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.

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)