It is known by a collection of names including: Saint Sylvester's Day, New Year's Eve or Old Year's Day/Night, as the following day is New Year's Day. It is the last day of the year; the following day is January 1, the first day of the following year.

Events

Pre-1600

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

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

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

• 1105 Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV is forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Henry V, in Ingelheim.

• 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.

• 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.

• 1501 The First Battle of Cannanore commences, seeing the first use of the naval line of battle.

• 1600 The British East India Company is chartered.

1601–1900

• 1660 James, Duke of York is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.

• 1670 The expedition of John Narborough leaves Corral Bay, having surveyed the coast and lost four hostages to the Spanish.

• 1687 The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.

• 1757 Empress Elizabeth I of Russia issues her ukase incorporating Königsberg into Russia.

• 1759 Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000-year lease at £45 per annum and starts brewing Guinness.

• 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.

• 1790 Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today, is published for the first time.

• 1796 The incorporation of Baltimore as a city.

• 1831 Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City.

• 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 27September 1821. In the islands, Monday, 30December 1844 was immediately followed by Wednesday, 1January 1845.

• 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.

• 1857 Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, then a small logging town, as the capital of the Province of Canada.

• 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.

• 1862 American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an enabling act that would admit West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.

• 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.

• 1879 Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

1901–present

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

• 1907 The first ever ball drop in Times Square.

• 1942 USS Essex, first aircraft carrier of a 24-ship class, is commissioned.

• 1942 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.

• 1944 World War II: Operation Nordwind, the last major Wehrmacht offensive on the Western Front, begins.

• 1946 President Harry S. Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.

• 1951 Cold War: The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Western Europe.

• 1955 General Motors becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year.

• 1956 The Romanian Television network begins its first broadcast in Bucharest.

• 1961 RTÉ, Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service.

• 1963 The Central African Federation officially collapses, subsequently becoming Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.

• 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.

• 1968 The first flight of the Tupolev Tu-144, the first civilian supersonic transport in the world.

• 1968 MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750 crashes near Port Hedland, Western Australia, killing all 26 people on board.

• 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.

• 1983 The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.

• 1983 Benjamin Ward is appointed New York City Police Department's first ever African American police commissioner.

• 1983 In Nigeria, a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Second Nigerian Republic.

• 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.

• 1991 All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date, five days after the Soviet Union is officially dissolved.

• 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.

• 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.

• 1994 The First Chechen War: The Russian Ground Forces begin a New Year's storming of Grozny.

• 1995 The final comic of Calvin and Hobbes is published.

• 1998 The European Exchange Rate Mechanism freezes the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone, and establishes the value of the euro currency.

• 1999 The first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, resigns from office, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President and successor.

• 1999 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.

• 1999 Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking ends after seven days with the release of 190 survivors at Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan.

• 2001 Rwanda adopts a new national flag and anthem.

• 2004 The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of .

• 2009 Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur.

• 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.

• 2011 NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon.

• 2014 A New Year's Eve celebration stampede in Shanghai kills at least 36 people and injures 49 others.

• 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.

• 2018 Thirty-nine people are killed after a ten-story building collapses in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk, Russia.

• 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.

• 2020 The World Health Organization issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Births

Pre-1600

• 695 Muhammad ibn al-Qasim, Umayyad general (died 715)

• 1378 Pope Callixtus III (died 1458)

• 1491 Jacques Cartier, French navigator and explorer (died 1557)

• 1493 Eleonora Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino (died 1570)

• 1504 Beatrice of Portugal, Duchess of Savoy (died 1538)

• 1514 Andreas Vesalius, Belgian anatomist, physician, and author (died 1564)

• 1539 John Radcliffe, English politician (died 1568)

• 1550 Henry I, Duke of Guise (died 1588)

• 1552 Simon Forman, English occultist and astrologer (died 1611)

• 1572 Emperor Go-Yōzei of Japan, (died 1617)

• 1585 Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general and politician, 24th Governor of the Duchy of Milan (died 1645)

