136 things happened on 31 December, from AD 192 to 2022. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1853 · 173 years ago
To celebrate the launch of his dinosaur models, the sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins held a New Year's Eve dinner. It took place inside the mould of one of his Iguanodon models. The life-size sculptures, made for Crystal Palace Park in south London, were …
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
The East India Company was given its charter, an official document allowing it to operate. It was set up to trade around the Indian Ocean, at first with the East Indies and later with East Asia. Over time the company took control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent and had its own armies. At its peak it was the largest company in the world by some measures.
UK story
To celebrate the launch of his dinosaur models, the sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins held a New Year's Eve dinner. It took place inside the mould of one of his Iguanodon models. The life-size sculptures, made for Crystal Palace Park in south London, were the first dinosaur sculptures in the world. Iguanodon was a large plant-eating dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period.
UK story
Queen Victoria chose Ottawa, then a small logging town, as the capital of the Province of Canada. This was a British colony in North America. Ottawa is now the capital of the whole of Canada. Victoria reigned for 63 years, longer than any British monarch before her, and her reign is known as the Victorian era.
UK story
Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV is forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Henry V, in Ingelheim.
UK story
James, Duke of York is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.
UK story
Empress Elizabeth I of Russia issues her ukase incorporating Königsberg into Russia.
UK story
American Revolutionary War: At the Battle of Quebec, British forces repulsed an attempt by the Continental Army to capture Quebec City and enlist French Canadian support.
UK story
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.
UK story
USS Essex, first aircraft carrier of a 24-ship class, is commissioned.
UK story
The Central African Federation officially collapses, subsequently becoming Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
The American inventor Thomas Edison demonstrated his incandescent electric lighting to the public for the first time, at Menlo Park in New Jersey. An incandescent bulb makes light by heating a thin wire, called a filament, until it glows. Edison is also known for his work on the phonograph, an early machine for recording and playing sound. He registered 1,093 patents in the United States.
New York City held its first New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square. It became a yearly event. Times Square, in Midtown Manhattan, is one of the busiest places for walkers in the world. It is the heart of New York's theatre district and is lit up day and night by huge digital billboards.
The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 made its first flight, from Zhukovsky Airport. It was the world's first supersonic passenger airliner, meaning it could fly faster than the speed of sound. Its first flight came two months before that of the British-French Concorde. In 1970 the Tu-144 became the first passenger aircraft to fly at more than twice the speed of sound.
Czechoslovakia was peacefully divided into two independent countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The split took effect on 31 December, and the decision was made by the country itself rather than forced on it. Because it happened without any fighting, the media called it the 'Velvet Divorce'.
In Kiribati, a country of islands in the Pacific Ocean, this date was skipped altogether. Its Phoenix Islands and Line Islands moved to new time zones on the other side of the International Date Line. As a result, Kiritimati, in the Line Islands, is now in the world's furthest-forward time zone. That makes it one of the first inhabited places on Earth to see in each New Year.
Taipei 101, a skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan, opened to the public. It is 508 metres high with 101 floors. It was officially the world's tallest building until the Burj Khalifa in Dubai overtook it in 2009. It is still the tallest building in Taiwan.
Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gaul.
Byzantine general Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Gothic garrison of Palermo (Panormos), and ending his consulship for the year.
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]
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.
The First Battle of Cannanore commences, seeing the first use of the naval line of battle.[citation needed]
The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.
Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease at £45 per annum to the St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin and began brewing Guinness.
Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today, is published for the first time.
The incorporation of Baltimore as a city.
Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City.
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.
American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an enabling act that would admit West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.
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.
Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar signs the Persian Constitution of 1906.
The Manhattan Bridge, connecting Lower Manhattan to Downtown Brooklyn and considered to be the forerunner of modern suspension bridges, opened to traffic.
World War II: Operation Nordwind, the last major Wehrmacht offensive on the Western Front, begins.
President Harry S. Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
Korean War: North Korean troops attacked United Nations forces in the first of two battles at Wonju.
Cold War: The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Western Europe.
General Motors becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year.
The Romanian Television network begins its first broadcast in Bucharest.
RTÉ, Ireland's first television network, began broadcasting.
Central African military officers led by Jean-Bédel Bokassa began a coup d'état against the government of President David Dacko.
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.
Two Australian biologists published an article titled "A Synopsis of the Class Reptilia in Australia", initiating the Wells and Wellington affair.
Benjamin Ward is appointed New York City Police Department's first ever African American police commissioner.
The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
In Nigeria, a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Second Nigerian Republic.
All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date, five days after the Soviet Union is officially dissolved.
The First Chechen War: The Russian Ground Forces begin a New Year's storming of Grozny.
The final comic of Calvin and Hobbes is published.
The European Exchange Rate Mechanism froze the exchange rates of the legacy currencies in the eurozone, establishing the value of the euro.
Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin became acting president upon President Boris Yeltsin's unexpected resignation.
In accordance with the Torrijos–Carter Treaties, Panama assumed full control of the Panama Canal Zone from the United States.
Rwanda adopts a new national flag and anthem.
War in Somalia: Transitional Federal Government forces attacked the last stronghold of the Islamic Courts Union in the town of Jilib.
Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur.
NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon.
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.
The World Health Organization issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as the capital of Canada”?
B: 1857. 1857 — that’s 169 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “The East India Company receives its charter”?
B: 1600. 1600 — that’s 426 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
C: The East India Company receives its charter. 1853: A New Year's Eve dinner is held inside a model Iguanodon · 1857: Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as the capital of Canada · 1600: The East India Company receives its charter Find it on the page
“A New Year's Eve dinner is held inside a model Iguanodon” happened in 1853. How many years ago was that?
C: 173 years. 2026 − 1853 = 173. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 31 December.
UK story
Charles Edward Stuart, better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, was born in Rome, Italy. He was the grandson of King James II of England and VII of Scotland, who had lost his throne in 1688. In 1745 he led the Jacobite Rising, a failed attempt to put the Stuart family back on the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland. One of his names was Sylvester, because he was born on Saint Sylvester's Day.
Well-known people who died on 31 December.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 31 December somewhere in the world.
UK story
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and for welcoming the New Year in the Scottish way. Celebrations often carry on into New Year's Day and 2 January, a bank holiday in Scotland. A favourite custom is first-footing, visiting friends and neighbours just after midnight, as the first guest is said to bring luck. Around the world, people now sing 'Auld Lang Syne', a Scots poem by Robert Burns.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “December 31” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.