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

535 Byzantine Empire general Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Ostrogoths 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, Berkshire (Kingdom of East Anglia); many Danes are killed.

1105 Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, 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 of Aragon, King of Aragon, enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Majorca, Spain), thus consummating the Conquest of Majorca of the island of Majorca.

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.

1660 James II of England is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.

1670 The English expedition to Valdivia 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 Russian Prussia.

1759 Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000-year lease at Pound sterling45 per annum and starts brewing Guinness.

1775 American Revolutionary War: Battle of Quebec (1775): British forces under General Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester 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 27 September 1821. In the islands, Monday, 30 December 1844 was immediately followed by Wednesday, 1 January 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 States of America Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg and the Union (American Civil War) Army of the Cumberland under General William 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, German Empire, files for a patent on his first reliable Two-stroke engine. He was granted the patent in 1879.

1879 Thomas Edison demonstrates Incandescent light bulb 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 ever Times Square Ball in Times Square.

1942 USS Essex (CV-9), first aircraft carrier of a 24-ship class, is Ship commissioning

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 (World War II), begins.

1946 President Harry S. Truman officially proclaims the Proclamation 2714 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 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland officially collapses, subsequently becoming Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.

1965 Jean-Bédel Bokassa, leader of the Central African Republic army, and his military officers Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état against the government of List of heads of state of the Central African Republic and Central African Empire 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 List of heads of state of Ghana Hilla Limann's People's National Party (Ghana) Limann government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.

1983 The AT&T Corporation Bell System is broken up by the Federal government of the United States.

1983 Benjamin Ward is appointed New York City Police Department's first ever African Americans New York City Police Commissioner.

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

1991 All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date, five days after the Soviet Union is Dissolution of the Soviet Union.

1992 Czechoslovakia is Dissolution of Czechoslovakia in what is dubbed by media as the ''Velvet Divorce'', resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and the Slovakia.

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 Battle of Grozny (1994–95) 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 of Russia Vladimir Putin as the Acting President of Russia 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.

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

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

2010 2010 New Year's Eve tornado outbreak touch down in Midwestern United States 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 2014 Shanghai 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 2018 Magnitogorsk building collapse 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.

695 Muhammad ibn al-Qasim, Umayyad general (d. 715)

1378 Pope Callixtus III (d. 1458)

1491 Jacques Cartier, French navigator and explorer (d. 1557)

1493 Eleonora Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino (d. 1570)

1504 Beatrice of Portugal, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1538)

1514 Andreas Vesalius, Belgian anatomist, physician, and author (d. 1564)

1539 John Radcliffe (died 1568), English politician (d. 1568)

1550 Henry I, Duke of Guise (d. 1588)

1552 Simon Forman, English occultist and astrologer (d. 1611)

1572 Emperor Go-Yōzei of Japan, (d. 1617)

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

1668 Herman Boerhaave, Dutch botanist and physician (d. 1738)

1714 Arima Yoriyuki, Japanese mathematician and educator (d. 1783)

1720 Charles Edward Stuart, Scottish claimant to the throne of England (d. 1788)

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

1741 Gottfried August Bürger, German poet and academic (d. 1794)

1763 Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (d. 1806)

1776 Johann Spurzheim, German-American physician and phrenologist (d. 1832)

1798 Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Estonian physician, philologist, and academic (d. 1850)

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

1815 George Meade, American general and engineer (d. 1872)

1830 Isma'il Pasha, Egyptian ruler (d. 1895)

1830 Alexander Smith (poet), Scottish poet and critic (d. 1867)

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

1834 Queen Kapiolani of Hawaii (d. 1899)

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

1842 Giovanni Boldini, Italian painter (d. 1931)

1851 Henry Carter Adams, American economist and academic (d. 1921)

1855 Giovanni Pascoli, Italian poet and scholar (d. 1912)

1857 King Kelly, American baseball player and manager (d. 1894)

1860 Joseph S. Cullinan, American businessman, co-founded Texaco (d. 1937)

1864 Robert Grant Aitken, American astronomer and academic (d. 1951)

1869 Henri Matisse, French painter and sculptor (d. 1954)

1872 Fred Marriott, American race car driver (d. 1956)

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

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

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 and coach (d. 1957)

1880 George Marshall, American general and politician, 50th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1959)

1881 Max Pechstein, German painter and academic (d. 1955)

1884 Bobby Byrne (baseball), American baseball and soccer player (d. 1964)

1884 Mihály Fekete, Hungarian actor, screenwriter, and film director (d. 1960)

1885 Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1970)

