Did you know
In 2011, NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.
December 31 in History
2011 — NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon
December 31 spans 62 recorded events across recorded history, from 406 to 2020. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
62 events
406 – 2020
Today in history
More major events on December 31
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1961 RTÉ, Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service. Source
- 2020 The World Health Organization issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine. Source
- 1790 Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today, is published for the first time. Source
Did you know
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
Did you know
federal government responsible for the United States' civil space program, as well as research in aeronautics and space. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.
Did you know
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NASA operates ten field centers across the US and is organized into three mission directorates: Human Spaceflight, Research and Technology, and Science. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.
Did you know
Established in 1958 amid the Space Race, NASA succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the US space program a distinct civilian orientation focused on peaceful applications. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
406
Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gaul.
East Germanic tribe
535
Byzantine general Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Gothic garrison of Palermo (Panormos), and ending his consulship for the year.
Continuation of the Roman Empire (330–1453)
870
Battle of Englefield: The Vikings clash with ealdorman Æthelwulf of Berkshire.
The invaders are driven back to Reading (East Anglia); many Danes are killed.
1105
Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV is forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Henry V, in Ingelheim.
Ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 800 to 1806
1225
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]
Imperial dynasty that ruled Vietnam from 1009 to 1225
1229
James I the Conqueror, King of Aragon, enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma de Mallorca, Spain), thus consummating the Christian reconquest of the island of Mallorca.
King of Aragon from 1213 to 1276
1501
The First Battle of Cannanore commences, seeing the first use of the naval line of battle.[citation needed]
Part of the Portuguese battles in the Indian Ocean
1600
The British East India Company is chartered.
British joint-stock company (1600–1858)
1660
James, Duke of York is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.
King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1685 to 1688
1670
The expedition of John Narborough leaves Corral Bay, having surveyed the coast and lost four hostages to the Spanish.
John Narborough's expedition to Chile in 1670
1687
The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.
Historical religious group of French Protestants
1757
Empress Elizabeth I of Russia issues her ukase incorporating Königsberg into Russia.
Empress of Russia from 1741 to 1762
1759
Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000-year lease at £45 per annum and starts brewing Guinness.
Irish brewer (1725–1803)
1775
American Revolutionary War: Battle of Quebec: British forces under General Guy Carleton repulse an attack by Continental Army General Richard Montgomery in a snowstorm.
1775–1783 conflict in North America
1790
Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today, is published for the first time.
Greek-language newspaper published in Vienna from 1790 to 1797
1796
1831
1844
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 September 1821.
In the islands, Monday, 30 December 1844 was immediately followed by Wednesday, 1 January 1845.
1853
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.
Genus of ornithopod dinosaurs
1857
Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, then a small logging town, as the capital of the Province of Canada.
Queen of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901
1862
American Civil War: The three-day Battle of Stones River begins near Murfreesboro, Tennessee between the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg and the Union Army of the Cumberland under General William S.
Rosecrans.
1862
American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an enabling act that would admit West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.
President of the United States from 1861 to 1865
1878
Karl Benz, working in Mannheim, Germany, files for a patent on his first reliable two-stroke gas engine.
He was granted the patent in 1879.
1879
Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
American inventor and businessman (1847–1931)
1906
Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar signs the Persian Constitution of 1906.
Shah of Iran from 1896 to 1907
1907
The first ever ball drop in Times Square.
Time ball in New York City's Times Square
1942
USS Essex, first aircraft carrier of a 24-ship class, is commissioned.
Essex-class aircraft carrier of the US Navy
1942
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.
1944
World War II: Operation Nordwind, the last major Wehrmacht offensive on the Western Front, begins.
German military offensive
1946
President Harry S.
Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
1951
Cold War: The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Western Europe.
1947–1991 geopolitical rivalry between US and USSR
1955
General Motors becomes the first U.S.
corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year.
1956
The Romanian Television network begins its first broadcast in Bucharest.
Public television broadcaster in Romania
1961
RTÉ, Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service.
Irish public service broadcaster
1963
The Central African Federation officially collapses, subsequently becoming Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
British territory from 1953 to 1963
1965
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, leader of the Central African Republic army, and his military officers begin a coup d'état against the government of President David Dacko.
Leader of Central Africa from 1966 to 1979
1968
The first flight of the Tupolev Tu-144, the first civilian supersonic transport in the world.
Soviet supersonic passenger airliner
1968
MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750 crashes near Port Hedland, Western Australia, killing all 26 people on board.
1968 aviation accident in Western Australia
1981
A coup d'état in Ghana removes President Hilla Limann's PNP government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.
Military overthrow of Hilla Limann
1983
The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
American telecommunications company (1885–2024)
1983
Benjamin Ward is appointed New York City Police Department's first ever African American police commissioner.
New York City Police Commissioner (1926–2002)
1983
In Nigeria, a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Second Nigerian Republic.
Country in West Africa
1986
Three disgruntled employees set fire to the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killing more than 90 people and injuring 140 others, making it the second-deadliest hotel fire in American history.
1986 fire in San Juan, Puerto Rico
1991
All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date, five days after the Soviet Union is officially dissolved.
Country in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991
1992
Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved in what is dubbed by media as the Velvet Divorce, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.
1918–1992 country in Central Europe
1994
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.
Island country in the central Pacific
1994
The First Chechen War: The Russian Ground Forces begin a New Year's storming of Grozny.
1994–1996 war between Russia and Chechen separatists
1995
1998
The European Exchange Rate Mechanism freezes the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone, and establishes the value of the euro currency.
European system to reduce exchange rate variability after the Euro
1999
The first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, resigns from office, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President and successor.
Head of state
1999
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
Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking ends after seven days with the release of 190 survivors at Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan.
1999 Indian aircraft hijacking
2004
The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 ft).
Skyscraper in Taiwan
2010
Tornadoes touch down in 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.
2014
A New Year's Eve celebration stampede in Shanghai kills at least 36 people and injures 49 others.
Deadly crush of people at a new year celebration
2015
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
Thirty-nine people are killed after a ten-story building collapses in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk, Russia.
2018 apartment building collapse in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia
2019
The World Health Organization is informed of cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause, detected in Wuhan.
This later turned out to be COVID-19, the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020
The World Health Organization issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2