Editing December 31 (section)

==Events==
===Pre-1600===
* [[406]] &ndash; [[Vandals]], [[Alans]] and [[Suebi]]ans [[Crossing of the Rhine|cross the Rhine]], beginning an invasion of [[Gaul]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Empires besieged : time frame--AD 200-600 |date=1988 |publisher=Alexandria, Va. : Time-Life Books |isbn=978-0-8094-6416-6 |page=38 |url=https://archive.org/details/empiresbesiegedt00time/page/38/mode/2up |access-date=5 September 2022}}</ref>
* [[535]] &ndash; [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] general [[Belisarius]] completes the conquest of [[Sicily]], defeating the [[Ostrogoths|Gothic]] garrison of [[Palermo]] (Panormos), and ending his [[consul]]ship for the year.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kruse |first1=Marion |title=The Politics of Roman Memory: From the Fall of the Western Empire to the Age of Justinian |date=4 October 2019 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-5162-3 |page=117 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[870]] &ndash; [[Battle of Englefield]]: The [[Vikings]] clash with [[ealdorman]] [[Æthelwulf of Berkshire]]. The invaders are driven back to [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] ([[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Anglia]]); many [[Danes]] are killed.<ref name="Smith1980">{{cite book|author=Albert Hugh Smith|title=The Parker Chronicle 832-900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3vMwAAAAMAAJ|year=1980|publisher=University of Exeter|isbn=978-0-85989-099-1|page=26}}</ref>
*[[1105]] &ndash; [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry&nbsp;IV]] is forced to abdicate in favor of his son, [[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry&nbsp;V]], in [[Ingelheim]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=I. S. |orig-year=1999 |year=2003 |title=Henry IV of Germany, 1056–1106 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-54590-0 |page=336}}</ref>
*[[1225]] &ndash; The [[Lý dynasty]] of Vietnam ends after 216 years by the enthronement of the boy emperor [[Trần Thái Tông]], husband of the last Lý monarch, [[Lý Chiêu Hoàng]], starting the [[Trần dynasty]].{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}<ref>Minh, Nguyen. ''The Contributions of Salient Vietnamese Zen Masters to the Development of Buddhism During Ly and Tran Dynasties.'' 2017. Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University. Master of Arts. </ref>
*[[1229]] &ndash; [[James I of Aragon|James I the Conqueror]], [[King of Aragon]], enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as [[Palma de Mallorca]], Spain), thus consummating the [[Conquest of Majorca|Christian reconquest]] of the island of [[Mallorca]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Breve Historia de la guerra antigua y medieval (Brief history of the old and medieval war) |page=211  |author1=F. Xavier Hernández Cardona |author2=Xavier Rubio Campillo |date=October 2010 |publisher=Fareso |language=es|isbn=9788497639743 }}</ref>
*[[1501]] &ndash; The [[First Battle of Cannanore]] commences, seeing the first use of the naval [[line of battle]].{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
*[[1600]] &ndash; The British [[East India Company]] is chartered.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Low |first1=C. R. |title=History of the Indian Navy: Chapter I. 1600-1622 |journal=The United Service Magazine |date=1875 |issue=3 |page=148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L-IRAAAAYAAJ |access-date=5 September 2022 |publisher=H. Colburn |language=en}}</ref>

===1601–1900===
*[[1660]] &ndash; [[James II of England|James, Duke of York]] is named [[Duke of Normandy]] by [[Louis XIV of France]].
*[[1670]] &ndash; The [[English expedition to Valdivia|expedition of John Narborough]] leaves [[Corral Bay]], having surveyed the coast and lost four hostages to the Spanish.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Urbina |first1=María Ximena|author-link=Ximena Urbina |title=La expedición de John Narborough a Chile, 1670: defensa de Valdivia, rumores de indios, informaciones de los prisioneros y la creencia en la ciudad de los Césares |trans-title=John Narborough Expedition to Chile, 1670: Defense of Valdivia, Indian Rumors, Information on Prisoners, and the Belief in the City of the Césares |journal=Magallania |volume=45 |issue=2 |year=2017 |pages=11–36 |doi=10.4067/S0718-22442017000200011 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
*[[1687]] &ndash; The first [[Huguenot]]s set sail from [[France]] to the [[Cape of Good Hope]].
*[[1757]] &ndash; Empress [[Elizabeth I of Russia]] issues her [[ukase]] incorporating [[Russian Prussia|Königsberg into Russia]].
*[[1759]] &ndash; [[Arthur Guinness]] signs a 9,000-year lease at [[Pound sterling|£]]45 per annum and starts brewing [[Guinness]].