1601–1900

• 1668 Herman Boerhaave, Dutch botanist and physician (died 1738)

• 1714 Arima Yoriyuki, Japanese mathematician and educator (died 1783)

• 1720 Charles Edward Stuart, Scottish claimant to the throne of England (died 1788)

• 1738 Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, English general and politician, 3rd Governor-General of India (died 1805)

• 1741 Gottfried August Bürger, German poet and academic (died 1794)

• 1763 Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (died 1806)

• 1774 James Bunbury White, American politician (died 1819)

• 1776 Johann Spurzheim, German-American physician and phrenologist (died 1832)

• 1798 Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Estonian physician, philologist, and academic (died 1850)

• 1805 Marie d'Agoult, German-French historian and author (died 1876)

• 1815 George Meade, American general and engineer (died 1872)

• 1830 Isma'il Pasha, Egyptian ruler (died 1895)

• 1830 Alexander Smith, Scottish poet and critic (died 1867)

• 1833 Hugh Nelson, Scottish-Australian politician, 11th Premier of Queensland (died 1906)

• 1834 Queen Kapiolani of Hawaii (died 1899)

• 1838 Émile Loubet, French lawyer and politician, 7th President of France (died 1929)

• 1842 Giovanni Boldini, Italian painter (died 1931)

• 1851 Henry Carter Adams, American economist and academic (died 1921)

• 1855 Giovanni Pascoli, Italian poet and scholar (died 1912)

• 1857 King Kelly, American baseball player and manager (died 1894)

• 1860 Joseph S. Cullinan, American businessman, co-founder of Texaco (died 1937)

• 1864 Robert Grant Aitken, American astronomer and academic (died 1951)

• 1869 Henri Matisse, French painter and sculptor (died 1954)

• 1872 Fred Marriott, American race car driver (died 1956)

• 1873 Konstantin Konik, Estonian surgeon and politician, 19th Estonian Minister of Education (died 1936)

• 1874 Julius Meier, American businessman and politician, 20th Governor of Oregon (died 1937)

• 1877 Lawrence Beesley, English journalist and author (died 1967)

• 1878 Elizabeth Arden, Canadian businesswoman (died 1966)

• 1878 Horacio Quiroga, Uruguayan-Argentinian author, poet, and playwright (died 1937)

• 1880 Fred Beebe, American baseball player and coach (died 1957)

• 1880 George Marshall, American general and politician, 50th United States Secretary of State (died 1959)

• 1881 Max Pechstein, German painter and academic (died 1955)

• 1884 Bobby Byrne, American baseball and soccer player (died 1964)

• 1884 Mihály Fekete, Hungarian actor, screenwriter, and film director (died 1960)

• 1885 Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein (died 1970)

• 1899 Silvestre Revueltas, Mexican violinist, composer, and conductor (died 1940)

1901–present

• 1901 Karl-August Fagerholm, Finnish politician, 20th Prime Minister of Finland (died 1984)

• 1901 Nikos Ploumpidis, Greek educator and politician (died 1954)

• 1902 Lionel Daunais, Canadian singer-songwriter (died 1982)

• 1902 Roy Goodall, English footballer (died 1982)

• 1903 William Heynes, English engineer (died 1989)

• 1905 Helen Dodson Prince, American astronomer and academic (died 2002)

• 1908 Simon Wiesenthal, Ukrainian-Austrian Nazi hunter and author (died 2005)

• 1909 Jonah Jones, American trumpet player and saxophonist (died 2000)

• 1910 Carl Dudley, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1973)

• 1910 Enrique Maier, Spanish tennis player (died 1981)

• 1911 Dal Stivens, Australian soldier and author (died 1997)

• 1912 John Frost, Indian-English general (died 1993)

• 1914 Mary Logan Reddick, American neuroembryologist (died 1966)

• 1915 Sam Ragan, American journalist, author, and poet (died 1996)

• 1917 Evelyn Knight, American singer (died 2007)

• 1917 Wilfrid Noyce, English mountaineer and author (died 1962)

