Wednesday, December 31, 2025

December 31st: This Day in History

 



Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!


On this day in 406, Vandals, Alans and Suebians crossed the Rhine River and began an invasion of Gallia. In 535 on this day, Byzantine General Belisarius completed the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Ostrogothic garrison of Syracuse, and ending his consulship for the year. On this day in 1600, a formal charter was granted to the East India Company by Queen Elizabeth I, as she hoped to break the Dutch monopoly of the spice trade in what is now Indonesia. On this day in 1775 during the American Revolution, Patriot forces under generals Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery were defeated by the British in the the city of Quebec, Canada.  Montgomery was killed during the battle. In 1805 on this day came the end of the French Republican calendar; France returned to the traditional Gregorian calendar. In 1944 on this day, the provisional government of Hungary declared war on Germany, bringing an end to Hungary's cooperation—sometimes free, sometimes coerced—with the Axis power. On this day in 1970, Paul McCartney effectively officially ended the Beatles when he sued John Lennon, George Harrison, and Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) in the London High Court's Chancery Division, seeking “a declara- tion that the partnership business . . . be dissolved.” In 1978 on this day, the United States ended official relations with Nationalist China. On this day in 1999, the United States officially turned the Panama Canal over to Panama. Also on this day in 1999, Boris Yeltsin resigned as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President.


Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

 406 - 80,000 Vandels attack the Rhine at Mainz


 On this day in 406, Vandals, Alans and Suebians crossed the Rhine River and began an invasion of Gallia. 

 In 535 on this day, Byzantine General Belisarius completed the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Ostrogothic garrison of Syracuse, and ending his consulship for the year. 

 765 - Coffin of Ho-tse Shen-hui interred in a stupa built in China

 870 - Skirmish at Englefield: Ethelred of Wessex beats Danish invasion army

 1229 - James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain) thus consummating the Christian conquest of the island of Majorca.

 1492 - 100,000 Jews expelled from Sicily

 1502 - Cesare Borgia (son of pope Alexander VI) occupies Urbino

 1564 - Willem van Orange demands freedom of conscience/religion



 On this day in 1600, a formal charter was granted to the East India Company by Queen Elizabeth I, as she hoped to break the Dutch monopoly of the spice trade in what is now Indonesia. 

 1604 - Admiral Steven van der Haghen's fleet reaches Bantam

 1621 - Hungarian King Bethlen Gabor/Ferdinand II sign Treaty of Mikulov

 1660 - James II of England is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.


 1669 - France & Brandenburg sign secret treaty


Royal France


 1670 - France & England sign Boyne-treaty



 1680 - Amsterdam opera at Leidsegracht opens









 On this day in 1687, the first Huguenots set sail from France for the Cape of Good Hope. Once in southern Africa, they would in time help to create the South African wine industry with the vines that they took with them on the voyage. 

 1688 - Pro-James II-earl of Devonshire occupies Nottingham [OS=Dec 21]

 1695 - A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax.

 1700 - Frisia/Groningen adopt Gregorian calendar, tomorrow is 1/12/1701

 1708 - Great Alliance captures Bridge

 1711 - Duke of Marlborough fired as English army commander

 1744 - James Bradley announces discovery of Earth's nutation motion (wobble)

 1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlies army meets with de Esk

 1756 - Russia joins the Alliance of Versailles

 1758 - British expeditionary army occupies Goree (Dakar) Senegal


 On this day in 1775 during the American Revolution, Patriot forces under generals Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery were defeated by the British in the the city of Quebec, Canada.  Montgomery was killed during the battle.  






 1776 - Rhode Island establishes wage & price controls to curb inflation: Limit is 70 cents a day for carpenters, 42 cents for tailors



 1779 - English fleet beat Dutch Merchant vessels

 1781 - Bank of North America, 1st US bank opens

 1783 - Import of African slaves banned by all of the Northern states






The new calendar that was to replace the Gregorian calendar.



 In 1805 on this day came the end of the French Republican calendar; France returned to the traditional Gregorian calendar.


 1831 - Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City.

 1841 - Alabama becomes 1st state to license dental surgeons











Pictures taken in Ottawa during the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017.


 1857 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as new capital of Canada  1857 - Britain's Queen Victoria decided to make Ottawa the capital of Canada.   



 1859 - Dutch colony in Dutch Indies counts 4,800 slaves

 1861 - 22,990 mm of rain falls in Cherrapunji Assam in 1861, world record



A statue in Flemington, New Jersey, honoring veterans of the American Civil War.