*[[1775]] &ndash; [[American Revolutionary War]]: [[Battle of Quebec (1775)|Battle of Quebec]]: British forces under General [[Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester|Guy Carleton]] repulse an attack by [[Continental Army]] General [[Richard Montgomery]] in a snowstorm.<ref>{{cite web|title=Quebec|url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/quebec|website=Battlefields.org|publisher=American Battlefield Trust|access-date=November 30, 2024}}</ref>
*[[1790]] &ndash; ''[[Efimeris]]'', the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today, is published for the first time.
*[[1796]] &ndash; The incorporation of [[Baltimore]] as a city.
*[[1831]] &ndash; [[Gramercy Park]] is deeded to [[New York City]].
*[[1844]] &ndash; The [[Philippines]] skipped this date in order to align the country with the rest of Asia, as the trading interest switched to China, Dutch East Indies and neighboring territories after Mexico gained independence from Spain on 27&nbsp;September 1821. In the islands, Monday, 30&nbsp;December 1844 was immediately followed by Wednesday, 1&nbsp;January 1845.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/in-1844-the-philippines-skipped-a-day-and-it-took-decades-for-the-rest-of-the-world-to-notice|first=Sarah|last=Laskow|title=In 1844, the Philippines Skipped a Day, And It Took Decades for the Rest of the World to Notice|publisher=Atlas Obscura|date=December 30, 2015|language=EN|access-date=2023-04-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.faroutliers.com/2007/08/27/missing-date-in-philippines-history-31-december-1844/|title=Missing date in Philippines history: 31 December 1844|website=faroutliers.com|publisher=Far Outliers|language=en-US|date=27 August 2007|access-date=7 March 2022}}</ref>
*[[1853]] &ndash; A 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.
*[[1857]] &ndash; [[Queen Victoria]] chooses [[Ottawa]], then a small [[logging]] town, as the capital of the [[Province of Canada]].
*[[1862]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: The three-day [[Battle of Stones River]] begins near [[Murfreesboro, Tennessee]] between the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] [[Army of Tennessee]] under General [[Braxton Bragg]] and the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] [[Army of the Cumberland]] under General [[William Rosecrans|William S. Rosecrans]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Battle of Stones River|url=https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/battle-of-stones-river/|author=McDonough, James L.|website=TennesseeEncyclopedia.net|publisher=Tennessee Historical Society|date=October 8, 2017|access-date=November 30, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ann E. Holmes|title=Diverse Excursions in the Southeast: Paleozoic to Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iufHBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA4|date=9 March 2015|publisher=Geological Society of America|isbn=978-0-8137-0039-7|pages=4}}</ref>
*  1862  &ndash; American Civil War: [[Abraham Lincoln]] signs an enabling act that would admit [[West Virginia]] to the Union, thus dividing [[Virginia]] in two.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rice |first1=Otis K. |last2=Brown |first2=Stephen Wayne |title=West Virginia: A History |place=Lexington, Ky. |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=1993 |isbn=9780813118543 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-GcC_XbfuUEC |pages=149–150 |postscript=none}}; {{cite journal |last1=Kesavan |first1=Vasan |last2=Paulsen |first2=Michael Stokes |year=2002 |title=Is West Virginia Unconstitutional? |journal=California Law Review |volume=90 |issue=2 |pages=319–325 |doi=10.2307/3481282 |jstor=3481282 |url=http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/californialawreview/vol90/iss2/1/}}</ref>
*[[1878]] &ndash; [[Karl Benz]], working in [[Mannheim]], [[German Empire|Germany]], files for a [[patent]] on his first reliable [[Two-stroke engine|two-stroke gas engine]]. He was granted the patent in 1879.
*[[1879]] &ndash; [[Thomas Edison]] demonstrates [[Incandescent light bulb|incandescent lighting]] to the public for the first time, in [[Menlo Park, New Jersey]].

===1901–present===
*[[1906]] &ndash; [[Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar]] signs the [[Persian Constitution of 1906]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Great Britain. Foreign and Commonwealth Office|title=British and Foreign State Papers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GNIMAQAAIAAJ|year=1927|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|page=75}}</ref>
*[[1907]] &ndash; The first ever [[Times Square Ball|ball drop]] in [[Times Square]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Deconstructed – Times Square Ball – Lots of Sparkle for a Swift Fall|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/nyregion/27ball.html?ref=nyregion&gwh=DFA1FDC3A94D96DE864D020AB6405314|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 15, 2013|first=Alan|last=Feuer|date=December 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125103445/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/nyregion/27ball.html?ref=nyregion&gwh=DFA1FDC3A94D96DE864D020AB6405314 |archive-date=25 November 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[1942]] &ndash; [[USS Essex (CV-9)|USS ''Essex'']], first aircraft carrier of a 24-ship class, is [[Ship commissioning|commissioned.]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Essex IV (CV-9) |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/e/essex-iv.html |access-date=2020-12-26 |website=NHHC |language=en-US }}</ref>
*  1942   &ndash; [[World War II]]: The [[Royal Navy]] defeats the [[Kriegsmarine]] at the [[Battle of the Barents Sea]]. This leads to the resignation of [[Grand Admiral]] [[Erich Raeder]] a month later.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kappes |first=Irwin |title=The Battle of the Barents Sea |url=https://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/articles/feature5.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006170208/https://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/articles/feature5.html |archive-date=2021-10-06 |access-date=2021-12-31 |website=www.german-navy.de}}</ref>
*[[1944]] &ndash; World War II: [[Operation Nordwind]], the last major [[Wehrmacht]] offensive on the [[Western Front (World War II)|Western Front]], begins.