• 1918 Ray Graves, American football player and coach (died 2015)

• 1919 Tommy Byrne, American baseball player, coach, and politician (died 2007)

• 1919 Carmen Contreras-Bozak, Puerto Rican-American soldier (died 2017)

• 1920 Rex Allen, American actor and singer-songwriter (died 1999)

• 1922 Tomás Balduino, Brazilian bishop (died 2014)

• 1922 Halina Czerny-Stefańska, Polish pianist and educator (died 2001)

• 1922 Luis Zuloaga, Venezuelan baseball player (died 2013)

• 1923 Giannis Dalianidis, Greek actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2010)

• 1924 Taylor Mead, American actor and poet (died 2013)

• 1925 Irina Korschunow, German author and screenwriter (died 2013)

• 1925 Sri Lal Sukla, Indian author (died 2011)

• 1925 Daphne Oram, British composer and electronic musician (died 2003)

• 1926 Valerie Pearl, English historian and academic (died 2016)

• 1926 Billy Snedden, Australian lawyer and politician, 17th Attorney-General for Australia (died 1987)

• 1927 Vishnudevananda Saraswati, Indian yoga guru (died 1993)

• 1928 Ross Barbour, American pop singer (died 2011)

• 1928 Hugh McElhenny, American football player (died 2022)

• 1928 Veijo Meri, Finnish author and translator (died 2015)

• 1928 Tatyana Shmyga, Russian actress and singer (died 2011)

• 1928 Siné, French cartoonist (died 2016)

• 1929 Mies Bouwman, Dutch television host (died 2018)

• 1929 Peter May, English cricketer (died 1994)

• 1930 Jaime Escalante, Bolivian-American educator (died 2010)

• 1930 Odetta, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (died 2008)

• 1931 Bob Shaw, Northern Irish journalist and author (died 1996)

• 1932 Don James, American football player and coach (died 2013)

• 1932 Felix Rexhausen, German journalist and author (died 1992)

• 1933 Edward Bunker, American author, screenwriter, and actor (died 2005)

• 1934 Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan, Indian author, poet, and scholar (died 2017)

• 1934 Maria Krushelnytska, Ukrainian pianist (died 2025)

• 1937 Avram Hershko, Hungarian-Israeli biochemist and physician

• 1937 Barry Hughes, Welsh footballer and manager (died 2019)

• 1937 Tess Jaray, Austrian-English painter and educator

• 1938 Rosalind Cash, American actress (died 1995)

• 1938 Atje Keulen-Deelstra, Dutch speed skater (died 2013)

• 1939 Willye White, American sprinter and long jumper (died 2007)

• 1940 Mani Neumeier, German drummer

• 1941 Sir Alex Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager

• 1944 Taylor Hackford, American director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1945 Connie Willis, American author

• 1946 Roy Greenslade, English journalist and academic

• 1946 Bryan Hamilton, Northern Irish footballer and coach

• 1946 Raphael Kaplinsky, South African international development academic

• 1946 Pius Ncube, Zimbabwean archbishop

• 1946 Lyudmila Pakhomova, Russian ice dancer (died 1986)

• 1946 Cliff Richey, American tennis player

• 1946 Eric Robson, Scottish journalist and author

• 1946 Nigel Rudd, English businessman, founder of Williams Holdings

• 1946 Tim Stevens, English bishop

• 1947 Rita Lee, Brazilian musician and author (died 2023)

• 1948 Sandy Jardine, Scottish footballer and manager (died 2014)

• 1948 René Robert, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2021)

• 1949 Ellen Datlow, American anthologist and author

• 1949 Flora Gomes, Bissau-Guinean filmmaker

• 1949 Susan Shwartz, American author

• 1950 Bob Gilder, American golfer

• 1950 Inge Helten, German sprinter

• 1950 Cheryl Womack, American businesswoman

• 1951 Kenny Roberts, American motorcycle racer

• 1952 Vaughan Jones, New Zealand mathematician and academic (died 2020)