 1862 - -Jan 20th) Battle of Stone's River/Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennesse in American Civil War




Lincoln Memorial Sculpture by Daniel French i Washington, D.C.




 1862 - President Lincoln signs act admitting West Virginia to the Union     1862 - U.S. President Lincoln signed an act admitting West Virginia to the Union.  





1862 - Skirmish at Parker Cross Roads, Tennessee
1862 - Union ironclad ship "Monitor" sank off Cape Hatteras, NC
1870 - J D Schneiter patents rocket mail in France, (not done)
1879 - Cornerstone laid for Iolani Palace (only royal palace in US)
1879 - Cornerstone laid for Honolulu's Iolani Palace


Monuments to Thomas Edison at Menlo Park in Edison,  NJ 



 1879 - Edison gives 1st public demonstration of his incandescent lamp 1879 - Thomas Edison gave his first public demonstration of incandescent lighting to an audience in Menlo Park, NJ.  




1879 - Gilbert and Sullivan's Opera "Pirates of Penzance," premieres in NYC




Ellis Island as seen from the Jersey side.

 1890 - Ellis Island (NYC) opens as a US immigration depot




1896 - 25th auto built in US
1897 - Brooklyn's last day as a city, it incorporates into NYC (1/1/1898)



The Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, South Africa.

 1902 - Boers & British army sign peace treaty





1904 - The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square, then known as Longacre Square, in New York, New York.
1906 - French/British/Italian treaty concerning rights on Abyssinia


1907 - For 1st time a ball drops at Times Square to signal new year
1907 - G Mahler conducts the Metropolitan Opera
1910 - US tobacco industry produced 9 billion cigarettes in 1910
Discoverer of Radium Marie CurieDiscoverer of Radium Marie Curie 1911 - Marie Curie receives her 2nd Nobel Prize
1914 - Colonel Jacob Ruppert & Cap Huston purchase NY Yankees for $460,000

 1917 - Dutch Social-democratic trade union NVV counts 159,450 members

1918 - Kid Gleason replaces Pants Rowland as White Sox manager
1920 - Roy Park makes 1st-ball duck in only Test Cricket inn, v Eng at MCG
1921 - Last San Francisco firehorses retired
1923 - 1st transatlantic radio broadcast of a voice, Pittsburgh-Manchester

 1923 - BBC begins using Big Ben chime ID

1923 - H Tierney/J McCarthy's musical "Kid Boots," premieres in NYC


 1924 - Hubble announces existence of distant galaxies

1925 - 14th congress of CPSU decides to accelerate industry
1927 - Ponsford scores 336 against SA, giving him 1146 for month
1929 - Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Divini illius magistri
1930 - Pontifical encyclical Casti connubii against mixed marriages
1930 - US tobacco industry produced 123 billion cigarettes in 1930
1932 - John P O'Brien sworn-in as mayor of NYC
1934 - Helen Richey becomes 1st woman to pilot an airmail transport
1935 - CPH becomes Dutch Communist Party
1935 - Charles Darrow patents Monopoly
1938 - Dr R N Harger's "drunkometer," 1st breath test, introduced in Indiana
1938 - Dutch national debt hits ƒ3,986,629,805.70
1939 - 25 U boats sunk this month (81,000 ton)
1939 - Dutch national debt hits ƒ4,218,553,180.99
1940 - 37 U boats sunk this month (213,000 ton)
1941 - Young Park (2) in the Bronx named in honor of Samuel Young
1942 - 60 U boats sunk this month (330,000 ton)
1942 - Battle in Barents Sea
1942 - Potatoes rationed in Holland
Singer/Actor Frank SinatraSinger/Actor Frank Sinatra 1943 - NYC's Times Square greets Frank Sinatra at Paramount Theater
1944 - 48 people die in a train accident in Ogden, Utah
1944 - Japanese army evacuates harbor city Akyab

 In 1944 on this day, the provisional government of Hungary declared war on Germany, bringing an end to Hungary's cooperation—sometimes free, sometimes coerced—with the Axis power. 



1945 - Bradman scores 112, his 1st post-War century, SA v Aust Services
1945 - Ratification of UN Charter completed


 1946 - French troops leave Lebanon



Bust of American President Harry Truman

 1946 - Pres Harry Truman officially proclaims end of WW II




 1948 - Dutch police actions up Java gone on strike

 1949 - 18 countries recognize Republic Indonesia

1950 - Jockeys W Shoemaker & Joe Culmone set record of 388 wins in a year
1951 - 1st battery to convert radioactive energy to electrical announced

1955 - The General Motors Corporation becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over $1 billion USD in a year.

