What happened on December 31? There are more than 284 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About December 31
December 31 is the 366th day of the year 2024. The day of the week is Tuesday. This day falls under the 1st week of the year 2025.
On this day in Cotulla, Texas 78014 sunrise will occur at 07:27 AM and sunset will occur at 05:52 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Capricorn. The modern birthstone for this month is Turquoise while the mystical birthstone is Onyx.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 29 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 22 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
December 31: A Day In History
It is widely known as New Year’s Eve since the following day is New Year’s Day. It is the last day of the year.
Historical Events For December 31
- 406Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gaul.
- 535Byzantine General Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Ostrogothic garrison of Syracuse, and ending his consulship for the year.
- 1225The Ly Dynasty of Vietnam ends after 216 years by the enthronement of the boy emperor Tran Thai Tong, husband of the last Ly monarch, Ly Chieu Hoang, starting the Tran Dynasty.
- 1229James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain) thus consummating the Christian reconquest of the island of Majorca.
- 1600The British East India Company is chartered.
- 1660James II of England is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.
- 1687The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.
- 1695A window tax is imposed in England, causing many householders to brick up windows to avoid the tax.
- 1759Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum and starts brewing Guinness.
- 1775American Revolutionary War: Battle of Quebec: British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army General Richard Montgomery.
- 1790Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today is published for the first time.
- 1831Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City.
- 1853A dinner party is held inside a life-size model of an Iguanodon created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London, England, United Kingdom
- 1857Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, Ontario, then a small logging town, as the capital of Canada.
- 1862American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.
- 1862American Civil War: The Battle of Stones River begins near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
- 1879Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
- 1906Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar signs the Persian Constitution of 1906.
- 1907The first New Year’s Eve celebration is held in Times Square (then known as Longacre Square) in New York, New York.
- 1909Manhattan Bridge opens.
- 1923The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC.
- 1944World War II: Hungary declares war on Nazi Germany.
- 1946President Harry S. Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
- 1951The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.
- 1955The General Motors Corporation becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year.
- 1960The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.
- 1961RTÉ Ireland’s state broadcaster launches its first national television service.
- 1963The Central African Federation officially collapses and splits into Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
- 1965Jean-Bédel Bokassa, leader of the Central African Republic army, and his military officers begins a coup d'état against the government of President David Dacko.
- 1981A coup d'état in Ghana removes President Hilla Limann’s PNP government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.
- 1983In Nigeria a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Nigerian Second Republic.
- 1983The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
- 1986A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.
- 1991All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date and the Soviet Union is officially dissolved.
- 1992Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved in what is dubbed by media as the Velvet Divorce, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
- 1994The first Chechen war: Russian army began a New Year’s storm of Grozny
- 1994This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 and UTC-10:00 to UTC+14:00, respectively.
- 1998The European Exchange Rate Mechanism freezes the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone, and establishes the value of the euro currency.
- 1999Boris Yeltsin, the first president of Russia, resigns as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President.
- 1999Five 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.
- 1999The United States Government hands control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties.
- 2004The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 m.
Who Were Born On December 31?
