December 31



Events

Up to 1900 
 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.

1901  2000 
 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.

From 2001 
 2004 – The Taipei 101 tower is opened in Taipei, Taiwan.
 2006 - The total of US troops killed in the Iraq War reaches 3,000.
 2009 – In Espoo, Finland, Ibrahim Shkupolli shoots his former girlfriend dead, then shoots four people to death at a shopping mall before committing suicide.
 2009 – The Ignalina power station in Lithuania is shut down.
 2014 - The first same-sex marriages in Scotland take place.
 2014 - US and UK forces withdraw from Afghanistan.
 2014 - Beji Caid Essebsi becomes President of Tunisia.
 2014 - A crush at a New Year celebration in Shanghai kills 36 people.
 2015 - Fire breaks out at a hotel near the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
 2016 - Bomb attacks in Baghdad kill at least 28 people.
 2017 - A bus crash near Migaa, Kenya, kills at least 36 people.

Births

Up to 1900 
 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  1950 
 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 - Yrjö 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 - Siné, 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 Fürstenberg, 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  1975 
 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 – Grégory Coupet, French footballer
 1974 – Mario Aerts, Belgian cyclist

From 1976 
 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

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 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 - Stéphanie Félicité, 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 Labouré, French nun and saint (b. 1806)
 1877 – Gustave Courbet, French painter (b. 1819)
 1882 - Léon Gambetta, French politician (b. 1838)
 1888 – Samson Raphael Hirsch, rabbi (b. 1808)
 1894 - Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch mathematician (b. 1856)

1901  2000 
 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 Schröder, 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 – José Greco, Spanish Flamenco dancer (b. 1918)

From 2001 
 2003 – Arthur R. von Hippel, German-born American scientist and professor at MIT (b. 1898)
 2004 – Gérard 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 François, Count of Clermont, French nobleman, self-styled Dauphin of France (b. 1961)
 2021 - Betty White, American actress and comedian (b. 1922)

Holidays 
 New Year's Eve, including Hogmanay (Scotland) and Calennig (Wales)
 St. Sylvester's Day
 Ōmisoka (Japan)

Days of the year