Historical Events on Wednesday, 31st December

31/12/2020

The World Health Organization issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine.

A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine designed to induce immunity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19 vaccines help reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalisation and death from the virus.

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31/12/2019

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.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has six regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide. Only sovereign states are eligible to join, and it is the largest intergovernmental health organization at the international level.

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31/12/2018

Thirty-nine people are killed after a ten-story building collapses in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk, Russia.

On 31 December 2018, at approximately 6:02 a.m. local time, an apartment block in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, partially collapsed. The collapse killed 39 people and injured 17 more. The cause of the collapse is believed to have been a gas explosion.

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31/12/2015

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.

Downtown Dubai or The Dubai Downtown is a large-scale, mixed-use complex in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was developed by the Emaar real estate development company. Before 2000, this area was called Umm Al Tarif. It is home to some of the city's most notable landmarks, including Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building; the Dubai Mall, the second-largest mall in the world and The Dubai Fountain, the world's largest choreographed fountain. It covers an area of 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi), at an estimated cost of US$20 billion upon completion and, as of 2017, has a population of 13,201.

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31/12/2014

A New Year's Eve celebration stampede in Shanghai kills at least 36 people and injures 49 others.

On 31 December 2014, a deadly crush occurred in Shanghai, near Chen Yi Square on the Bund, where around 300,000 people had gathered for the new year celebration. Thirty-six people were killed and another 49 were injured, and of those 49 injured, 13 were injured seriously.

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31/12/2011

NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the United States' civil space program and for research in aeronautics and space. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NASA operates ten field centers across the U.S. and is organized into mission directorates for Science, Space Operations, Exploration Systems Development, Space Technology, Aeronautics Research, and Mission Support. Established in 1958, NASA succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the U.S. space program a distinct civilian orientation focused on peaceful applications. Since then, it has led most American spaceflight programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the Apollo program, Skylab, the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station (ISS) and the ongoing multi-national Artemis program.

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31/12/2010

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.

A destructive and deadly three-day-long tornado outbreak impacted the central and lower Mississippi Valley from December 30, 2010, to January 1, 2011. Associated with a low pressure system and a strong cold front, 37 tornadoes tracked across five states over the length of the severe event, killing nine and injuring several others. Activity was centered in the states of Missouri and later Mississippi on December 31. Seven tornadoes were rated EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale; these were the strongest during the outbreak. Non-tornadic winds were recorded to have reached as high as 80 mph (130 km/h) at eight locations on December 31, while hail as large as 2.75 in (7.0 cm) was documented north-northeast of Mansfield, Missouri. Damage estimates from the outbreak totaled US$136.98 million. This is the most prolific tornado outbreak in Missouri in the month of December.

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31/12/2009

Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur.

A blue moon refers either to the presence of a second full moon in a calendar month, to the third full moon in a season containing four, or to a moon that appears blue due to atmospheric effects.

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31/12/2004

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).

Taipei 101, formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a 508-meter, 101-story skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. It is owned by the Taipei Financial Center Corporation. It was officially classified as the world's tallest building from its opening on 31 December 2004, until it was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa in 2009. Upon completion, it became the world's first skyscraper to exceed half a kilometer. It is the tallest building in Taiwan and the eleventh tallest in the world.

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31/12/2001

Rwanda adopts a new national flag and anthem.

The national flag of Rwanda is a horizontal tricolour of light blue, yellow, and green, in a 2:1:1 ratio, charged with a golden sun in the upper fly-side corner. It was adopted on 31 December 2001 and replaced the flag adopted shortly before independence. The design of the flag is defined in the Rwandan constitution and regulations regarding the use and manufacture of the flag are outlined in the country's national flag law.

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31/12/1999

The first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, resigns from office, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President and successor.

The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation, is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. It is the highest office in Russia.

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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.

The Panama Canal is an artificial 82-kilometer (51-mile) waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a conduit for maritime trade between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial fresh water lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, created by damming the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal. Locks then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 33.5 meters (110 ft) wide and allow the passage of Panamax ships. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded waterway began commercial operation on 26 June 2016. The new locks allow for the transit of larger, Neopanamax ships. An average of 200,000,000 litres of fresh water is used in a single passing of a ship. The canal is threatened by low water levels during droughts.

