What happened on December 31 in the Hisory

December 31 Events in History

2008 One leap second is added to the end of the year
1999 Control of Panama Canal reverts to Panama
1999 The London Eye, the world's largest Ferris wheel, opens by the banks of the Thames
1998 U.S. movie box office hits record $6.24 billion for year
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 South African and U.S. surgeons separate Zambian Siamese twins joined at the head
1995 "Danny Gans on Broadway" closes at Neil Simon New York City
1995 "Having Our Say" closes at Booth Theater New York City after 308 performances
1995 "Heiress" closes at Cort Theater New York City after 340 performances
1995 "Paul Roebson" closes at Longacre Theater New York City after 14 performances
1995 "Racing Demon" closes at Vivian Beaumont Theater New York City after 48 performances
1995 "Tempest" closes at Broadhurst Theater New York City after 71 performances
1995 62nd Sugar Bowl: Virginia Tech beats Texas
1995 Cartoonist Bill Watterson ends his "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip
1995 Matthew Elliott scores separate cricket century same day for Victoria
1994 1st snowless December in Baltimore Maryland
1994 Anti Apartheid Group of Netherlands (AABN) disbands
1993 Barbra Striesand does her 1st live public concert in 20 years
1993 Loveboat actress Jill Whelan (27) weds Brad St. John (33)
1992 Target date for Europe's single market
1992 WCBS TV news anchor Carol Martin weds Joe Terry
1991 CPN, Communist Party of Netherland, last day of existance
1991 Daniel R McCarthy elected New York Yankee managing general partner
1991 Dow Jones closes at record high 3168.83
1991 J Donald Crump resigned as CFL Commissioner
1991 U.S.S.R., last day of existence
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
1989 "Me and My Girl" closes at Marquis Theater New York City after 1420 performances
1989 "Threepenny Opera" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater New York City after 65 performances
1989 Actress Annabella Sciorra (Jungle Fever) weds Joe Petruzzi
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
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 South Carolina changes call letters to WVOC (now WOMG)
1984 Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen loses his arm in a car crash
1984 New York City subway gunman Bernhard Goetz surrenders to police in New Hampshire
1984 Rajiv Gandhi takes office as India's 6th Prime Minister succeeds his mother, Indira Gandhi
1984 Test Cricket debut of Mohammad Azharuddin, vs. England at Calcutta
1984 U.S. leaves UNESCO
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
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
1981 CNN Headline News debuts
1981 Lt Jerry Rawlings becomes head of Ghana, suspends constitution
1981 Netherlands unemployment stands at record 475,000
1980 A Jewish owned hotel in Nairobi Kenya is bombed killing 18
1980 New York Islanders greatest shutout margin (9-0) vs Chicago Black Hawks
1980 Senegal president Leopold Senghor resigns
1979 Winterland Rock Concert Hall in San Francisco closes after 556 concerts
1978 "Magic Show" closes at Cort Theater New York City after 1859 performances
1978 "Runaways" closes at Plymouth Theater New York City 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
1977 "Bubbling Brown Sugar" closes at ANTA Theater New York City after 766 performances
1977 "Man of La Mancha" closes at Palace Theater New York City after 124 performances
1977 Amir Sheikh Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah becomes leader of Kuwait
1977 Cambodia drops diplomatic relations with Vietnam
1977 Donald Woods, a banned white editor flees South Africa
1977 Ted Bundy escapes from jail in Colorado
1976 TV soap "Somerset" ends 6 year run
1976 The Cars played their 1st gig