 1958 - Cuban dictator Batista tells his Cabinet he is fleeing the country

1958 - International Geophyscial Year ends
1958 - Willie Shoemaker 1st jockey to win national riding championship 4X
1961 - "lrma La Douce" closes at Plymouth Theater NYC after 527 performances


 1961 - 1st performance of Beach Boys
1961 - Beach Boys play their debut gig under that name

 1961 - Failed coup by Syrian group in Lebanon

1961 - Green Bay Packers shutout NY Giants 37-0 in NFL championship game


 1961 - Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than $12 billion




 1962 - Dutch leave New Guinea

 1962 - Katanga becomes part of Democratic Republic of Congo


1963 - Jerry Garcia & Bob Weir played music together for the 1st time
Cuban President and Dictator Fulgencio BatistaCuban President and Dictator Fulgencio Batista 1964 - Donald Campbell (UK) sets world water speed record (276.33 mph)



 1963 Central African Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was formally dissolved. 

 1964 The al-Fatah guerrillas of Yasser Arafat launched their first terrorist raid on Israel. 


1964 - Indonesia proclaims expelled from the UN
1966 - Monkee's "I'm a Believer" hits #1 & stays there for 7 weeks
1966 - Pirate Radio 390 (Radio Invicata) off England, resumes transmitting
1966 - Test Cricket debut of Bishen Singh Bedi, India v WI Calcutta, 2-92
1966 - Toboggan Chutes begin operation in Cleveland Metroparks
1967 - "Henry, Sweet Henry" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 80 perfs
1967 - 1st NBA game at Great Western Forum, LA Lakers beat Houston 147-118
1967 - Oakland Raiders beat Houston Oilers 40-7 in AFL championship game
1967 - Packers beat Cowboys 21-17 in NFL championship game (-13°F)
1968 - 1st supersonic airliner flown (Russian TU-144)
1968 - 1st test flight of Tupolev TU 144
1968 - NY Jets win AFL championship

 1969 - Congo-Brazzaville becomes People's republic, under major Ngouabi

 1970 - Congress authorizes Eisenhower dollar coin


 

    


 On this day in 1970, Paul McCartney effectively officially ended the Beatles when he sued John Lennon, George Harrison, and Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) in the London High Court's Chancery Division, seeking “a declara- tion that the partnership business . . . be dissolved.”



Flag of Chile

 1970 - President Allende nationalizes Chilean coal mines




1970 - Would have been start of Aust/Eng Test Cricket at MCG, washed out
1971 - KAID TV channel 4 in Boise, ID (PBS) begins broadcasting
1971 - Lt Gen Robert E Cushman, Jr, USMC, ends term as deputy director of CIA
1972 - 39th Sugar Bowl: Oklahoma 14 beats Penn State 0
1972 - Leap second day; also in 1973-79, 1987
1972 - Miami Dolphins beat Pittsburgh Steelers 21-7 in AFC championship game
1972 - Washington Redskins beat Dallas Cowboys 26-3 in NFC championship game
1973 - 40th Sugar Bowl: Notre Dame 24 beats Alabama 23
1973 - 61st Australian Mens Tennis: John Newcombe beats O Parun (63 67 75 61)
1973 - Johan Cruyff chosen European soccer Player of year
1974 - 41st Sugar Bowl: Nebraska 13 beats Florida 10
1974 - Gold legal in US, Franklin Mint strikes Panama's Gold 100 balboa coin
1974 - Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks join Fleetwood Mac
1974 - NY Yankees sign Jim "Catfish" Hunter for 5 yrs for a record $3.75 million
1974 - Popular Electronics displays Altair 8800 computer
1975 - 42nd Sugar Bowl: Alabama 13 beats Penn State 6
1976 - TV soap "Somerset" ends 6 year run
1976 - The Cars played their 1st gig
1977 - "Bubbling Brown Sugar" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 766 perfs
1977 - "Man of La Mancha" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 124 performances
1977 - Amir Sheikh Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah becomes leader of Kuwait