- 695Muhammad bin Qasim, Syrian general (d. 715)
- 1378Pope Callixtus III (d. 1458)
- 1491Jacques Cartier, French explorer (d. 1557)
- 1514Andreas Vesalius, Flemish anatomist (d. 1564)
- 1572Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan, (d. 1617)
- 1585Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, (d. 1645)
- 1668Herman Boerhaave, Dutch humanist and physician (d. 1738)
- 1720Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (d. 1788)
- 1738Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British general (d. 1805)
- 1741Gottfried August Bürger, German poet d.(1794)
- 1741Isabella Maria of Parma, wife of future Holy Roman emperor (d. 1763)
- 1763Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (d. 1806)
- 1805Marie d'Agoult, French author (d.1876)
- 1815George Meade, American Civil War general (d. 1872)
- 1823Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian poet (d. 1849)
- 1830Alexander Smith, Scottish poet (d. 1867)
- 1830Isma'il Pasha, Governor of Egypt (d. 1895)
- 1851Henry Carter Adams, American economist (d. 1921)
- 1855Giovanni Pascoli, Italian poet (d. 1912)
- 1857King Kelly, American baseball player (d. 1894)
- 1860Joseph S. Cullinan, American oil industrialist (d. 1937)
- 1864Robert Grant Aitken, American astronomer (d. 1951)
- 1869Henri Matisse, French painter (d. 1954)
- 1877Lawrence Beesley, English journalist and author (d. 1967)
- 1878Elizabeth Arden, Canadian businesswoman (d. 1966)
- 1878Horacio Quiroga, Uruguayan-Argentinian writer (d. 1937)
- 1880Fred Beebe, American baseball player (d. 1957)
- 1880George C. Marshall, United States Secretary of State, Nobel Laureate (d. 1959)
- 1881Max Pechstein, German painter (d. 1955)
- 1882Martin O'Meara, Australian soldier (d. 1935)
- 1884Bobby Byrne, American baseball player (d. 1964)
- 1885Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1970)
- 1899Silvestre Revueltas, Mexican composer (d. 1940)
- 1901Julia Bathory, Hungarian glass designer(d. 2000)
- 1901Nikos Ploumpidis, Greek resistance fighter (d. 1954)
- 1902Lionel Daunais, French-Canadian singer and composer (d. 1982)
- 1903Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian violinist (d. 1992)
- 1904Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer and actress (d. 1975)
- 1905Jule Styne, English-born composer (d. 1994)
- 1908Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian Holocaust survivor (d. 2005)
- 1909Jonah Jones, American jazz trumpeter (d. 2000)
- 1910Carl Dudley, American film director (d. 1973)
- 1911Dal Stivens, Australian novelist (d. 1997)
- 1912Maj-Gen John Frost, British para commander (d. 1993)
- 1917Wilfrid Noyce, English mountaineer (d. 1962)
- 1919Tommy Byrne, American baseball player (d. 2007)
- 1920Rex Allen, American actor, singer, and songwriter (d. 1999)
- 1924Taylor Mead, American actor
- 1926Billy Snedden, Australian politician (d. 1987)
- 1928Siné, French cartoonist
- 1929Mies Bouwman, Dutch television personality
- 1930Jaime Escalante, American teacher (d. 2010)
- 1930Odetta, American singer (d. 2008)
- 1931Bob Shaw, Irish writer (d. 1996)
- 1933Edward Bunker, American author and actor (d. 2005)
- 1934Akram Awan, Islamic scholar
- 1934Noel Tyl, American astrologer
- 1937Avram Hershko, Israeli biologist, Nobel laureate
- 1937Barry Hughes, Welsh professional football player and manager and entertainer
- 1937Sir Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor
- 1938Rosalind Cash, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1940Mani Neumeier, German musician (Guru Guru)
- 1941Alex Ferguson, Scottish football manager
- 1941Sarah Miles, English actress
- 1941Sean S. Cunningham, American film director
- 1942Andy Summers, British guitarist (The Police)
- 1943John Denver, American singer and songwriter (d. 1997)
- 1943Pete Quaife, English bassist (The Kinks) (d. 2010)
- 1943Sir Ben Kingsley, English actor
- 1944Neil Ross, British-American voice actor
- 1944Taylor Hackford, American producer and director
- 1945Barbara Carrera, Nicaraguan actress and model
- 1945Connie Willis, American writer