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Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking ends after seven days with the release of 190 survivors at Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan.

Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 that was hijacked on 24 December 1999 by five members of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. The passenger flight, en route from Kathmandu to Delhi, was taken over shortly after it entered Indian airspace at about 16:53 IST. The aircraft had 190 occupants: 179 passengers and 11 crew members including Captain Devi Sharan, First Officer Rajinder Kumar, and Flight Engineer Anil Kumar Jaggia.

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31/12/1998

The European Exchange Rate Mechanism freezes the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone, and establishes the value of the euro currency.

The European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) is a system introduced by the European Economic Community on 1 January 1999 alongside the introduction of a single currency, the euro as part of the European Monetary System (EMS), to reduce exchange rate variability and achieve monetary stability in Europe.

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31/12/1995

The final comic of Calvin and Hobbes is published.

Calvin and Hobbes is a daily American comic strip created by cartoonist Bill Watterson that was syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995.

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31/12/1994

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.

Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia sub-region of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. The state comprises 32 atolls and other islands and one remote raised coral island, Banaba. Its total land area is 811 km2 (313 sq mi) dispersed over 3,441,810 km2 (1,328,890 sq mi) of ocean. The spread of the country's islands, from Banaba in the west to Kiritimati in the east straddles the equator and the 180th meridian. The International Date Line goes around Kiribati and swings far to the east, almost reaching 150°W. This brings Kiribati's easternmost islands, the southern Line Islands south of Hawaii, into the same day as the Gilbert Islands and places them in the most advanced time zone on Earth: UTC+14.

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The First Chechen War: The Russian Ground Forces begin a New Year's storming of Grozny.

The First Chechen War, also referred to as the First Russo-Chechen War, was a conflict between the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the Russian Federation from 1994 to 1996. The conflict ended in a peace treaty that saw Russian forces withdraw from the territory only for them to invade again three years later sparking the Second Chechen War of 1999–2009.

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31/12/1992

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.

Czechoslovakia was a country in Central Europe created in 1918, as Czecho-Slovakia, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland became part of Nazi Germany. Between 1939 and 1945, the state ceased to exist, as Slovakia proclaimed its independence and Carpathian Ruthenia became part of Hungary, while the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed in the remainder of the Czech Lands. In 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, former Czechoslovak president Edvard Beneš formed a government-in-exile and sought recognition from the Allies.

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31/12/1991

All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date, five days after the Soviet Union is officially dissolved.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), also known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. It was the world's third-most populous country, largest by area, and bordered twelve countries. A diverse multinational state, it was organized as a federal union of national republics, the largest and most populous being the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. In practice, its government and economy were highly centralized. As a one-party state governed by the Communist Party, it was the flagship communist state. Its capital and largest city was Moscow.

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31/12/1986

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.

On New Year's Eve, December 31, 1986, three disgruntled employees of the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, intentionally set a fire. The employees were involved in a labor dispute with the owners. The fire killed between 96 and 98 people and injured 140 others. It is the most catastrophic hotel fire in Puerto Rican history and the second deadliest hotel fire in U.S. territory in history, after the Winecoff Hotel fire in Atlanta in 1946. This fire and other incidents of its kind gave rise to amendments to security policies to be implemented at hotels around the world.

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31/12/1983

The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.

AT&T Corporation, an abbreviation of its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies.

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Benjamin Ward is appointed New York City Police Department's first ever African American police commissioner.

Benjamin Ward was the first African American New York City Police Commissioner.

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In Nigeria, a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Second Nigerian Republic.

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of 923,769 square kilometres (356,669 mi2). With a population of more than 236 million, it is the most populous country in Africa, and the world's sixth-most populous country. Nigeria borders Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Nigeria is a federal republic comprising 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where its capital, Abuja, is located. The largest city in Nigeria by population is Lagos, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world and the largest in Africa.

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31/12/1981

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.