1899 Silvestre Revueltas, Mexican violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1940)

1901 Karl-August Fagerholm, Finnish politician, ''valtioneuvos'', the Speaker of the Parliament of Finland and the Prime Minister of Finland (d. 1984)

1901 Nikos Ploumpidis, Greek educator and politician (d. 1954)

1902 Lionel Daunais, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1982)

1902 Roy Goodall, English footballer (d. 1982)

1903 William Heynes, English engineer (d. 1989)

1905 Helen Dodson Prince, American astronomer and academic (d. 2002)

1908 Simon Wiesenthal, Ukrainian-Austrian Nazi hunter and author (d. 2005)

1909 Jonah Jones, American trumpet player and saxophonist (d. 2000)

1910 Carl Dudley, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1973)

1910 Enrique Maier, Spanish tennis player (d. 1981)

1911 Dal Stivens, Australian soldier and author (d. 1997)

1912 John Frost (British Army officer), Indian-English general (d. 1993)

1914 Mary Logan Reddick, American neuroembryologist (d. 1966)

1915 Sam Ragan, American journalist, author, and poet (d. 1996)

1917 Evelyn Knight (singer), American singer (d. 2007)

1917 Wilfrid Noyce, English mountaineer and author (d. 1962)

1918 Ray Graves, American football player and coach (d. 2015)

1919 Tommy Byrne (baseball), American baseball player, coach, and politician (d. 2007)

1919 Carmen Contreras-Bozak, Puerto Rican-American soldier (d. 2017)

1920 Rex Allen, American actor and singer-songwriter (d. 1999)

1922 Tomás Balduino, Brazilian bishop (d. 2014)

1922 Halina Czerny-Stefańska, Polish pianist and educator (d. 2001)

1922 Luis Zuloaga, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 2013)

1923 Giannis Dalianidis, Greek actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2010)

1924 Taylor Mead, American actor and poet (d. 2013)

1925 Irina Korschunow, German author and screenwriter (d. 2013)

1925 Sri Lal Sukla, Indian author (d. 2011)

1925 Daphne Oram, British composer and electronic musician (d. 2003)

1926 Valerie Pearl, English historian and academic (d. 2016)

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

1928 Ross Barbour (singer), American pop singer (d. 2011)

1928 Hugh McElhenny, American football player (d. 2022)

1928 Veijo Meri, Finnish author and translator (d. 2015)

1928 Tatyana Shmyga, Russian actress and singer (d. 2011)

1928 Siné, French cartoonist (d. 2016)

1929 Mies Bouwman, Dutch television host (d. 2018)

1929 Peter May (cricketer), English cricketer (d. 1994)

1930 Jaime Escalante, Bolivian-American educator (d. 2010)

1930 Odetta, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (d. 2008)

1931 Bob Shaw, Northern Irish journalist and author (d. 1996)

1932 Don James (American football), American football player and coach (d. 2013)

1932 Felix Rexhausen, German journalist and author (d. 1992)

1933 Edward Bunker, American author, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2005)

1934 Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan, Indian author, poet, and scholar (d. 2017)

1937 Avram Hershko, Hungarian-Israeli biochemist and physician, Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate

1937 Barry Hughes, Welsh footballer and manager (d. 2019)

1937 Tess Jaray, Austrian-English painter and educator

1938 Rosalind Cash, American singer and actress (d. 1995)

1938 Atje Keulen-Deelstra, Dutch speed skater (d. 2013)

1939 Willye White, American sprinter and long jumper (d. 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 (d. 1986)

1946 Cliff Richey, American tennis player

1946 Eric Robson, Scottish journalist and author

1946 Nigel Rudd, English businessman, founded Williams Holdings

1946 Tim Stevens, English bishop

1948 Sandy Jardine, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2014)

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 (d. 2020)

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

1953 Jane Badler, American actress

1954 Alex Salmond, Scottish economist and politician, First Minister of Scotland (d. 2024)

1954 Hermann Tilke, German racing driver, architect and engineer

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 Phill Kline, American lawyer and politician, Kansas Attorney General

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

1960 Steve Bruce, English footballer and manager

1961 Rick Aguilera, American baseball player and coach

1961 Jeremy Heywood, English economist and civil servant (d. 2018)

1961 Nina Li Chi, Hong Kong actress

1962 Tyrone Corbin, American basketball player and coach

1962 Chris Hallam, English-Welsh swimmer and wheelchair racer (d. 2013)

1962 Jennifer Higdon, American composer

1964 Winston Benjamin, Antiguan cricketer

1964 Michael McDonald (comedian), 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 (rugby league), 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 (footballer), Brazilian footballer

