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December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. 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. The following day is January 1 of the following year.

Events

• 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.
• 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 of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain) thus consummating the Christian reconquest of the island of Majorca.
• 1501 – The First Battle of Cannanore commences.
• 1600 – The British East India Company is chartered.
• 1660 – James II of England is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.
• 1687 – The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.
• 1695 – A window tax is imposed in England, causing many householders to brick up windows to avoid the tax.
• 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 repulse an attack by Continental Army General Richard Montgomery.
• 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, New York.
• 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
• 1857 – Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, then a small logging town, as the capital of Canada.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Stones River begins near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
• 1878 – Karl Benz, working in Mannheim, Germany, filed for a patent on his first reliable two-stroke gas engine, and 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.
• 1906 – Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar signs the Persian Constitution of 1906.
• 1907 – The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square (then known as Longacre Square) in New York, New York.
• 1909 – Manhattan Bridge opens.
• 1923 – The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC.
• 1944 – World War II: Hungary declares war on Nazi Germany.
• 1944 – World War II: Operation Nordwind, the last major German offensive on the Western Front begins.
• 1946 – President Harry S. Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
• 1951 – The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.
• 1955 – General Motors becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year.
• 1960 – The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.
• 1961 – RTÉ, Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service.
• 1963 – The Central African Federation officially collapses and splits into Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
• 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.
• 1967 – The Youth International Party, popularly known as the "Yippies", is founded.
• 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 – In Nigeria a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Second Nigerian Republic.
• 1986 – A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.
• 1988 – Pittsburgh Penguins' Mario Lemieux becomes the only National Hockey League player to score goals in five different ways: even strength, shorthanded, power play, penalty shot, and empty net, during a 8-6 win over the New Jersey Devils.
• 1988 – First Winter Ascent of Lhotse (8,516m) by Krzysztof Wielicki (solo).
• 1991 – All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date and 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 Slovakia.
• 1993 – Brandon Teena and two others are shot to death inside a farmhouse in Humboldt, Nebraska by John Lotter and Tom Nissen after the two men discovered Teena was transgender.
• 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: Russian army began a New Year's storm of Grozny
• 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 – First President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, resigns from office, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President and successor.
• 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.
• 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.
• 2004 – The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 ft).
• 2009 – At least six people are killed by a gunman at a shopping centre in Espoo, near Helsinki.
• 2009 – Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur.
• 2009 – Erica Boyer, American pornographic actress, died in a traffic accident. She reportedly died instantly when she was struck by an off-duty Florida Highway Patrol.
• 2011 – NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the moon.

Births

• 695 – Muhammad bin Qasim, Syrian general (d. 715)
• 1378 – Pope Callixtus III (d. 1458)
• 1491 – Jacques Cartier, French explorer (d. 1557)
• 1514 – Andreas Vesalius, Flemish anatomist (d. 1564)
• 1552 – Simon Forman, English occultist and astrologer (d. 1611)
