According to Gregory calendar, December 31 is the day number 365 in a year and if it is a leap year then the day number is 366. December 31 has its own special significance in India and world history.
Here you will find some important events that happened in Indian History on December 31. Read on to know more about this day.
List of Important Historical events of 31st December:
- 406: 80,000 Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine at Mainz, beginning invasion of Gallia
- 1492: 100,000 Jews evacuated from Sicily region of Italy.
- 1514: Wozelius, a renowned Belgian surgeon, was born in Brussels.
- 1600: British East India Company was established.
- 1711: John Churchill as the first king of Marlborough orders the English army to move out.
- 1744: English astronomer James Bradley announces the discovery of the dramatic movement of the Earth.
- 1756: Russia joined Versailles’ alliance.
- 1758: British Expeditionary Army captured Gore (Dakar) Senegal.
- 1775: Battle of Quebec in the American Revolutionary War: Americans tried to take over the British stronghold.
- 1781: America’s first bank ‘Bank of North America’ opens.
- 1781: ‘Bank of North America’ was the first bank to be opened in America.
- 1802: Maratha Peshwa Bajirao II came under the protection of the British.
- 1827: Matchmaker was invented by the British inventor John Walker.
- 1831: Grammaris Park departed (relocated) to New York City.
- 1857: Queen Victoria made Ottawa the capital of Canada.
- 1861: 22,990mm of rain falls in Cherrapunji Assam in India in 1861, a world record
- 1911: Marie Curie received her second Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
- 1916: Douglas Haig was promoted to Field Marshal of the British Army.
- 1925: Hindi writer Shrilal Shukla, known for his satire, was born.
- 1949: 18 countries of the world recognized Indonesia.
- 1958: Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista tells his Cabinet he is fleeing the country
- 1962: Netherlands leaves New Guinea, an island in the Southwest Pacific Ocean.
- 1964: Donald Campbell set the world record for the fastest speed in the water by sitting in his jet boat.
- 1983: United Kingdom granted independence to Brunei.
- 1984: Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister for the second time.
- 1986: A fire at the DuPont Plaza Hotel in Puerto Rico, San Juan killed 97 people and injured 140.
- 1999: The then President of Russia Boris Yeltsin resigned and Viladmir Putin became his successor.
- 1999: Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is appointed as Executive Chairman.
- 2004: A fire at a nightclub in Buenos Aires (Argentina) killed 175 people.
- 2014: At least 36 people were killed and 49 others injured in a stampede on New Year’s Eve in Shanghai, China.
- 2017: Indian movie star Rajinikanth announces he is entering politics