• 1952 Jean-Pierre Rives, French rugby player, painter, and sculptor

• 1953 Jane Badler, American actress

• 1954 Alex Salmond, Scottish economist and politician (died 2024)

• 1954 Hermann Tilke, German racing driver, architect and engineer

• 1955 Pula Nikolao Pula, 9th governor of American Samoa

• 1956 Robert Goodwill, English farmer and politician

• 1956 Helma Knorscheidt, German shot putter

• 1956 Steve Rude, American author and illustrator

• 1958 Geoff Marsh, Australian cricketer and coach

• 1959 Liveris Andritsos, Greek basketball player

• 1959 Val Kilmer, American actor (died 2025)

• 1959 Phill Kline, American lawyer and politician

• 1959 Baron Waqa, Nauruan composer and politician, 14th President of Nauru

• 1959 Paul Westerberg, American musician, singer, and songwriter

• 1960 Steve Bruce, English footballer and manager

• 1961 Rick Aguilera, American baseball player and coach

• 1961 Jeremy Heywood, English economist and civil servant (died 2018)

• 1961 Nina Li Chi, Hong Kong actress

• 1961 Fabian Nicieza, Argentine-American comic book writer and editor

• 1962 Tyrone Corbin, American basketball player and coach

• 1962 Chris Hallam, English-Welsh swimmer and wheelchair racer (died 2013)

• 1962 Jennifer Higdon, American composer

• 1964 Winston Benjamin, Antiguan cricketer

• 1964 Michael McDonald, American comedian, actor, and director

• 1965 Tony Dorigo, Australian-English footballer and sportscaster

• 1965 Julie Doucet, Canadian cartoonist and author

• 1965 Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Indian cricketer

• 1967 Paul McGregor, Australian rugby league player and coach

• 1968 Gerry Dee, Canadian comedian, actor, and screenwriter

• 1968 Junot Diaz, Dominican-born American novelist, short story writer, and essayist

• 1970 Jorjão, Brazilian footballer

• 1970 Danny McNamara, English singer-songwriter

• 1970 Carlos Morales Quintana, Spanish-Danish architect and sailor

• 1970 Bryon Russell, American basketball player

• 1971 Brent Barry, American basketball player and sportscaster

• 1971 Esteban Loaiza, Mexican baseball player

• 1971 Heath Shuler, American football player and politician

• 1972 Grégory Coupet, French footballer

• 1972 Scott Manley, Scottish YouTube personality

• 1973 Shandon Anderson, American basketball player

• 1973 Malcolm Middleton, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1973 Curtis Myden, Canadian swimmer

• 1974 Mario Aerts, Belgian cyclist

• 1974 Tony Kanaan, Brazilian race car driver

• 1974 Ryan Sakoda, Japanese-American wrestler and trainer

• 1975 Rami Alanko, Finnish ice hockey player

• 1975 Toni Kuivasto, Finnish footballer and coach

• 1975 Rob Penders, Dutch footballer

• 1975 Sander Schutgens, Dutch runner

• 1976 Luís Carreira, Portuguese motorcycle racer (died 2012)

• 1976 Matthew Hoggard, English cricketer

• 1977 Wardy Alfaro, Costa Rican footballer and coach

• 1979 Paul O'Neill, English racing driver

• 1979 Jeff Waldstreicher, American lawyer and politician

• 1979 Ricky Whittle, British actor

• 1980 Jesse Carlson, American baseball player

• 1980 Matt Cross, American wrestler

• 1980 Richie McCaw, New Zealand rugby player

• 1980 Carsten Schlangen, German runner

• 1981 Jason Campbell, American football player

• 1981 Francisco García, Dominican basketball player

• 1981 Matthew Pavlich, Australian footballer

• 1981 Margaret Simpson, Ghanaian heptathlete

• 1982 Julio DePaula, Dominican baseball player

• 1982 Craig Gordon, Scottish footballer

• 1982 Luke Schenscher, Australian basketball player

• 1982 The Rocket Summer, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

• 1983 Jana Veselá, Czech basketball player

• 1984 Corey Crawford, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1984 Ben Hannant, Australian rugby league player