• 1572 – Emperor Go-Yōzei of Japan, (d. 1617)
• 1585 – Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish military leader and politician, 24th Governor of the Duchy of Milan (d. 1645)
• 1668 – Herman Boerhaave, Dutch physician (d. 1738)
• 1704 – Carl Gotthelf Gerlach, German organist (d. 1761)
• 1714 – Yoriyuki Arima, Japanese mathematician (d. 1783)
• 1720 – Charles Edward Stuart, Italian husband of Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern (d. 1788)
• 1738 – Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, English general, 3rd Governor-General of India (d. 1805)
• 1741 – Princess Isabella of Parma (d. 1763)
• 1741 – Gottfried August Bürger, German poet (d. 1794)
• 1763 – Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (d. 1806)
• 1776 – Johann Spurzheim, German physician (d. 1832)
• 1790 – Antonie Adamberger, Austrian actress (d. 1867)
• 1798 – Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Estonian philologist, writer and physician (d. 1850)
• 1805 – Marie d'Agoult, French author (d. 1876)
• 1815 – George Meade, American general (d. 1872)
• 1830 – Isma'il Pasha, Egyptian politician (d. 1895)
• 1830 – Alexander Smith, Scottish poet (d. 1867)
• 1851 – Henry Carter Adams, American economist (d. 1921)
• 1855 – Giovanni Pascoli, Italian poet (d. 1912)
• 1857 – King Kelly, American baseball player (d. 1894)
• 1860 – Joseph S. Cullinan, American businessman, co-founded Texaco (d. 1937)
• 1864 – Robert Grant Aitken, American astronomer (d. 1951)
• 1869 – Henri Matisse, French painter (d. 1954)
• 1877 – Lawrence Beesley, English journalist and author (d. 1967)
• 1878 – Elizabeth Arden, Canadian businesswoman, founded Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (d. 1966)
• 1878 – Horacio Quiroga, Uruguayan-Argentinian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1937)
• 1880 – Fred Beebe, American baseball player (d. 1957)
• 1880 – George Marshall, American general and politician, 50th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
• 1881 – Max Pechstein, German painter (d. 1955)
• 1882 – Martin O'Meara, Irish-Australian soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1935)
• 1884 – Bobby Byrne, American baseball player (d. 1964)
• 1885 – Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1970)
• 1899 – Silvestre Revueltas, Mexican composer, conductor, and violinist (d. 1940)
• 1901 – Júlia Báthory, Hungarian designer(d. 2000)
• 1901 – Nikos Ploumpidis, Greek activist (d. 1954)
• 1902 – Lionel Daunais, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1982)
• 1904 – Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer-songwriter and actress (d. 1975)
• 1905 – Jule Styne, English-American composer (d. 1994)
• 1908 – Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian Holocaust survivor (d. 2005)
• 1909 – Jonah Jones, American trumpet player (d. 2000)
• 1910 – Carl Dudley, American director and producer (d. 1973)
• 1911 – Dal Stivens, Australian author (d. 1997)
• 1912 – John Frost, Indian-English general (d. 1993)
• 1915 – Sam Ragan, American journalist, author, and poet (d. 1996)
• 1917 – Evelyn Knight, American singer and television entertainer (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Wilfrid Noyce, English mountaineer (d. 1962)
• 1918 – Virginia Davis, American actress (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Tommy Byrne, American baseball player (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Rex Allen, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1999)
• 1922 – Luis Zuloaga, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Taylor Mead, American actor
• 1926 – Billy Snedden, Australian politician (d. 1987)
• 1928 – Tatyana Shmyga, Soviet-born Russian operetta/musical theatre performer; later a film actress (d. 2011)
• 1928 – Siné, French cartoonist
• 1929 – Mies Bouwman, Dutch television host
• 1930 – Odetta, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (d. 2008)
• 1930 – Jaime Escalante, Bolivian-American educator (d. 2010)
• 1931 – Bob Shaw, Irish author (d. 1996)
• 1933 – Edward Bunker, American author, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2005)
• 1934 – Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan, Indian scholar
• 1934 – Noel Tyl, American astrologer
• 1937 – Avram Hershko, Israeli biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1937 – Anthony Hopkins, Welsh-American actor and composer
• 1937 – Barry Hughes, Welsh footballer and manager
• 1937 – Alvis Wayne, American singer (d. 2013)
• 1938 – Rosalind Cash, American actress and singer (d. 1995)
• 1938 – Atje Keulen-Deelstra, Dutch speed skater (d. 2013)
• 1940 – Mani Neumeier, German drummer and singer (Guru Guru)