The 1981 Ghanaian coup d'état was a successful government takeover in Ghana led by Air Force Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, overthrowing the administration of President Hilla Limann and establishing the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), with Jerry Rawlings assuming leadership of the country. The second of two coups to be orchestrated by Jerry Rawlings, the 1981 coup d'état was motivated by Rawling's dissatisfaction with the management of the country under the Limann administration, as Ghana's economic situation, plagued by spiraling foreign debt and hyperinflation, continued to deteriorate without any real promised political change. Thus, on December 31, 1981, Jerry Rawlings intervened once again in a leftist-backed coup, replacing the government with the PNDC and seeking to transform the country into a Marxist state.

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31/12/1968

The first flight of the Tupolev Tu-144, the first civilian supersonic transport in the world.

The Tupolev Tu-144 is a Soviet supersonic passenger airliner designed by Tupolev that operated commercially from 1975 to 1983, including 1977–1978 passenger service.

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MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750 crashes near Port Hedland, Western Australia, killing all 26 people on board.

On 31 December 1968 a Vickers Viscount aircraft departed from Perth, Western Australia for a flight of 724 nautical miles (1341 km) to Port Hedland. The aircraft crashed 28 nautical miles (52 km) short of its destination with the loss of all twenty-six people on board. More than half of the right wing, from outboard of the inner engine to the wingtip, including the outer engine and its propeller, broke away from the rest of the aircraft in flight and struck the ground a significant distance from the main wreckage. Investigation by the Australian Department of Civil Aviation and British Aircraft Corporation concluded that a mysterious action during maintenance led to extensive fatigue cracking in the right wing spar. This accident remains the third worst in Australia's civil aviation history.

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31/12/1965

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.

Jean-Bédel Bokassa was a Central African politician and military officer who served as the second president of the Central African Republic (CAR), after seizing power in the Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état on 1 January 1966. He later established the Central African Empire (CAE) with himself as emperor, reigning as Bokassa I until his overthrow in a 1979 coup.

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31/12/1963

The Central African Federation officially collapses, subsequently becoming Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.

The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation (CAF), was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia and the British protectorates of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. It existed between 1953 and 1963. Rhodesia and Nyasaland bordered Angola, Bechuanaland, Congo-Léopoldville, Mozambique, South Africa, South West Africa and Tanganyika.

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31/12/1961

RTÉ, Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service.

Raidió Teilifís Éireann is an Irish public service broadcaster. It produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, with regular television broadcasts beginning on 31 December 1961, making it one of the oldest continuously operating public service broadcasters in the world. It is headquartered in Donnybrook in Dublin, with offices across Ireland.

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31/12/1956

The Romanian Television network begins its first broadcast in Bucharest.

Televiziunea Română, more commonly referred to as TVR, is the short name for Societatea Română de Televiziune, the Romanian public television. It operates nine channels: TVR 1, TVR 2, TVR 3, TVR Cultural, TVR Folclor, TVR Info, TVRi, TVR Moldova and TVR Sport along with six regional studios in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Timișoara, Craiova, and Târgu Mureș.

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31/12/1955

General Motors becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year.

General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing four automobile brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac, each a separate division of GM. By total sales, it has continuously been the largest automaker in the United States, and was the largest in the world for 77 years before losing the title to Toyota in 2008.

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31/12/1951

Cold War: The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Western Europe.

The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.

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31/12/1946

President Harry S. Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequently, Truman implemented the Marshall Plan in the aftermath of World War II to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, and established both the Truman Doctrine and NATO to contain the expansion of Soviet communism. A member of the Democratic Party, he proposed numerous New Deal coalition liberal domestic reforms, but few were enacted by the conservative coalition that dominated the United States Congress.

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31/12/1944

World War II: Operation Nordwind, the last major Wehrmacht offensive on the Western Front, begins.

Operation Northwind was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front. Northwind was launched to support the German Ardennes offensive campaign in the Battle of the Bulge, which by late December 1944 had decisively turned against the German forces. It began on 31 December 1944 in Rhineland-Palatinate, Alsace and Lorraine in southwestern Germany and northeastern France, and ended on 25 January 1945. The German offensive was an operational failure, with its main objectives not achieved.

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31/12/1942

USS Essex, first aircraft carrier of a 24-ship class, is commissioned.