• 1984 Édgar Lugo, Mexican footballer

• 1984 Calvin Zola, Congolese footballer

• 1985 Jonathan Horton, American gymnast

• 1985 Jan Smit, Dutch singer and television host

• 1986 Nate Freiman, American baseball player

• 1986 Kade Snowden, Australian rugby league player

• 1987 Javaris Crittenton, American basketball player

• 1987 Seydou Doumbia, Ivorian footballer

• 1987 Danny Holla, Dutch footballer

• 1987 Nemanja Nikolić, Hungarian footballer

• 1988 Michal Řepík, Czech ice hockey player

• 1989 Ryo Aitaka, Japanese kickboxer and professional wrestler

• 1989 Kelvin Herrera, Dominican baseball player

• 1991 Dennis Everberg, Swedish ice hockey player

• 1991 Djené, Togolese footballer

• 1991 ND Stevenson, American cartoonist

• 1991 – Brandon Tanev, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1992 Amy Cure, Australian track cyclist

• 1992 Karl Kruuda, Estonian racing driver

• 1995 Gabby Douglas, American gymnast

• 1995 Edmond Sumner, American basketball player

• 1996 J. J. Arcega-Whiteside, Spanish-American football player

• 1997 Ludovic Blas, French footballer

• 1997 Cameron Carter-Vickers, English-American soccer player

• 1997 Bright Osayi-Samuel, Nigerian footballer

• 1999 Calvin Bassey, Italian-Nigerian footballer

• 1999 Leif Davis, English footballer

• 2000 Alycia Parks, American tennis player

• 2001 Katie Volynets, American tennis player

• 2002 Ryan Flamingo, Dutch footballer

• 2002 Sophia Laforteza, Filipino-American singer

• 2002 Joe Scally, American soccer player

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 45 BC Quintus Fabius Maximus, consul suffectus

• 192 Commodus, Roman emperor (born 161)

• 335 Pope Sylvester I

• 669 Li Shiji, Chinese general (born 594)

• 914 Ibn Hawshab, founder of the Isma'ili community in Yemen

• 1032 Ahmad Maymandi, Persian statesman, vizier of the Ghaznavid Empire

• 1164 Ottokar III of Styria (born 1124)

• 1194 Leopold V, Duke of Austria (born 1157)

• 1298 Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford, English politician, Lord High Constable of England (born 1249)

• 1299 Margaret, Countess of Anjou (born 1273)

• 1302 Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine (born 1238)

• 1384 John Wycliffe, English philosopher, theologian, and translator (born 1331)

• 1386 Johanna of Bavaria, Queen of Bohemia (born c. 1362)

• 1426 Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter (born 1377)

• 1439 Margaret Holland, English noblewoman (born 1385)

• 1460 Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, English politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (born 1400)

• 1510 Bianca Maria Sforza, Holy Roman Empress (born 1472)

• 1535 William Skeffington, English-Irish politician, Lord Deputy of Ireland (born 1465)

• 1568 Shimazu Tadayoshi, Japanese daimyō (born 1493)

• 1575 Pierino Belli, Italian commander and jurist (born 1502)

• 1583 Thomas Erastus, Swiss physician and theologian (born 1524)

1601–1900

• 1610 Ludolph van Ceulen, German-Dutch mathematician and academic (born 1540)

• 1637 Christian, Count of Waldeck-Wildungen, German count (born 1585)

• 1650 Dorgon, Chinese emperor (born 1612)

• 1655 Janusz Radziwiłł, Polish–Lithuanian politician (born 1612)

• 1655 Sir John Wray, 2nd Baronet, English politicians and Roundheads supporter (born 1586)

• 1673 Oliver St John, English judge and politician, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (born 1598)

• 1679 Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (born 1608)

• 1691 Robert Boyle, Anglo-Irish chemist and physicist (born 1627)

• 1691 Dudley North, English merchant and economist (born 1641)