• 1941 – Sean S. Cunningham, American director, screenwriter, and producer
• 1941 – Alex Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1941 – Sarah Miles, English actress
• 1942 – Taufiq Kiemas, Indonesian politician, 5th First Gentleman of Indonesia (d. 2013)
• 1942 – Andy Summers, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (The Police and Zoot Money's Big Roll Band)
• 1943 – John Denver, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (The John Denver Band and Chad Mitchell Trio) (d. 1997)
• 1943 – Ben Kingsley, English actor
• 1943 – Pete Quaife, English bass player (The Kinks) (d. 2010)
• 1944 – Taylor Hackford, American director and producer
• 1944 – Neil Ross, English-American voice actor
• 1945 – Barbara Carrera, Nicaraguan actress and model
• 1945 – Diane von Fürstenberg, Belgian-American fashion designer
• 1945 – Connie Willis, American author
• 1946 – Pius Ncube, Zimbabwean archbishop
• 1947 – Burton Cummings, Canadian keyboard player and songwriter (The Guess Who)
• 1947 – Rita Lee, Brazilian singer-songwriter and actress (Os Mutantes)
• 1947 – Tim Matheson, American actor
• 1948 – Joe Dallesandro American actor
• 1948 – René Robert, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1948 – Donna Summer, American singer-songwriter (d. 2012)
• 1949 – Ellen Datlow, American anthologist and editor
• 1949 – Seub Nakhasathien, Thai environmentalist (d. 1990)
• 1949 – Susan Shwartz, American author
• 1951 – Tom Hamilton, American bass player and songwriter (Aerosmith)
• 1952 – Vaughan Jones, New Zealand mathematician
• 1953 – Jane Badler, American actress
• 1953 – Michael Hedges, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1997)
• 1953 – James Remar, American actor
• 1954 – Alex Salmond, Scottish politician, 4th First Minister of Scotland
• 1954 – Hermann Tilke, German race car driver and engineer
• 1956 – Steve Rude, American writer and illustrator
• 1958 – Bebe Neuwirth, American actress
• 1959 – Liveris Andritsos, Greek basketball player
• 1959 – Alfie Anido, Filipino actor (d. 1981)
• 1959 – Ron Bennington, American radio host
• 1959 – Val Kilmer, American actor
• 1959 – Phill Kline, American politician
• 1959 – Baron Waqa, Nauruan politician
• 1959 – Paul Westerberg, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Replacements)
• 1960 – Steve Bruce, English footballer
• 1960 – John Allen Muhammad, American murderer (d. 2009)
• 1961 – Rick Aguilera, American baseball player
• 1961 – Nina Li, Chinese actress
• 1962 – Tyrone Corbin, American basketball player
• 1962 – Don Diamont, American actor
• 1962 – Chris Hallam, English swimmer (d. 2013)
• 1962 – Heather McCartney, American-English potter
• 1962 – Lance Reddick, American actor
• 1963 – Scott Ian, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Anthrax, Stormtroopers of Death, The Damned Things, and Damnocracy)
• 1963 – Konishiki Yasokichi, American sumo wrestler
• 1964 – Michael McDonald, American comedian, actor, and director
• 1965 – Tony Dorigo, English footballer
• 1965 – Julie Doucet, Canadian cartoonist
• 1965 – Gong Li, Chinese actress
• 1965 – Nicholas Sparks, American author
• 1966 – Lisa Joyner, American journalist
• 1968 – Gerry Dee, Canadian comedian and actor
• 1968 – Luciano Szafir, Brazilian actor
• 1969 – Arvi Aavik, Estonian wrestler
• 1969 – Dominik Diamond, Scottish television and radio host
• 1969 – Are Kalvø, Norwegian author
• 1970 – Jorge Alberto da Costa Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1970 – Sven Kretschmer, German footballer
• 1970 – Danny McNamara, English singer-songwriter (Embrace)
• 1970 – Carlos Morales Quintana, Spanish husband of Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark
• 1970 – Bryon Russell, American basketball player
• 1971 – Brent Barry, American basketball player
• 1971 – Esteban Loaiza, Mexican baseball player
• 1972 – Joey McIntyre, American singer-songwriter and actor (New Kids on the Block)
• 1973 – Shandon Anderson, American basketball player
• 1973 – Crystal Knight, American porn actress and model
• 1973 – Malcolm Middleton, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Arab Strap)
• 1974 – Mario Aerts, Belgian cyclist
• 1974 – Tony Kanaan, Brazilian race car driver
• 1974 – Ryan Sakoda, Japanese-American wrestler
• 1975 – Rami Alanko, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1975 – Toni Kuivasto, Finnish footballer
• 1975 – Rob Penders, Dutch footballer
• 1975 – Sander Schutgens, Dutch runner
• 1976 – Luis Carreira, Portuguese motorcycle racer (d. 2012)
• 1976 – Craig Reucassel, Australian comedian
• 1977 – Psy, South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper, producer, and dancer