*[[1946]] &ndash; President [[Harry S. Truman]] officially proclaims the [[Proclamation 2714|end of hostilities]] in World War II.
*[[1951]] &ndash; [[Cold War]]: The [[Marshall Plan]] expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild [[Western Europe]].
*[[1955]] &ndash; [[General Motors]] becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year.
*[[1956]] &ndash; The [[Romanian Television]] network begins its first broadcast in [[Bucharest]].
*[[1961]] &ndash; [[RTÉ]], Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service.
*[[1963]] &ndash; [[Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland|The Central African Federation]] officially collapses, subsequently becoming [[Zambia]], [[Malawi]] and [[Rhodesia]].
*[[1965]] &ndash; [[Jean-Bédel Bokassa]], leader of the [[Central African Republic]] army, and his military officers [[Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état|begin a coup d'état]] against the government of [[List of heads of state of the Central African Republic and Central African Empire|President]] [[David Dacko]].
*[[1968]] &ndash; The first flight of the [[Tupolev Tu-144]], the first civilian supersonic transport in the world.
*  1968   &ndash; [[MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750]] crashes near [[Port Hedland, Western Australia]], killing all 26 people on board.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ranter|first=Harro|title=ASN Aircraft accident Vickers 720C Viscount VH-RMQ Port Hedland, WA|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19681231-2|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-29|website=aviation-safety.net|publisher=[[Aviation Safety Network]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050527210458/http://aviation-safety.net:80/database/record.php?id=19681231-2 |archive-date=2005-05-27 }}</ref>
*[[1981]] &ndash; A [[coup d'état]] in [[Ghana]] removes [[List of heads of state of Ghana|President]] [[Hilla Limann]]'s [[People's National Party (Ghana)|PNP]] [[Limann government|government]] and replaces it with the [[Provisional National Defence Council]] led by [[Flight lieutenant]] [[Jerry Rawlings]].
*[[1983]] &ndash; The [[AT&T Corporation|AT&T]] [[Bell System]] is broken up by the [[Federal government of the United States|United States Government]].
*  1983   &ndash; [[Benjamin Ward]] is appointed [[New York City Police Department]]'s first ever [[African Americans|African American]] [[New York City Police Commissioner|police commissioner]].
*  1983   &ndash; In [[Nigeria]], a [[1983 Nigerian coup d'état|coup d'état]] led by Major General [[Muhammadu Buhari]] ends the [[Second Nigerian Republic]].
*[[1991]] &ndash; All official [[Soviet Union]] institutions have ceased operations by this date, five days after the Soviet Union is [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|officially dissolved]].
*[[1992]] &ndash; [[Czechoslovakia]] is [[Dissolution of Czechoslovakia|peacefully dissolved]] in what is dubbed by media as the ''Velvet Divorce'', resulting in the creation of the [[Czech Republic]] and the [[Slovakia|Slovak Republic]].
*[[1994]] &ndash; This 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.
*  1994   &ndash; The [[First Chechen War]]: The [[Russian Ground Forces]] begin a [[Battle of Grozny (1994–95)|New Year's storming]] of [[Grozny]].
*  [[1995]] &ndash; The final comic of [[Calvin and Hobbes]] is published.<ref name="CC+H_final_strip">[[Calvin and Hobbes#CITEREFWatterson2005|Watterson (2005)]]. vol. 3, p. 481. Comic originally published December 31, 1995.</ref>
*[[1998]] &ndash; The [[European Exchange Rate Mechanism]] freezes the values of the legacy currencies in the [[Eurozone]], and establishes the value of the [[euro]] currency.
*[[1999]] &ndash; The first [[President of Russia]], [[Boris Yeltsin]], resigns from office, leaving [[Prime Minister of Russia|Prime Minister]] [[Vladimir Putin]] as the [[Acting President of Russia|acting President]] and successor.
*  1999   &ndash; The U.S. 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]].