- 1945Diane von Fürstenberg, Belgian-born fashion designer
- 1946Pius Ncube, Zimbabwean human rights advocate
- 1947Burton Cummings, Canadian keyboardist (The Guess Who)
- 1947Rita Lee, Brazilian rock singer
- 1947Tim Matheson, American actor
- 1948Donna Summer, American singer
- 1948Joe Dallesandro American actor
- 1948René Robert, National Hockey League player
- 1949Ellen Datlow, American editor
- 1949Seub Nakhasathien, Thai conservationist (d. 1990)
- 1949Susan Shwartz, American writer
- 1951Tom Hamilton, American bassist (Aerosmith)
- 1952Vaughan F. R. Jones , New Zealand mathematician
- 1953James Remar, American actor
- 1953Jane Badler, American actress
- 1953Michael Hedges, American composer, singer-songwriter, guitarist (d. 1997)
- 1954Alex Salmond, Scottish politician
- 1954Hermann Tilke, German racing circuit architect
- 1956Steve Rude, American comics artist
- 1958Bebe Neuwirth, American actress
- 1959Alfie Anido, Filipino actor (d. 1981)
- 1959Baron Waqa, Nauruan politician and musician
- 1959Liveris Andritsos, Greek basketball player
- 1959Paul Westerberg, American musician (The Replacements)
- 1959Phill Kline, American politician
- 1959Val Kilmer, American actor
- 1960John Allen Muhammad, American spree killer (d. 2009)
- 1960Steve Bruce, English footballer
- 1961Nina Li Chi, Chinese actress
- 1961Rick Aguilera, American baseball player
- 1962Don Diamont, American actor
- 1962Heather McCartney, British activist
- 1962Tyrone Corbin, American basketball player
- 1963Konishiki, American sumo wrestler
- 1963Scott Ian, American guitarist (Anthrax)
- 1964Michael McDonald, American actor-comedian
- 1965Gong Li, Chinese actress
- 1965Julie Doucet, Canadian underground cartoonist
- 1965Nicholas Sparks, American author
- 1965Tony Dorigo, English footballer
- 1966Lisa Joyner, American entertainment reporter
- 1968Gerry Dee, Canadian comedian and actor
- 1968Luciano Szafir, Brazilian actor
- 1969Are Kalvø, Norwegian writer and satirist
- 1969Dominik Diamond, Scottish presenter and newspaper columnist
- 1969Lance Reddick, American actor
- 1970Bryon Russell, American basketball player
- 1970Carlos Morales Quintana, husband of Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark
- 1970Danny McNamara, Lead singer of English band Embrace
- 1970Jorjão, Brazilian footballer
- 1971Brent Barry, American basketball player
- 1971Esteban Loaiza, Mexican Major League Baseball player
- 1972Joey McIntyre, American singer (New Kids on the Block)
- 1973Crystal Knight, American pornographic actress and model
- 1973Malcolm Middleton, Scottish musician (Arab Strap)
- 1973Shandon Anderson, American basketball player
- 1974Mario Aerts, Belgian cyclist
- 1974Ryan Sakoda, Japanese American professional wrestler
- 1974Tony Kanaan, Brazilian racing driver
- 1975Rami Alanko, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1975Rob Penders, Dutch footballer
- 1975Sander Schutgens, Dutch runner
- 1975Toni Kuivasto, Finnish footballer
- 1976Craig Reucassel, Australian comedian, member of The Chaser
- 1977Donald Trump Jr., son of Donald Trump and Ivana Trump
- 1977Wardy Alfaro, Costa Rican footballer
- 1978Elizabeth Arden, Canadian businesswomen
- 1978Papoose, American rapper
- 1979Elaine Cassidy, Irish actress
- 1979Paul O'Neill, British racing driver
- 1980Jesse Carlson, American baseball player
- 1980Matthew Capiccioni, American professional wrestler
- 1980Richie McCaw, New Zealand rugby player
- 1981Jason Campbell, American football player
- 1982Bryce Avary, The Rocket Summer, American musician
- 1982Craig Gordon, Scottish footballer
- 1982Julio DePaula, Dominican baseball player
- 1982Luke Schenscher, Australian basketball player
- 1983Mariana Renata, French-Indonesian Actress
- 1984Paul Rodriguez Jr., Professional skateboarder
- 1985Jan Smit, Dutch singer
- 1986Bronson Pelletier, Canadian actor
- 1987Émilie Le Pennec, French gymnast
- 1987Danny Holla, Dutch footballer
- 1987Javaris Crittenton, American basketball player
- 1990Patrick Chan, Canadian figure skater
Who Died On December 31?