 1977 - Cambodia drops diplomatic relations with Vietnam






Flag of South Africa during the apartheid era

 1977 - Donald Woods, a banned white editor flees South Africa


1977 - Ted Bundy escapes from jail in Colorado
1977 - WFAT (Brooklyn New York pirate radio station) begins broadcasting on 1620 AM
1978 - "Magic Show" closes at Cort Theater NYC after 1859 performances
1978 - "Runaways" closes at Plymouth Theater NYC after 199 performances
1978 - CIA director, Admiral Stansfield Turner retires from the Navy
1978 - Iran shah names Chapour Bakhtiar premier
1978 - Taiwan's final day of diplomatic relations with US




 In 1978 on this day, the United States ended official relations with Nationalist China  Flags at both the American embassy in Taipei and the Taiwanese embassy in the United States are lowered for the last time as U.S. relations with Taiwan officially come to an end. On January 1, 1979 the United States officially recognized the government of the People's Republic of China in Beijing.  

1979 - Winterland Rock Concert Hall in SF closes after 556 concerts
1980 - A Jewish owned hotel in Nairobi Kenya is bombed killing 18
1980 - NY Islanders greatest shutout margin (9-0) vs Chicago Black Hawks


 1980 - Senegal president Leopold Senghor resigns
1981 - CNN Headline News debuts


 1981 - Lt Jerry Rawlings becomes head of Ghana, suspends constitution

 1981 - Netherlands unemployment stands at record 475,000
1982 - CBS Mystery Theater final episode on radio after 8 years
1982 - NBC radio cancels almost all of its network daily features
1982 - TV soap "Doctors" ends 19 year run
1983 - Brunei gains complete independence from Britain
1983 - Jose Happart installed as mayor of Voeren Belgium
1983 - Nigeria's National Assembly dissolves after military coup


 1984 - Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen loses his arm in a car crash

 1984 - NYC subway gunman Bernhard Goetz surrenders to police in NH


 1984 - Rajiv Gandhi takes office as India's 6th PM succeeding his mother Indira Gandhi

1984 - Test Cricket debut of Mohammad Azharuddin, v England at Calcutta
1984 - US leaves UNESCO
1986 - Dupont Plaza Hotel fire in San Juan, Puerto Rico kills 97

 1986 - Russian TU-144 flies for 1st time faster than sound
1986 - WIS-AM in Columbia SC changes call letters to WVOC (now WOMG)





Flag of Zimbabwe

On this day in 1987, Zimbabwe marked a major political shift as Robert Mugabe was sworn in as the country's first Executive President, following the Unity Accord that merged his ZANU party with Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU, ending years of political conflict and consolidating power into a single-party state with Mugabe as head of state and government. This transition made Mugabe the country's top leader, replacing the ceremonial President Canaan Banana and abolishing the separate Prime Minister role he previously held. 


Zimbabwe marked a major political shift as Robert Mugabe was sworn in as the country's first Executive President, following the Unity Accord that merged his ZANU party with Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU, ending years of political conflict and consolidating power into a single-party state with Mugabe as head of state and government. This transition made Mugabe the country's top leader, replacing the ceremonial President Canaan Banana and abolishing the separate Prime Minister role he previously held. 


1989 - "Me & My Girl" closes at Marquis Theater NYC after 1420 performances
1989 - "Threepenny Opera" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 65 perfs
1989 - Fog Bowl: Heavy fog rolls in on Bears 20-12 victory over Eagles
1989 - Jockey Kent Desormeaux sets record with 598 wins in a year

 1990 - Iraq begins a military draft of 17 year olds

1990 - Sci-Fi Channel on cable TV begins transmitting
1990 - United Somali Congress seizes Presidential Palace
1991 - CPN, Communist Party of Netherland, last day of existance
1991 - Daniel R McCarthy elected NY Yankee managing general partner
1991 - Dow Jones closes at record high 3168.83
1991 - J Donald Crump resigned as CFL Commissioner
1991 - USSR, last day of existence



Flag of the European Union (EU)

 1992 - Target date for Europe's single market


1993 - Barbra Striesand does her 1st live public concert in 20 years
1994 - 1st snowless December in Baltimore Maryland