• 1977 – Wardy Alfaro, Costa Rican footballer
• 1977 – Donald Trump, Jr., American businessman
• 1978 – Eisa Al Dah, Emirati professional boxer
• 1979 – Elaine Cassidy, Irish actress
• 1979 – Paul O'Neill, English race car driver
• 1980 – M-Dogg 20, American wrestler
• 1980 – Jesse Carlson, American baseball player
• 1980 – Richie McCaw, New Zealand rugby union footballer
• 1980 – Carsten Schlangen, German runner
• 1981 – Jason Campbell, American football player
• 1981 – Matthew Pavlich, Australian rules footballer
• 1982 – Julio DePaula, Dominican baseball player
• 1982 – Craig Gordon, Scottish footballer
• 1982 – Luke Schenscher, Australian basketball player
• 1982 – The Rocket Summer, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
• 1983 – Mariana Renata, French-Indonesian actress
• 1984 – Édgar Lugo, Mexican footballer
• 1984 – Paul Rodriguez, American skateboarder and actor
• 1984 – Calvin Zola, Democratic Republic of the Congo footballer
• 1985 – Jan Smit, Dutch singer
• 1985 – Jonathan Horton, American gymnast
• 1986 – Bronson Pelletier, Canadian actor
• 1986 – Nate Freiman, American baseball player
• 1987 – Javaris Crittenton, American basketball player
• 1987 – Danny Holla, Dutch footballer
• 1987 – Émilie Le Pennec, French gymnast
• 1990 – Patrick Chan, Canadian figure skater
• 1991 – Camila Giorgi, Italian tennis player
• 1991 – Bojana Jovanovski, Serbian tennis player
• 1992 – Karl Kruuda, Estonian rally driver
• 1993 – Ryan Blaney, American race car driver
• 1995 – Gabby Douglas, American gymnast
• 2005 – Lakshmi Tatma, Indian deformed girl

Deaths

• 192 – Commodus, Roman emperor (b. 161)
• 335 – Pope Sylvester I
• 669 – Li Shiji, Chinese chancellor (b. 594)
• 1164 – Ottokar III of Styria (b. 1124)
• 1194 – Leopold V, Duke of Austria (b. 1157)
• 1297 – Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford, English soldier (b. 1249)
• 1302 – Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1238)
• 1384 – John Wycliffe, English theologian and translator (b. circa 1328)
• 1424 – Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, English military leader (b. 1377)
• 1460 – Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, English politician (b. 1400)
• 1510 – Bianca Maria Sforza, Italian wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1472)
• 1535 – William Skeffington, English politician (b. 1465)
• 1568 – Shimazu Tadayoshi, Japanese warlord (b. 1493)
• 1575 – Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (b. 1502)
• 1583 – Thomas Erastus, Swiss physician and theologian (b. 1524)
• 1610 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German-Dutch mathematician (b. 1540)
• 1650 – Dorgon, Chinese emperor (b. 1612)
• 1655 – Janusz Radziwiłł, Polish–Lithuanian noble and magnate (b. 1612)
• 1673 – Oliver St John, English politician and judge (b. 1598)
• 1679 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (b. 1608)
• 1691 – Robert Boyle, Irish chemist and physicist (b. 1627)
• 1691 – Dudley North, English economist (b. 1641)
• 1705 – Catherine of Braganza (b. 1638)
• 1719 – John Flamsteed, English astronomer (b. 1646)
• 1742 – Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine (b. 1661)
• 1799 – Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and author (b. 1723)
• 1872 – Aleksis Kivi, Finnish author (b. 1834)
• 1876 – Catherine Labouré, French saint (b. 1806)
• 1877 – Gustave Courbet, French painter (b. 1819)
• 1888 – Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi (b. 1808)
• 1889 – Ion Creangă, Romanian author and educator (b. 1837)
• 1890 – Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican soldier (b. 1826)
• 1891 – Samuel Ajayi Crowther, Nigerian bishop (b. 1809)
• 1894 – Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch mathematician (b. 1856)
• 1909 – Spencer Trask, American financier and philanthropist (b. 1844)
• 1910 – Archibald Hoxsey, American pilot (b. 1884)
• 1910 – John Moisant, American pilot (b. 1868)
• 1921 – Boies Penrose, American lawyer and politician (b. 1860)
• 1936 – Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish author, poet, and philosopher (b. 1864)
• 1948 – Malcolm Campbell, English race car driver (b. 1885)
• 1949 – Raimond Valgre, Estonian composer (b. 1913)
• 1953 – Albert Plesman, Dutch businessman, founded KLM (b. 1889)
• 1964 – Bobby Byrne, American baseball player (b. 1884)
• 1964 – Ólafur Thors, Icelandic politician, 8th Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1892)
• 1964 – Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson, English field marshal (b. 1881)
• 1968 – George Lewis, American clarinet player (b. 1900)
• 1971 – Pete Duel American actor (b. 1940)