- 192Commodus, Roman Emperor (b. 161)
- 335St. Silvester, Pope
- 1164Margrave Ottokar III of Styria (b. 1124)
- 1194Duke Leopold V of Austria (killed at a tournament) (b. 1157)
- 1297Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford, English soldier (b. 1249)
- 1302Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1238)
- 1384John Wycliffe, English theologian and Bible translator (b. circa 1328)
- 1424Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter, English military leader
- 1460Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, English politician (b. 1400)
- 1510Bianca Maria Sforza, wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1472)
- 1535William Skeffington, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1465)
- 1568Shimazu Tadayoshi, Japanese warlord (b. 1493)
- 1575Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (b. 1502)
- 1583Thomas Erastus, Swiss theologian (b. 1524)
- 1610Ludolph van Ceulen, German mathematician (b. 1540)
- 1650Dorgon, Chinese emperor (b. 1612)
- 1655Janusz Radziwiłł, Polish–Lithuanian noble and magnate (b. 1612)
- 1673Oliver St John, English statesman and judge
- 1679Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (b. 1608)
- 1691Dudley North, English economist (b. 1641)
- 1719John Flamsteed, English astronomer (b. 1646)
- 1742Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine (b. 1661)
- 1799Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and writer (b. 1723)
- 1872Aleksis Kivi, Finnish author (b. 1834)
- 1876Catherine Labouré, French visionary and saint (b. 1806)
- 1877Gustave Courbet, French painter (b. 1819)
- 1888Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi (b. 1808)
- 1889Ion Creangă, Romanian writer (b.1837/39)
- 1890Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican war heroine (b. 1826)
- 1891Samuel Ajayi Crowther, Nigerian bishop. (b. 1809)
- 1894Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch mathematician (b. 1856)
- 1905Alexander Popov, Russian physicist (b. 1859)
- 1909Spencer Trask, American financier (b. 1844)
- 1910Arch Hoxsey, American aviator (b. 1884)
- 1910John Moisant, American aviator (b. 1868)
- 1921Boies Penrose, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (b. 1860)
- 1936Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish writer and philosopher (b. 1864)
- 1948Malcolm Campbell, English race car driver (b. 1885)
- 1953Albert Plesman, Dutch aviation pioneer (b. 1889)
- 1964Ólafur Thors, Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1892)
- 1964Bobby Byrne, baseball player (b. 1884)
- 1969George Lewis, American clarinetist (b. 1900)
- 1971Marin Sais, American actress (b. 1890)
- 1971Pete Duel American actor (b. 1940)
- 1971Vikram Sarabhai, Indian physicist (b. 1919)
- 1972Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican baseball player (b. 1934)
- 1977Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah, ruler of Kuwait (b. 1924)
- 1980Marshall McLuhan, Canadian writer (b. 1911)
- 1980Raoul Walsh, American film director (b. 1887)
- 1985Ricky Nelson, American singer (b. 1940)
- 1986Lloyd Haynes, American actor (b. 1934)
- 1986Raj Narain, Indian Politician (b. 1917)
- 1987Jerry Turner, American television anchorman (b. 1929)
- 1988Nicolas Calas, Greek-American poet and art critic (b. 1907)
- 1990George Allen, American football coach (b. 1918)
- 1990Vasili Lazarev, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1928)
- 1993Brandon Teena, American murder victim (b. 1972)
- 1993Zviad Gamsakhurdia, first President of Georgia (b. 1939)
- 1994Leigh Bowery, Australian-born English fashion performance artist (b. 1961)
- 1994Woody Strode, American actor and decathlete (b. 1914)
- 1997Billie Dove, American actress (b. 1903)
- 1997Floyd Cramer, American musician (b. 1933)
- 1997Michael Kennedy, American politician (b. 1958)
- 1999Elliot Richardson, American politician (b. 1920)
- 2000Alan Cranston, American politician (b. 1914)
- 2000Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, Israeli leader of Kahane Chai party and son of Rabbi Meir Kahane (b. 1966)
- 2000José Greco, Italian-born American flamenco dancer and choreographer (b. 1918)
- 2001Eileen Heckart, American actress (b. 1919)
- 2002Kevin Scott MacMichael, American guitarist (Cutting Crew) (b. 1951)
- 2003Arthur R. von Hippel German-born physicist (b. 1898)
- 2004Gerard Debreu, French economist, Bank of Sweden Prize laureate (b. 1921)
- 2005Enrico di Giuseppe, American tenor (b. 1932)
- 2005Phillip Whitehead, British politician (b. 1937)
- 2006George Sisler, Jr., American baseball executive (b. 1917)
- 2007Bill Idelson, American actor (b. 1919)
- 2007Ettore Sottsass, Italian architect and designer (b. 1917)
- 2007Kathryn Ish, American actress (b. 1936)
- 2007Markku Peltola, Finnish actor and musician (b. 1956)
- 2007Michael Goldberg, American painter (b. 1924)
- 2007Milton L. Klein, Canadian politician (b. 1910)
- 2007Tommy Dickson, British footballer (b. 1929)
- 2007Tony Elliott, American football player (b. 1959)
- 2008Donald E. Westlake, American author (b. 1933)
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