USS Essex (CV/CVA/CVS-9) was an aircraft carrier and the lead ship of the 24-ship Essex class built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in December 1942, Essex participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning the Presidential Unit Citation and 13 battle stars. Decommissioned shortly after the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), eventually becoming an antisubmarine aircraft carrier (CVS). In her second career, she served mainly in the Atlantic, playing a role in the Cuban Missile Crisis. She also participated in the Korean War, earning four battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation. She was the primary recovery carrier for the Apollo 7 space mission.

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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.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

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31/12/1907

The first ever ball drop in Times Square.

The Times Square Ball is a time ball located in New York City's Times Square. Located on the roof of One Times Square, the ball is a prominent part of a New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square commonly referred to as the ball drop, where the ball descends down a specially designed flagpole, beginning at 11:59:00 p.m. ET, and resting at 12:00:00 a.m. to signal the start of the new year.

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31/12/1906

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar signs the Persian Constitution of 1906.

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar was the fifth Qajar shah of Iran, reigning from 1896 until his death in 1907. He is often credited with the creation of the Persian Constitution of 1906, which he approved of in one of his final acts as shah.

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31/12/1879

Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and early versions of the electric light bulb, have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory.

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31/12/1878

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.

Carl Friedrich Benz was a German engine designer and automotive engineer. His Benz Patent-Motorwagen from 1885 is considered the first practical, modern automobile and the first car to be put into series production. He received a patent for the motorcar in 1886, the same year he first publicly drove the Benz Patent-Motorwagen.

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31/12/1862

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.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war lasted a little over four years, ending with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

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American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an enabling act that would admit West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War, defeating the Confederate States and playing a major role in the abolition of slavery.

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31/12/1857

Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, then a small logging town, as the capital of the Province of Canada.

Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than those of any of her predecessors, constituted the Victorian era, a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.

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31/12/1853

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.

Iguanodon, named in 1825, is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur. While many species found worldwide have been classified in the genus Iguanodon, dating from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, taxonomic revision in the early 21st century has defined Iguanodon to be based on at least one well-substantiated species: Iguanodon bernissartensis, which lived during the Barremian to early Aptian ages of the Early Cretaceous in Belgium, Germany, England, and Spain, between about 126 and 122 million years ago. Iguanodon was a large, bulky herbivore, measuring up to 9–11 metres (30–36 ft) in length and 4.5 metric tons in body mass. Distinctive features include large thumb spikes, which were possibly used for defense against predators, combined with long prehensile fifth fingers able to forage for food.

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31/12/1844

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.

The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands, with a total area of about 300,000 square kilometers, which are broadly categorized in three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. With a population of over 112 million, it is the world's fourteenth-most-populous country.

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31/12/1831

Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City.

Gramercy Park is the name of both a small, fenced-in private park, and the surrounding neighborhood, in Manhattan in New York City.

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31/12/1796

The incorporation of Baltimore as a city.

Baltimore, also known as Baltimore City, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the 30th-most populous U.S. city with a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 569,997 in 2025, while the Baltimore metropolitan area at 2.86 million residents is the 22nd-largest metropolitan area in the nation. The city is also part of the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area, which had a population of 9.97 million in 2020. Baltimore was designated as an independent city by the Constitution of Maryland in 1851. Though not located under the jurisdiction of any county in the state, it forms part of the Central Maryland region together with the surrounding county that shares its name.

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31/12/1790

Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today, is published for the first time.

Efimeris was a Greek-language newspaper published in Vienna from 1790 to 1797. It is the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today.

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31/12/1775

American Revolutionary War: Battle of Quebec: British forces under General Guy Carleton repulse an attack by Continental Army General Richard Montgomery in a snowstorm.

The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which American Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington defeated the British Army. The conflict was fought in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. The war's outcome seemed uncertain for most of the war, but Washington and the Continental Army's decisive victory in the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 led King George III and the Kingdom of Great Britain to negotiate an end to the war. In 1783, in the Treaty of Paris, the British monarchy acknowledged the independence of the Thirteen Colonies, leading to the establishment of the United States as an independent and sovereign nation.

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31/12/1759

Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000-year lease at £45 per annum and starts brewing Guinness.