*  1999   &ndash; [[Indian Airlines Flight 814]] hijacking ends after seven days with the release of 190 survivors at [[Kandahar Airport]], [[Afghanistan]].
*[[2001]] &ndash; Rwanda adopts a new [[Flag of Rwanda|national flag]] and [[Rwanda Nziza|anthem]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Vesperini |first=Helen |title=Rwanda unveils new flag and anthem |date=31 December 2001 |work=[[BBC News]]  |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1735405.stm |access-date=24 August 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031105035109/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1735405.stm |archive-date=5 November 2003}}</ref>
*[[2004]] &ndash; The official opening of [[Taipei 101]], the [[List of tallest buildings and structures in the world|tallest]] [[skyscraper]] at that time in the world, standing at a height of {{convert|509|m|ft}}.
*[[2009]] &ndash; Both a [[blue moon]] and a [[December 2009 lunar eclipse|lunar eclipse]] occur.
*[[2010]] &ndash; [[2010 New Year's Eve tornado outbreak|Tornadoes]] touch down in [[Midwestern United States|midwestern]] and [[southern United States]], including [[Washington County, Arkansas]]; [[Greater St. Louis]], [[Sunset Hills, Missouri]], [[Illinois]], and [[Oklahoma]], with a few tornadoes in the early hours. A total of 36 tornadoes touched down, resulting in the deaths of nine people and $113 million in damages.
*[[2011]] &ndash; [[NASA]] succeeds in putting the first of two [[Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory]] [[satellite]]s in orbit around the [[Moon]].
*[[2014]] &ndash; A New Year's Eve celebration [[2014 Shanghai stampede|stampede]] in [[Shanghai]] kills at least 36 people and injures 49 others.
*[[2015]] &ndash; A fire breaks out at the Downtown Address Hotel in [[Downtown Dubai]], [[United Arab Emirates]], located near the [[Burj Khalifa]], two hours before the [[fireworks]] display is due to commence. Sixteen injuries were reported; one had a heart attack, another suffered a major injury, and fourteen others with minor injuries.
*[[2018]] &ndash; Thirty-nine people are killed after [[2018 Magnitogorsk building collapse|a ten-story building collapses]] in the industrial city of [[Magnitogorsk]], Russia.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/03/death-toll-rises-in-russian-apartment-block-collapse |title=Death toll rises to 39 in Russian apartment block collapse |date=2019-01-03 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=2019-01-07}}</ref>
*[[2019]] &ndash; The [[World Health Organization]] is informed of cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause, detected in [[Wuhan]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Pneumonia of unknown cause – China |url=https://www.who.int/csr/don/05-january-2020-pneumonia-of-unkown-cause-china/en/ |website=WHO}}</ref> This later turned out to be [[COVID-19]], the cause of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhou |first1=Peng |last2=Yang |first2=Xing-Lou |last3=Wang |first3=Xian-Guang |last4=Hu |first4=Ben |last5=Zhang |first5=Lei |last6=Zhang |first6=Wei |last7=Si |first7=Hao-Rui |last8=Zhu |first8=Yan |last9=Li |first9=Bei |last10=Huang |first10=Chao-Lin |last11=Chen |first11=Hui-Dong |last12=Chen |first12=Jing |last13=Luo |first13=Yun |last14=Guo |first14=Hua |last15=Jiang |first15=Ren-Di |last16=Liu |first16=Mei-Qin |last17=Chen |first17=Ying |last18=Shen |first18=Xu-Rui |last19=Wang |first19=Xi |last20=Zheng |first20=Xiao-Shuang |last21=Zhao |first21=Kai |last22=Chen |first22=Quan-Jiao |last23=Deng |first23=Fei |last24=Liu |first24=Lin-Lin |last25=Yan |first25=Bing |last26=Zhan |first26=Fa-Xian |last27=Wang |first27=Yan-Yi |last28=Xiao |first28=Geng-Fu |last29=Shi |first29=Zheng-Li |title=A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin |journal=Nature |date=March 2020 |volume=579 |issue=7798 |pages=270–273 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7 |pmid=32015507 |pmc=7095418 |bibcode=2020Natur.579..270Z }}</ref>
*[[2020]] &ndash; The World Health Organization issues its first emergency use validation for a [[COVID-19 vaccine]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=WHO issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine and emphasizes need for equitable global access|url=https://www.who.int/news/item/31-12-2020-who-issues-its-first-emergency-use-validation-for-a-covid-19-vaccine-and-emphasizes-need-for-equitable-global-access|access-date=2021-02-16|website=www.who.int|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-31|title=WHO clears Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for emergency use|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/who-clears-pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine-for-emergency-use|access-date=2021-02-16|website=PBS NewsHour|language=en-us}}</ref>