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 - 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 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 - Gregory 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 - 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)
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 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)
From 2001
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)
Holidays
New Year's Eve, including Hogmanay (Scotland) and Calennig (Wales)
St. Sylvester's Day
Omisoka (Japan)
Days of the year