 1994 - Anti Apartheid Group of Netherlands (AABN) disbands


1994 - This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC-11 to UTC+13 and UTC-10 to UTC+14, respectively.
1995 - "Danny Gans on Broadway" closes at Neil Simon NYC
1995 - "Having Our Say" closes at Booth Theater NYC after 308 performances
1995 - "Heiress" closes at Cort Theater NYC after 340 performances
1995 - "Paul Roebson" closes at Longacre Theater NYC after 14 performances
1995 - "Racing Demon" closes at Vivian Beaumont Theater NYC after 48 perfs
1995 - "Tempest" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 71 performances
1995 - 62nd Sugar Bowl: Virginia Tech beats Texas
1995 - Cartoonist Bill Watterson ends his "Calvin & Hobbes" comic strip
1995 - Matthew Elliott scores separate cricket century same day for Victoria
1997 - Intel cuts price of Pentium II-233 MHz from $401 to $268


 1997 - Marv Levy, retires as coach of Buffalo Bills

1997 - Microsoft buys Hotmail E-mail service
1997 - More Swedes died than were born in 1997, 1st time since 1809
1997 - Orlando Hernandez, half-brother of pitcher Livan, defects from Cuba


 1997 - S Afr & US surgeons separate Zambian Siamese twins joined at the head

1998 - US movie box office hits record $6.24 billion for year
1998 - Exchange rates between the euro and legacy currencies in the Eurozone become fixed.


 On this day in 1999, the United States officially turned the Panama Canal over to Panama. 

 Also on this day in 1999, Boris Yeltsin resigned as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President.


 2004 - The official opening of Taipei 101, the current tallest skyscraper in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 feet).

 2007 - Bocaue Fire. Seven people injured when a fire razed several fireworks stores in the Municipality of Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines.

 2007 - The Massive Big Dig construction project in Boston, Massachusetts ends.






1695 - The window tax was imposed in Britain, which resulted in many windows being bricked up.   1711 - The Duke of Marlborough was dismissed as commander-in-chief.   1775 - The British repulsed an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec. Montgomery was killed in the battle.   1841 - The State of Alabama enacted the first dental legislation in the U.S.   1857 - Britain's Queen Victoria decided to make Ottawa the capital of Canada.   1862 - U.S. President Lincoln signed an act admitting West Virginia to the Union.   1877 - U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes became the first U.S. President to celebrate his silver (25th) wedding anniversary in the White House.    1891 - New York's new Immigration Depot was opened at Ellis Island, to provide improved facilities for the massive numbers of arrivals.   1897 - Brooklyn, NY, spent its last day as a separate entity before becoming part of New York City.   1923 - In London, the BBC first broadcast the chimes of Big Ben.   1929 - Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played "Auld Lang Syne" as a New Year's Eve song for the first time.   1946 - U.S. President Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.   1947 - Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were married.   1953 - Willie Shoemaker broke his own record as he won his 485th race of the year.   1954 - The last episode of the radio show "Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok" aired.   1955 - General Motors became the first U.S. corporation to earn more than one billion dollars in a single year.   1960 - The farthing coin, which had been in use in Great Britain since the 13th century, ceased to be legal tender.   1961 - In the U.S., the Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $12 billion in foreign aid.   1967 - The Green Bay Packers won the National Football League championship game by defeating the Dallas Cowboys 21-17. The game is known as the Ice Bowl since it was played in a wind chill of 40 degrees below zero. (NFL)   1974 - Private U.S. citizens were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years.   1978 - Taiwanese diplomats struck their colors for the final time from the embassy flagpole in Washington, DC. The event marked the end of diplomatic relations with the U.S.   1979 - At year end oil prices were 88% higher than at the start of 1979.   1986 - A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killed 97 and injured 140 people. Three hotel workers later pled guilty to charges in connection with the fire.   1990 - Titleholder Gary Kasparov of the U.S.S.R. won the world chess championship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov.   1996 - NCR Corp. became an independent company.   1997 - Michael Kennedy, 39-year-old son of the late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was killed in a skiing accident on Aspen Mountain in Colorado.   1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was designated acting president.   1999 - Five hijackers left the airport where they had been holding 150 hostages on an Indian Airlines plane. They left with two Islamic clerics that they had demanded be freed from an Indian prison. The plane had been hijacked during a flight from Katmandu, Nepal to New Dehli on December 24.   1999 - Sarah Knauss died at the age of 119 years. She was the world's oldest person. She was born September 24, 1880.


1879 Thomas Edison gave the first public demonstration of an electric incandescent lamp. 1938 The first breath test for drivers, "drunkometer," was introduced in Indianapolis. 1946 President Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II. 1961 The Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $12 billion in foreign aid.  1987 Robert Mugabe sworn in as Zimbabwe's president.




The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/dec31.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

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