Editing December 31 (section)

===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]].