• 1971 – Marin Sais, American actress (b. 1890)
• 1971 – Vikram Sarabhai, Indian physicist (b. 1919)
• 1972 – Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican baseball player (b. 1934)
• 1972 – Henry Gerber, German-American activist, founded the Society for Human Rights (b. 1892)
• 1977 – Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler (b. 1924)
• 1978 – Basil Wolverton, American cartoonist, illustrator and comic book writer and artist (b. 1909)
• 1980 – Marshall McLuhan, Canadian philosopher (b. 1911)
• 1980 – Raoul Walsh, American director (b. 1887)
• 1985 – Ricky Nelson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1940)
• 1986 – Raj Narain, Indian politician (b. 1917)
• 1987 – Jerry Turner, American journalist (b. 1929)
• 1988 – Nicolas Calas, Greek-American poet and critic (b. 1907)
• 1990 – George Allen, American football coach (b. 1918)
• 1990 – Vasily Lazarev, Soviet astronaut (b. 1928)
• 1990 – Giovanni Michelucci, Italian architect, designed the Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station (b. 1891)
• 1993 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgian politician, 1st President of Georgia (b. 1939)
• 1993 – Brandon Teena, American murder victim (b. 1972)
• 1994 – Leigh Bowery, Australian-English singer and actor (b. 1961)
• 1994 – Woody Strode, American actor and decathlete (b. 1914)
• 1997 – Floyd Cramer, American pianist (b. 1933)
• 1997 – Billie Dove, American actress (b. 1903)
• 1997 – Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, American son of Robert F. Kennedy (b. 1958)
• 1999 – Elliot Richardson, American lawyer and politician, 69th United States Attorney General (b. 1920)
• 2000 – Alan Cranston, American journalist and politician (b. 1914)
• 2000 – José Greco, Italian-American dancer and choreographer (b. 1918)
• 2000 – Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, American-Israeli rabbi and scholar (b. 1966)
• 2001 – Eileen Heckart, American actress (b. 1919)
• 2002 – Kevin MacMichael, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Cutting Crew) (b. 1951)
• 2003 – Arthur R. von Hippel German-American physicist (b. 1898)
• 2004 – Gérard Debreu, French economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1921)
• 2005 – Enrico Di Giuseppe, American tenor (b. 1932)
• 2005 – Phillip Whitehead, English politician (b. 1937)
• 2006 – Seymour Martin Lipset, American sociologist (b. 1922)
• 2006 – George Sisler, Jr., American businessman (b. 1917)
• 2007 – Tommy Dickson, Irish footballer (b. 1929)
• 2007 – Tony Elliott, American football player (b. 1959)
• 2007 – Michael Goldberg, American painter (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Bill Idelson, American actor, screenwriter, and producer (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Kathryn Ish, American actress (b. 1936)
• 2007 – Milton L. Klein, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1910)
• 2007 – Markku Peltola, Finnish actor and singer (b. 1956)
• 2007 – Ettore Sottsass, Austrian-Italian architect and designer (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Donald E. Westlake, American author (b. 1933)
• 2009 – Cahal Daly, Irish cardinal and philosopher(b. 1917)
• 2009 – Justin Keating, Irish journalist and politician (b. 1930)
• 2009 – Erica Boyer, American pornographic actress (b. 1956)
• 2010 – Raymond Impanis, Belgian cyclist (b. 1925)
• 2010 – Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Larry Bowie, American football player (b. 1939)
• 2012 – Béla Csécsei, Hungarian educator and politician (b. 1952)
• 2012 – Susana Dalmás, Uruguayan politician (b. 1948)
• 2012 – Peter Ebert, German director (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Konstantin Kobets, Russian general (b. 1939)
• 2012 – Alasdair Liddell, English businessman (b. 1949)
• 2012 – Annapurna Maharana, Indian activist (b. 1917)
• 2012 – Tarak Mekki, Tunisian businessman and politician (b. 1958)
• 2012 – James B. Reuter, American-Filipino priest and journalist (b. 1916)
• 2012 – Jean-Henri Roger, French director, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1949)
• 2012 – Günter Rössler, German photographer and journalist (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Pope Sylvester I (Catholic Church)
• International Solidarity Day (Azerbaijan)
• New Year's Eve (International observances), and its related observances:
  • Last Day of the Year or Bisperás ng Bagong Taón, special holiday between Rizal Day and New Year's Day (Philippines)
  • The first day of Hogmanay or "Auld Year’s Night" (Scotland)
• The seventh day of Christmas (Western Christianity)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

• Days of the year
• December