December 31
Today is the last day of 2021. There are no more days remaining in the year.
1775 - During the Revolutionary War, the British repulsed an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec; Montgomery was killed.
1857 - Britain's Queen Victoria declared Ottawa the capital of Canada.
1862 - President Abraham Lincoln signed an enabling act paving the way for Virginia’s western counties to become the state of West Virginia, which took place in June 1863.
1879 - Thomas Edison gave the first public demonstration of an electric incandescent lamp by illuminating some 40 bulbs at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
1904 - New York’s Times Square saw its first New Year’s Eve celebration, with an estimated 200,000 people in attendance.
1938 - The first breath test for drivers, the "drunkometer", was introduced in Indianapolis.
1946 - President Harry S. Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.
1961 - The Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $12 billion in foreign aid.
1963 - The Central African Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was formally dissolved.
1964 - The al-Fatah guerrillas of Yasser Arafat launched their first terrorist raid on Israel.
1974 - Private U.S. citizens were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years.
1978 - Taiwanese diplomats struck their colors for the final time from the embassy flagpole in Washington, D.C., marking the end of diplomatic relations with the United States.
1985 - Rock singer Rick Nelson, 45, and six other people were killed when fire broke out aboard a DC-3 that was taking the group to a New Year's Eve performance in Dallas.
1986 - Ninety-seven people were killed when fire broke out in the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Three hotel workers later pleaded guilty in connection with the blaze.)
1987 - Robert Mugabe was sworn in as president of Zimbabwe.
1993 - Entertainer Barbra Streisand performed her first paid concert in 22 years, singing to a sellout crowd at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
1997 - Michael Kennedy, 39-year-old son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was killed in a skiing accident on Aspen Mountain in Colorado.
1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin announced his resignation (he was succeeded by Vladimir Putin).
2006 - The death toll for Americans killed in the Iraq war reached 3,000.
2011 - President Barack Obama signed a wide-ranging defense bill into law despite having “serious reservations” about provisions that regulated the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists.
2016 - Mariah Carey ushered in 2017 with a botched performance on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” on ABC; Carey blamed the show’s producers for technical difficulties, while Dick Clark Productions called Carey’s claims “absurd.”
2019 - The health commission in the central Chinese city of Wuhan announced that experts were investigating an outbreak of respiratory illness and that most of the victims had visited a seafood market in the city; the statement said 27 people had become ill with a strain of viral pneumonia and that seven were in serious condition.
2020 - Britain completed its economic break from the European Union.
Birthdays
23 - Hunter Schafer (actress)
26 - Nadia Parkes (actress)
26 - Gabby Douglas (gymnast)
31 - Sam Faiers (model)
32 - Alix Klineman (volleyball player)
36 - Erich Bergen (actor/singer)
42 - Rickey Whittle (actor)
44 - PSY (rapper)
44 - Donald Trump Jr. (son of President Donald Trump)
49 - Joe McIntyre (singer)
52 - Lance Reddick (actor)
58 - Scott Ian (musician)
59 - Don Diamont (actor)
62 - Paul Westerberg (singer)
62 - Val Kilmer (actor)
63 - Bebe Neuwirth (actress)
68 - James Remar (actor)
74 - Burton Cummings (singer)
74 - Tim Matheson (actor)
78 - Ben Kingsley (actor)
80 - Barbara Carrera (actress)
80 - Sarah Miles (actress)
81 - Tim Considine (actor)
84 - Anthony Hopkins (actor)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - December 31
1961 - The Green Bay Packers defeated the New York Giants 37-0 in the NFL Championship Game.
1962 - The American Basketball League announced a suspension of operations.
1967 - The Oakland Raiders defeated the Houston Oilers 40-7 in the AFL Championship Game.
1967 - The Green Bay Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in the NFL Championship Game in what was dubbed the "Ice Bowl" as the game was played with a wind chill that dipped to -40 degrees.
1971 - The New York Islanders became the newest member of the NHL.
1972 - Major League baseball player Roberto Clemente, 38, was killed when a plane he chartered and was traveling on to bring relief supplies to earthquake-devastated Nicaragua crashed shortly after takeoff from Puerto Rico.
1974 - #8 Nebraska defeats #18 Florida 13-10 in the Sugar Bowl; NU finishes season 9-3 and ranked #7/#9 in the final polls.
1976 - #13 Nebraska defeats #9 Texas Tech 27-24 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl; NU finishes season at 9-3-1 and ranked #7/#9 in the final polls.
1988 - Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins accounts for all his team's goals in Penguins 8-6 win over the NJ Devils; famously scores 5 goals, each in a different way: even strength, power play, shorthanded, penalty shot and empty net; also 3 assists.
1996 - #6 Nebraska defeats #10 Virginia Tech 41-21 in the Orange Bowl; NU finishes season at 11-2 and ranked #6 in the final polls.
1997 - Marv Levy announces his retirement as coach of the Buffalo Bills after 12 seasons, including four consecutive appearances in the Super Bowl.
2017 - The Cleveland Browns fall to the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-24 to become just the second team in NFL history to complete a winless 0-16 season.
2018 - James Harden of the Houston Rockets joins Oscar Robertson as the only players with eight straight games of 35+ points and 5+ assists; Harden also completed his fourth straight game scoring at least 40 points.