• 1705 Catherine of Braganza, Queen Consort of England, Scotland and Ireland (born 1638)

• 1719 John Flamsteed, English astronomer and academic (born 1646)

• 1730 Carlo Gimach, Maltese architect, engineer and poet (born 1651)

• 1742 Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine (born 1661)

• 1775 Richard Montgomery, American general (born 1738)

• 1799 Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and author (born 1723)

• 1818 Jean-Pierre Duport, French cellist (born 1741)

• 1872 Aleksis Kivi, Finnish author and playwright (born 1834)

• 1876 Catherine Labouré, French nun and saint (born 1806)

• 1877 Gustave Courbet, French-Swiss painter and sculptor (born 1819)

• 1888 Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi and scholar (born 1808)

• 1889 Ion Creangă, Romanian author and educator (born 1837)

• 1889 George Kerferd, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of Victoria (born 1831)

• 1890 Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican soldier (born 1826)

• 1891 Samuel Ajayi Crowther, Nigerian bishop and linguist (born 1809)

• 1894 Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch mathematician and academic (born 1856)

1901–present

• 1909 Spencer Trask, American financier and philanthropist (born 1844)

• 1910 Archibald Hoxsey, American pilot (born 1884)

• 1910 John Moisant, American pilot and engineer (born 1868)

• 1921 Boies Penrose, American lawyer and politician (born 1860)

• 1934 Cornelia Clapp, American marine biologist (born 1849)

• 1936 Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish philosopher, author, and poet (born 1864)

• 1948 Malcolm Campbell, English racing driver and journalist (born 1885)

• 1949 Rıza Tevfik Bölükbaşı, Turkish philosopher, poet, and politician (born 1869)

• 1949 Raimond Valgre, Estonian pianist and composer (born 1913)

• 1950 Charles Koechlin, French composer and educator (born 1867)

• 1951 Murtaza Hasan Chandpuri, Indian Muslim scholar (born 1868)

• 1953 Albert Plesman, Dutch businessman, founded KLM (born 1889)

• 1964 Bobby Byrne, American baseball and soccer player (born 1884)

• 1964 Ólafur Thors, Icelandic lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Iceland (born 1892)

• 1964 Henry Maitland Wilson, English field marshal (born 1881)

• 1968 George Lewis, American clarinet player and composer (born 1900)

• 1970 Cyril Scott, English composer, writer, and poet (born 1879)

• 1972 Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and Marine (born 1934)

• 1972 Henry Gerber, German-American activist, founded the Society for Human Rights (born 1892)

• 1978 Basil Wolverton, American illustrator (born 1909)

• 1980 Marshall McLuhan, Canadian philosopher and theorist (born 1911)

• 1980 Raoul Walsh, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1887)

• 1983 Sevim Burak, Turkish author and playwright (born 1931)

• 1985 Ricky Nelson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (born 1940)

• 1987 Jerry Turner, American journalist (born 1929)

• 1988 Nicolas Calas, Greek-American poet and critic (born 1907)

• 1990 George Allen, American football player and coach (born 1918)

• 1990 Vasily Lazarev, Russian physician, colonel, and astronaut (born 1928)

• 1990 Giovanni Michelucci, Italian architect and urban planner, designed the Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station (born 1891)

• 1993 Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgian anthropologist and politician, 1st President of Georgia (born 1939)

• 1993 Brandon Teena, American murder victim (born 1972)

• 1993 Big Bertha, Irish cattle and twice Guinness World Record holder (oldest cow, cow with most offspring) (born 1945)

• 1994 Woody Strode, American football player, wrestler, and actor (born 1914)

• 1996 Wesley Addy, American actor (born 1913)

• 1997 Floyd Cramer, American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1933)

• 1997 Billie Dove, American actress (born 1903)

• 1998 Ted Glossop, Australian rugby league player and coach (born 1934)

• 1999 Elliot Richardson, American lawyer and politician, 69th United States Attorney General (born 1920)

• 1999 Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, Indian Muslim scholar and author (born 1914)

