
, Spanish writer, philosopher (b.
1864
)
- 1948
?
Malcolm Campbell
, English
Grand Prix
race car
driver (b.
1885
)
- 1950
?
Karl Renner
,
President of Austria
(b.
1870
)
- 1964
?
Olafur Thors
, five-time
Prime Minister
of
Iceland
(b.
1892
)
- 1964
?
Bobby Byrne
, American
baseball
player (b.
1884
)
- 1969
?
George Lewis
,
jazz
musician (b.
1900
)
- 1972
?
Roberto Clemente
,
Baseball Hall of Famer
(b.
1934
)
- 1972
-
Henry Gerber
, German-American
activist
(b.
1892
)
- 1977
?
Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah
,
Emir
of
Kuwait
(b.
1924
)
- 1980
?
Marshall McLuhan
, Canadian writer (b.
1911
)
- 1980
?
Raoul Walsh
, movie director (b.
1887
)
- 1985
?
Ricky Nelson
, American singer (b.
1940
)
- 1989
-
Gerhard Schroder
, German politician (b.
1910
)
- 1990
?
Vasili Lazarev
, Soviet
cosmonaut
(b.
1928
)
- 1993
?
Zviad Gamsakhurdia
, scientist and writer, first
President
of the
Republic of Georgia
(b.
1939
)
- 1993
?
Brandon Teena
, American murder victim (b.
1972
)
- 1994
?
Bruno Pezzey
, Austrian
footballer
(b.
1955
)
- 1997
?
Floyd Cramer
, musician (b.
1933
)
- 1997
?
Michael Kennedy
, son of
Robert F. Kennedy
, killed in a skiing accident on
Aspen Mountain
in
Colorado
(b.
1958
).
- 1999
?
Elliot Richardson
,
American
politician (b.
1920
)
- 2000
?
Alan Cranston
,
American
politician (b.
1914
)
- 2000
?
Jose Greco
, Spanish
Flamenco
dancer (b.
1918
)
- 2003
?
Arthur R. von Hippel
, German-born American scientist and professor at
MIT
(b.
1898
)
- 2004
?
Gerard Debreu
, French
economist
(b.
1921
)
- 2006
?
Liese Prokop
, Austrian politician (b.
1941
)
- 2007
?
Ettore Sottsass
, Italian architect (b.
1917
)
- 2008
?
Donald E. Westlake
, American writer (b.
1933
)
- 2009
-
Rashidi Kawawa
, former
Prime Minister
of
Tanzania
(b.
1926
)
- 2009
-
Cahal Daly
, Irish
cardinal
and
archbishop
(b.
1917
)
- 2010
?
Syd Ward
, New Zealand
cricketer
(b.
1907
)
- 2013
-
John Fortune
, English comedian (b.
1939
)
- 2013
-
Johnny Orr
, American
basketball
player and coach (b.
1927
)
- 2013
-
James Avery
, American actor (b.
1945
)
- 2014
-
Arthur Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington
, English
aristocrat
and
army
officer (b.
1915
)
- 2014
-
Edward Herrmann
, American actor (b.
1943
)
- 2015
-
Marvin Panch
, American racing driver (b.
1926
)
- 2015
-
Dal Richards
, Canadian
big band
leader (b.
1918
)
- 2015
-
Wayne Rogers
, American actor (b.
1933
)
- 2015
-
Natalie Cole
, American singer (b.
1950
)
- 2015
-
Beth Howland
, American actress (b.
1941
)
- 2016
-
William Christopher
, American actor (b.
1932
)
- 2016
-
Prince Dimitri Romanov
, Russian prince (b.
1926
)
- 2016
-
Henning Christophersen
, Danish politician (b.
1939
)
- 2017
-
Prince Francois, Count of Clermont
, French nobleman, self-styled
Dauphin of France
(b.
1961
)
- 2021
-
Betty White
, American actress and comedian (b.
1922
)