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On this day in History Archives
 
At PaulsQuiz.com we aim to provide you with as much information as we possibly can. That's why we have built our On This Day in History section, to do just that. Our database is forever growing, we're adding more and more events from history to help you write your quiz questions.

Simply enter a date using the drop-down boxes below and click the 'Go' button to display events from the past that ocurred on that day.
 

 
31 December, 2006
The United Kingdom pays final installment of Second World War debt to the United States.
31 December, 2005
The Greek BBC radio service ends.
31 December, 2004
The official opening of Taipei 101, the current tallest skyscraper in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 feet).
31 December, 1999
Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President.
31 December, 1999
Five hijackers, who had been holding 155 hostages on an Indian Airlines plane, leave the plane with two Islamic clerics that they had demanded be freed.
31 December, 1999
The United States Government hands Panama Canal control over to Panama as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties.
31 December, 1998
Exchange rates between the euro and legacy currencies in the Eurozone become fixed.
31 December, 1997
Quaker Oats settles a lawsuit involving the immoral use of child subjects in radioactivity experiments from around 1945-1956.
31 December, 1994
This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC-11 to UTC+13 and UTC-10 to UTC+14, respectively.
31 December, 1991
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is officially dissolved.
31 December, 1986
A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.
31 December, 1983
The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
31 December, 1981
Coup détat in Ghana removes President Hilla Limanns PNP government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.
31 December, 1967
The Green Bay Packers defeat the Dallas Cowboys to win the NFL Championship in the contest that is now known today as the Ice Bowl.
31 December, 1963
The Central African Federation officially collapses and splits into Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
31 December, 1961
The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than $12 billion USD in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.
31 December, 1961
The Beach Boys perform at their first paying job.
31 December, 1960
The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.
31 December, 1955
The General Motors Corporation becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over $1 billion USD in a year.
31 December, 1946
President Harry Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
31 December, 1944
World War II: Hungary declares war on Germany.
31 December, 1929
Guy Lombardo performs Auld Lang Syne at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City for the first time.
31 December, 1923
The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC.
31 December, 1909
Manhattan Bridge opens.
31 December, 1904
The first New Years Eve celebration is held in Times Square, then known as Longacre Square, in New York, New York.
31 December, 1891
A new immigration depot was opened on Ellis Island, New York.
31 December, 1879
Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time.
31 December, 1862
American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.
31 December, 1862
American Civil War: The Battle of Stones River is fought near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
31 December, 1857
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom chooses Ottawa, Ontario, as the capital of Canada.
31 December, 1831
Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City.
31 December, 1775
American Revolutionary War: Battle of Quebec British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold.
31 December, 1695
A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax.
31 December, 1687
The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.
31 December, 1660
James II of England is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.
31 December, 1599
British East India Company is chartered.
31 December, 1229
James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma de Mallorca, Spain) thus consummating the Christian conquest of the island of Mallorca.
31 December, 535
Byzantine General Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Ostrogothic garrison of Syracuse, and ending his consulship for the year.
31 December, 406
Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia.

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