Today is the last day of 2021. There are no more days remaining in the year.
1775 - During the Revolutionary War, the British repulsed an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec; Montgomery was killed.
1857 - Britain's Queen Victoria declared Ottawa the capital of Canada.
1862 - President Abraham Lincoln signed an enabling act paving the way for Virginia’s western counties to become the state of West Virginia, which took place in June 1863.
1879 - Thomas Edison gave the first public demonstration of an electric incandescent lamp by illuminating some 40 bulbs at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
1904 - New York’s Times Square saw its first New Year’s Eve celebration, with an estimated 200,000 people in attendance.
1938 - The first breath test for drivers, the "drunkometer", was introduced in Indianapolis.
1946 - President Harry S. Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.
1961 - The Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $12 billion in foreign aid.
1963 - The Central African Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was formally dissolved.
1964 - The al-Fatah guerrillas of Yasser Arafat launched their first terrorist raid on Israel.
1974 - Private U.S. citizens were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years.
1978 - Taiwanese diplomats struck their colors for the final time from the embassy flagpole in Washington, D.C., marking the end of diplomatic relations with the United States.
1985 - Rock singer Rick Nelson, 45, and six other people were killed when fire broke out aboard a DC-3 that was taking the group to a New Year's Eve performance in Dallas.
1986 - Ninety-seven people were killed when fire broke out in the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Three hotel workers later pleaded guilty in connection with the blaze.)
1987 - Robert Mugabe was sworn in as president of Zimbabwe.
1993 - Entertainer Barbra Streisand performed her first paid concert in 22 years, singing to a sellout crowd at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
1997 - Michael Kennedy, 39-year-old son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was killed in a skiing accident on Aspen Mountain in Colorado.
1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin announced his resignation (he was succeeded by Vladimir Putin).
2006 - The death toll for Americans killed in the Iraq war reached 3,000.
2011 - President Barack Obama signed a wide-ranging defense bill into law despite having “serious reservations” about provisions that regulated the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists.
2016 - Mariah Carey ushered in 2017 with a botched performance on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” on ABC; Carey blamed the show’s producers for technical difficulties, while Dick Clark Productions called Carey’s claims “absurd.”
2019 - The health commission in the central Chinese city of Wuhan announced that experts were investigating an outbreak of respiratory illness and that most of the victims had visited a seafood market in the city; the statement said 27 people had become ill with a strain of viral pneumonia and that seven were in serious condition.
2020 - Britain completed its economic break from the European Union.
Birthdays
23 - Hunter Schafer (actress)
26 - Nadia Parkes (actress)
26 - Gabby Douglas (gymnast)
31 - Sam Faiers (model)
32 - Alix Klineman (volleyball player)
36 - Erich Bergen (actor/singer)
42 - Rickey Whittle (actor)
44 - PSY (rapper)
44 - Donald Trump Jr. (son of President Donald Trump)
49 - Joe McIntyre (singer)
52 - Lance Reddick (actor)
58 - Scott Ian (musician)
59 - Don Diamont (actor)
62 - Paul Westerberg (singer)
62 - Val Kilmer (actor)
63 - Bebe Neuwirth (actress)
68 - James Remar (actor)
74 - Burton Cummings (singer)
74 - Tim Matheson (actor)
78 - Ben Kingsley (actor)
80 - Barbara Carrera (actress)
80 - Sarah Miles (actress)
81 - Tim Considine (actor)
84 - Anthony Hopkins (actor)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - December 31
1961 - The Green Bay Packers defeated the New York Giants 37-0 in the NFL Championship Game.
1962 - The American Basketball League announced a suspension of operations.
1967 - The Oakland Raiders defeated the Houston Oilers 40-7 in the AFL Championship Game.
1967 - The Green Bay Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in the NFL Championship Game in what was dubbed the "Ice Bowl" as the game was played with a wind chill that dipped to -40 degrees.
1971 - The New York Islanders became the newest member of the NHL.
1972 - Major League baseball player Roberto Clemente, 38, was killed when a plane he chartered and was traveling on to bring relief supplies to earthquake-devastated Nicaragua crashed shortly after takeoff from Puerto Rico.
1974 - #8 Nebraska defeats #18 Florida 13-10 in the Sugar Bowl; NU finishes season 9-3 and ranked #7/#9 in the final polls.
1976 - #13 Nebraska defeats #9 Texas Tech 27-24 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl; NU finishes season at 9-3-1 and ranked #7/#9 in the final polls.
1988 - Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins accounts for all his team's goals in Penguins 8-6 win over the NJ Devils; famously scores 5 goals, each in a different way: even strength, power play, shorthanded, penalty shot and empty net; also 3 assists.
1996 - #6 Nebraska defeats #10 Virginia Tech 41-21 in the Orange Bowl; NU finishes season at 11-2 and ranked #6 in the final polls.
1997 - Marv Levy announces his retirement as coach of the Buffalo Bills after 12 seasons, including four consecutive appearances in the Super Bowl.
2017 - The Cleveland Browns fall to the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-24 to become just the second team in NFL history to complete a winless 0-16 season.
2018 - James Harden of the Houston Rockets joins Oscar Robertson as the only players with eight straight games of 35+ points and 5+ assists; Harden also completed his fourth straight game scoring at least 40 points.