1975 42nd Sugar Bowl: Alabama 13 beats Penn State 6
1974 41st Sugar Bowl: Nebraska 13 beats Florida 10
1974 Free agent pitcher Catfish Hunter signs $3M 5 year New York Yankees contract
1974 Gold legal in U.S., Franklin Mint strikes Panama's Gold 100 balboa coin
1974 Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks join Fleetwood Mac
1974 New York Yankees sign Jim "Catfish" Hunter to 5 years for record $3.75 million
1974 Popular Electronics displays Altair 8800 computer
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
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
1971 KAID TV channel 4 in Boise, Idaho (PBS) begins broadcasting
1971 Lieutenant General Robert E Cushman,, Jr., USMC, ends term as deputy director of CIA
1970 Congress authorizes Eisenhower dollar coin
1970 President Allende nationalizes Chilean coal mines
1970 Would have been start of Australia/England Test Cricket at MCG, washed out
1969 Congo-Brazzaville becomes People's republic, under major Ngouabi
1968 1st supersonic airliner flown (Russian TU-144)
1968 1st test flight of Tupolev TU 144
1968 New York Jets win AFL championship
1967 "Henry, Sweet Henry" closes at Palace Theater New York City after 80 performances
1967 1st NBA game at Great Western Forum, Los Angeles 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 degrees F)
1966 Monkee's "I'm a Believer" hits #1 and stays there for 7 weeks
1966 Test Cricket debut of Bishen Singh Bedi, India vs. WI Calcutta, 2-92
1966 Toboggan Chutes begin operation in Cleveland Metroparks
1964 Donald Campbell (UK) sets world water speed record (276.33 mph)
1964 Indonesia proclaims expelled from the UN
1963 Chicago Bears win NFL championship
1963 Dear Abby show premieres on CBS radio (runs 11 years)
1963 Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir played music together for the 1st time
1962 "Match Game" debuts on NBC with host Gene Rayburn
1962 American Basketball League announces suspension of operation
1962 Dutch leave New Guinea
1962 Katanga becomes part of Democratic Republic of Congo
1962 Ohio ends suit against Reds when they agree to stay in Cincinnati for 10 yrs
1961 "lrma La Douce" closes at Plymouth Theater New York City 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 New York Giants 37-0 in NFL championship game
1961 Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than $12 billion
1958 47th Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in Brisbane (3-2)
1958 Cubans dictator Batista flees
1958 International Geophyscial Year ends
1958 Willie Shoemaker 1st jockey to win national riding championship 4X
1957 AAU awards Bobby Morrow, James Sullivan Memorial Trophy
1955 "Vamp" closes at Winter Garden Theater New York City after 60 performances
1953 Hulan Jack sworn in as Manhattan Borough president
1953 WFBC (now WYFF) TV channel 4 in G'ville-Spartanburg, South Carolina (NBC) begins
1953 Willie Shoemaker shatters record, riding 485 winners in a year
1951 1st battery to convert radioactive energy to electrical announced
1950 Jockeys W Shoemaker and Joe Culmone set record of 388 wins in a year
1949 18 countries recognize Republic Indonesia
1948 Dutch police actions up Java gone on strike
1946 French troops leave Lebanon
1946 President Truman officially proclaims end of WW II
1945 Bradman scores 112, his 1st post-War century, SA vs. Australia Services
1945 Ratification of United Nations Charter completed
1944 48 people die in a train accident in Ogden, Utah
1944 Japanese army evacuates harbor city Akyab
1943 New York City's Times Square greets Frank Sinatra at Paramount Theater
1942 60 U boats sunk this month (330,000 ton)
1942 Battle in Barents Sea
1942 Potatoes rationed in Holland
1941 Young Park (2) in the Bronx named in honor of Samuel Young
1940 37 U boats sunk this month (213,000 ton)
1939 25 U boats sunk this month (81,000 ton)