Arthur Guinness was an Irish brewer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. The inventor of Guinness stout, he founded the Guinness Brewery at St. James's Gate in 1759.

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31/12/1757

Empress Elizabeth I of Russia issues her ukase incorporating Königsberg into Russia.

Elizabeth or Elizaveta Petrovna was Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian monarchs because of her decision not to execute a single person during her reign, her numerous construction projects, and her strong opposition to Prussian policies. She was the last person on the agnatic line of the Romanovs as her nephew ascended, thus creating the house of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov.

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31/12/1687

The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.

The Huguenots are a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Besançon Hugues, was in common use by the mid-16th century. Huguenot was frequently used in reference to those of the Reformed Church of France from the time of the Protestant Reformation. By contrast, the Protestant populations of eastern France, in Alsace, Moselle, and Montbéliard, were mainly Lutherans.

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31/12/1670

The expedition of John Narborough leaves Corral Bay, having surveyed the coast and lost four hostages to the Spanish.

By the late 1660s, the English rulers had considered invading Spanish-ruled Chile for several years. In 1655, Simón de Casseres proposed to Oliver Cromwell a plan to take over Chile with only four ships and a thousand men.

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31/12/1660

James, Duke of York is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.

James II and VII was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from February 1685 until he was deposed in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. The last Catholic monarch of England, Scotland, and Ireland, his reign was marked by conflicts over religion, absolutism and the divine right of kings; his deposition ended a century of political and civil strife by confirming the primacy of the English Parliament over the Crown.

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31/12/1600

The British East India Company is chartered.

The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies, and later with East Asia. The company gained control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent and Hong Kong. At its peak, the company was the largest corporation in the world by various measures and had its own armed forces in the form of the company's three presidency armies, totalling about 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the British Army at certain times.

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31/12/1501

The First Battle of Cannanore commences, seeing the first use of the naval line of battle.[citation needed]

The First Battle of Cannanore was a naval engagement between the Third Portuguese Armada under João da Nova and the naval forces of Calicut, which had been assembled by the Zamorin against the Portuguese in order to prevent their return to Portugal.

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31/12/1229

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.

James I the Conqueror was King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and King of Valencia from 1238 to 1276. His long reign of 62 years is not only the longest of any Iberian monarch, but one of the longest monarchical reigns in history, ahead of Hirohito of Japan but remaining behind Elizabeth II of Britain, Queen Victoria of Britain, Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, and King Louis XIV of France.

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31/12/1225

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]

The Lý dynasty, officially Đại Cồ Việt from 1009 to 1054 and Đại Việt from 1054 to 1225, was a Vietnamese dynasty that existed from 1009 to 1225. It was established by Lý Công Uẩn when he overthrew the Anterior Lê dynasty. The dynasty ended when empress regnant Lý Chiêu Hoàng was pressured to abdicate the throne in favor of her husband, Trần Cảnh in 1225, the dynasty lasted for 216 years. During Lý Thánh Tông's reign, the official name of the state was changed from Đại Cồ Việt to Đại Việt, a name that would remain Vietnam's official name until the onset of the 19th century.

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31/12/1105

Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV is forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Henry V, in Ingelheim.

The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period, was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. The title was held in conjunction with the title of King of Italy from the 8th to the 16th century, and, almost without interruption, with the title of King of Germany throughout the 12th to 18th centuries.

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31/12/0870

Battle of Englefield: The Vikings clash with ealdorman Æthelwulf of Berkshire. The invaders are driven back to Reading (East Anglia); many Danes are killed.

The Battle of Englefield was a West Saxon victory against a Danish Viking army on about 31 December 870 at Englefield, near Reading in Berkshire. It was the first of a series of battles that took place following an invasion of Wessex by the Danish army in December 870.

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31/12/0535

Byzantine general Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Gothic garrison of Palermo (Panormos), and ending his consulship for the year.

The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, it endured until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The term 'Byzantine Empire' was coined only after its demise; its citizens used the term 'Roman Empire' and called themselves 'Romans'.

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31/12/0406

Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gaul.

The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first mentioned in the written records as the inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the 5th century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vandal kingdoms, first within the Iberian Peninsula, and then in the western Mediterranean islands and North Africa.

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