What are the important events that happened on December 31? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

December 31: Facts & Myths About This Day

December 31 is the 365^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. The day of the week is Wednesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is December 18, 2025 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,452,320 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘trihectahexacontapentagon’ day.

Capricorn is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Turquoise is the modern birthstone for this month. Onyx is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 48 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,758 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

December 31: This Day In History

It is widely known as New Year’s Eve since the following day is New Year’s Day. It is the last day of the year.

December 31 Historical Events

• 406 –
  Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gaul.
• 1229 –
  James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain) thus consummating the Christian reconquest of the island of Majorca.
• 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, United Kingdom
• 1879 –
  Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
• 1907 –
  The first New Year’s Eve celebration is held in Times Square (then known as Longacre Square) in New York, New York.
• 1944 –
  World War II: Hungary declares war on Nazi Germany.
• 1946 –
  President Harry S. Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
• 1965 –
  Jean-Bédel Bokassa, leader of the Central African Republic army, and his military officers begins a coup d'état against the government of President David Dacko.
• 1983 –
  The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
• 1999 –
  The United States 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.

Who were born on December 31?

• 1514 –
  Andreas Vesalius, Flemish anatomist (d. 1564)
• 1908 –
  Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian Holocaust survivor (d. 2005)
• 1920 –
  Rex Allen, American actor, singer, and songwriter (d. 1999)
• 1926 –
  Billy Snedden, Australian politician (d. 1987)
• 1930 –
  Jaime Escalante, American teacher (d. 2010)
• 1942 –
  Andy Summers, British guitarist (The Police)
• 1949 –
  Seub Nakhasathien, Thai conservationist (d. 1990)
• 1949 –
  Susan Shwartz, American writer
• 1959 –
  Paul Westerberg, American musician (The Replacements)
• 1983 –
  Mariana Renata, French-Indonesian Actress

Who died on December 31?

• 1510 –
  Bianca Maria Sforza, wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1472)
• 1568 –
  Shimazu Tadayoshi, Japanese warlord (b. 1493)
• 1877 –
  Gustave Courbet, French painter (b. 1819)
• 1889 –
  Ion Creangă, Romanian writer (b.1837/39)
• 1891 –
  Samuel Ajayi Crowther, Nigerian bishop. (b. 1809)
• 1964 –
  Bobby Byrne, baseball player (b. 1884)
• 1985 –
  Ricky Nelson, American singer (b. 1940)
• 1993 –
  Brandon Teena, American murder victim (b. 1972)
• 2002 –
  Kevin Scott MacMichael, American guitarist (Cutting Crew) (b. 1951)
• 2007 –
  Markku Peltola, Finnish actor and musician (b. 1956)