1938 Dr. R N Harger's "drunkometer," 1st breath test, introduced in Indiana
1935 CPH becomes Dutch Communist Party
1935 Charles Darrow patents Monopoly
1934 Helen Richey becomes 1st woman to pilot an airmail transport
1932 John P O'Brien sworn-in as mayor of New York City
1930 Pontifical encyclical Casti connubii against mixed marriages
1930 U.S. tobacco industry produced 123 billion cigarettes in 1930
1929 Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Divini illius magistri
1927 Ponsford scores 336 against SA, giving him 1146 for month
1925 14th congress of CPSU decides to accelerate industry
1924 Hubble announces existence of distant galaxies
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 New York City
1921 Last San Francisco firehorses retired
1920 Roy Park makes 1st-ball duck in only Test Cricket India, vs. England at MCG
1918 Kid Gleason replaces Pants Rowland as White Sox manager
1917 Dutch Social-democratic trade union NVV counts 159,450 members
1914 Colonel Jacob Ruppert and Cap Huston purchase New York Yankees for $460,000
1911 Marie Curie receives her 2nd Nobel Prize
1910 U.S. tobacco industry produced 9 billion cigarettes in 1910
1907 For 1st time a ball drops at Times Square to signal new year
1907 G Mahler conducts the Metropolitan Opera
1906 French/British/Italian treaty concerning rights on Abyssinia
1902 Boers and British army sign peace treaty
1897 Brooklyn's last day as a city, it incorporates into New York City (1/1/1898)
1896 25th auto built in US
1890 Ellis Island, in New York City, opens as a U.S. immigration depot
1879 Cornerstone laid for Iolani Palace (only royal palace in U.S.)
1879 Cornerstone laid for Honolulu's Iolani Palace
1879 Edison gives 1st public demonstration of his incandescent lamp
1879 Gilbert/Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance," premieres in New York City
1879 Opera "Pirates of Penzance" is produced (New York City)
1870 J D Schneiter patents rocket mail in France, (not done)
1862 Battle of Stone's River, Tennessee (Stone River, Monfreesboro)
1862 Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee
1862 President Lincoln signs act admitting West Virginia to Union
1862 Skirmish at Parker Cross Roads, Tennessee
1862 Union ironclad ship "Monitor" sank off Cape Hatteras, NC
1861 22,990 mm of rain falls in Cherrapunji Assam in 1861, world record
1859 Dutch colony in Dutch Indies counts 4,800 slaves
1857 Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as new capital of Canada
1852 Future president and Mrs. Rutherford B Hayes marry
1841 Alabama becomes 1st state to license dental surgeons
1805 End of French Republican calendar; France returns to Gregorianism
1783 Import of African slaves banned by all of the Northern states
1781 Bank of North America, 1st U.S. bank opens
1779 English fleet beat Dutch Merchant vessels
1776 Rhode Island establishes wage and price controls to curb inflation: Limit is 70 cents a day for carpenters, 42 cents for tailors
1775 Battle of Quebec; Americans unable to take British stronghold
1762 Mozart family moves from Vienna to Salzburg
1758 British expeditionary army occupies Goree (Dakar) Senegal
1756 Russia joins the Alliance of Versailles
1745 Bonnie Prince Charlies army meets with de Esk
1744 James Bradley announces discovery of Earth's nutation motion (wobble)
1711 Duke of Marlborough fired as English army commander
1708 Great Alliance captures Bridge
1700 Frisia/Groningen adopt Gregorian calendar, tomorrow is 1/12/1701
1688 Pro-James II-earl of Devonshire occupies Nottingham
1687 1st Huguenots depart France to Cape of Good Hope
1680 Amsterdam opera at Leidsegracht opens
1670 France and England sign Boyne-treaty
1669 France and Brandenburg sign secret treaty
1621 Hungarian King Bethlen Gabor/Ferdinand II sign Treaty of Mikulov
1604 Admiral Steven van der Haghen's fleet reaches Bantam
1600 British East India Company chartered
1564 Willem van Orange demands freedom of conscience/religion
1502 Cesare Borgia (son of pope Alexander VI) occupies Urbino
1492 100,000 Jews expelled from Sicily
870 Skirmish at Englefield: Ethelred of Wessex beats Danish invasion army
765 Coffin of Ho-tse Shen-hui interred in a stupa built in China
406 80,000 Vandels attack the Rhine at Mainz
335 St. Silvester I ends his reign as Catholic Pope