• 2000 Alan Cranston, American journalist and politician (born 1914)

• 2000 José Greco, Italian-American dancer and choreographer (born 1918)

• 2000 Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, American-Israeli rabbi and scholar (born 1966)

• 2001 Eileen Heckart, American actress (born 1919)

• 2002 Kevin MacMichael, Canadian guitarist, songwriter, and producer (born 1951)

• 2003 Arthur R. von Hippel German-American physicist and author (born 1898)

• 2004 Gérard Debreu, French economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1921)

• 2005 Enrico Di Giuseppe, American tenor and educator (born 1932)

• 2005 Phillip Whitehead, English screenwriter, producer, and politician (born 1937)

• 2006 Ya'akov Hodorov, Israeli footballer (born 1927)

• 2006 Seymour Martin Lipset, American sociologist, author, and academic (born 1922)

• 2006 George Sisler, Jr., American businessman (born 1917)

• 2007 Roy Amara, American scientific researcher (born 1925)

• 2007 Michael Goldberg, American painter and educator (born 1924)

• 2007 Bill Idelson, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1919)

• 2007 Milton L. Klein, Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1910)

• 2007 Ettore Sottsass, Austrian-Italian architect and designer (born 1917)

• 2008 Donald E. Westlake, American author and screenwriter (born 1933)

• 2009 Cahal Daly, Irish cardinal and philosopher, Archbishop of Armagh (born 1917)

• 2009 Justin Keating, Irish surgeon, journalist, and politician, Minister for Industry and Commerce (born 1930)

• 2010 Raymond Impanis, Belgian cyclist (born 1925)

• 2010 Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1927)

• 2012 Tarak Mekki, Tunisian businessman and politician (born 1958)

• 2012 Jovette Marchessault, Canadian author and playwright (born 1938)

• 2012 Günter Rössler, German photographer and journalist (born 1926)

• 2013 James Avery, American actor (born 1945)

• 2013 Roberto Ciotti, Italian guitarist and composer (born 1953)

• 2013 Bob Grant, American radio host (born 1929)

• 2013 Irina Korschunow, German author and screenwriter (born 1925)

• 2014 Edward Herrmann, American actor (born 1943)

• 2014 Abdullah Hussain, Malaysian author (born 1920)

• 2014 Norm Phelps, American author and activist (born 1939)

• 2014 S. Arthur Spiegel, American captain, lawyer, and judge (born 1920)

• 2014 Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, British soldier and politician (born 1915)

• 2015 Natalie Cole, American singer-songwriter and actress (born 1950)

• 2015 Wayne Rogers, American actor and investor (born 1933)

• 2016 William Christopher, American actor (born 1932)

• 2018 Kader Khan, Indian actor (born 1937)

• 2021 Betty White, American actress, comedian and producer (born 1922)

• 2022 Pope Benedict XVI, German Roman Catholic cardinal and theologian, pope (2005–2013) and archbishop of Munich and Freising (1977–1982) (born 1927)

• 2022 Barry Lane, English golfer (born 1960)

• 2023 Cale Yarborough, American Hall of Fame racing driver and founder of Cale Yarborough Motorsports, NASCAR Cup Series champion (1976, 1977, 1978) (born 1939)

• 2024 Arnold Rüütel, Estonian politician, 3rd President of Estonia (born 1928)

• 2024 – Johnnie Walker, British radio DJ (born 1945)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

• Pope Sylvester I (Catholic Church)

• December 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

  International Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis (Azerbaijan)

New Year's Eve (International observance), and its related observances:

• First Night (United States)

• Last Day of the Year or Bisperás ng Bagong Taón, special holiday between Rizal Day and New Year's Day (Philippines)

• Novy God Eve (Russia)

• Ōmisoka (Japan)

• The first day of Hogmanay or "Auld Year's Night" (Scotland)

• The seventh of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity)

• The sixth and penultimate day of Kwanzaa (United States)

See also

• January 0

References

External links

• BBC: On This Day

• Historical Events on December 31