1970 Danny McNamara (musician), 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 (d. 2012)

1976 Matthew Hoggard, English cricketer

1977 Wardy Alfaro, Costa Rican footballer and coach

1979 Paul O'Neill (racing driver), English racing driver

1979 Jeff Waldstreicher, American lawyer and politician

1979 Ricky Whittle, British actor

1980 Jesse Carlson, American baseball player

1980 Matt Cross (wrestler), American wrestler

1980 Richie McCaw, New Zealand rugby player

1980 Carsten Schlangen, German runner

1981 Jason Campbell, American football player

1981 Francisco García (basketball), 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 Gerardo Lugo (footballer, born 1984), Mexican footballer

1984 Calvin Zola, Congolese footballer

1985 Jonathan Horton, American gymnast

1985 Jan Smit (singer), 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 Danny Holla, Dutch footballer

1987 Nemanja Nikolić (footballer, born 1987), 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 ND Stevenson, American cartoonist

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 Cameron Carter-Vickers, English-American soccer player

2000 Alycia Parks, American tennis player

2001 Katie Volynets, American tennis player

2002 Joe Scally, American soccer player

45 BC Quintus Fabius Maximus (consul 45 BC), consul suffectus

192 Commodus, Roman emperor (b. 161)

335 Pope Sylvester I

669 Li Shiji, Chinese general (b. 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 (b. 1124)

1194 Leopold V, Duke of Austria (b. 1157)

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

1299 Margaret, Countess of Anjou (b. 1273)

1302 Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1238)

1384 John Wycliffe, English philosopher, theologian, and translator (b. 1331)

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

1426 Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter (b. 1377)

1439 Margaret Holland, English noblewoman (b. 1385)

1460 Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, English politician, Lord Chancellor (b. 1400)

1510 Bianca Maria Sforza, Holy Roman Empress (b. 1472)

1535 William Skeffington, English-Irish politician, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1465)

1568 Shimazu Tadayoshi, Japanese daimyō (b. 1493)

1575 Pierino Belli, Italian commander and jurist (b. 1502)

1583 Thomas Erastus, Swiss physician and theologian (b. 1524)

1610 Ludolph van Ceulen, German-Dutch mathematician and academic (b. 1540)

1637 Christian, Count of Waldeck-Wildungen, German count (b. 1585)

1650 Dorgon, Chinese emperor (b. 1612)

1655 Janusz Radziwiłł (1612–1655), Polish–Lithuanian politician (b. 1612)

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

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

1679 Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (b. 1608)

1691 Robert Boyle, Anglo-Irish chemist and physicist (b. 1627)

1691 Dudley North (economist), English merchant and economist (b. 1641)

1705 Catherine of Braganza (b. 1638)

1719 John Flamsteed, English astronomer and academic (b. 1646)

1730 Carlo Gimach, Maltese architect, engineer and poet (b. 1651)

1742 Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine (b. 1661)

1775 Richard Montgomery, American general (b. 1738)

1799 Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and author (b. 1723)

1818 Jean-Pierre Duport, French cellist (b. 1741)

1872 Aleksis Kivi, Finnish author and playwright (b. 1834)

1876 Catherine Labouré, French nun and saint (b. 1806)

1877 Gustave Courbet, French-Swiss painter and sculptor (b. 1819)

1888 Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi and scholar (b. 1808)

1889 Ion Creangă, Romanian author and educator (b. 1837)

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

1890 Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican soldier (b. 1826)

1891 Samuel Ajayi Crowther, Nigerian bishop and linguist (b. 1809)

1894 Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch mathematician and academic (b. 1856)

1909 Spencer Trask, American financier and philanthropist (b. 1844)

1910 Archibald Hoxsey, American pilot (b. 1884)

1910 John Moisant, American pilot and engineer (b. 1868)

1921 Boies Penrose, American lawyer and politician (b. 1860)

1934 Cornelia Clapp, American marine biologist (b. 1849)

1936 Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish philosopher, author, and poet (b. 1864)

1948 Malcolm Campbell, English racing driver and journalist (b. 1885)

1949 Rıza Tevfik Bölükbaşı, Turkish philosopher, poet, and politician (b. 1869)

1949 Raimond Valgre, Estonian pianist and composer (b. 1913)

1950 Charles Koechlin, French composer and educator (b. 1867)

1951 Murtaza Hasan Chandpuri, Indian Muslim scholar (b. 1868)

1953 Albert Plesman, Dutch businessman, founded KLM (b. 1889)

1964 Bobby Byrne (baseball), American baseball and soccer player (b. 1884)

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

1964 Henry Maitland Wilson, English field marshal (b. 1881)

1968 George Lewis (clarinetist), American clarinet player and composer (b. 1900)

1970 Cyril Scott, English composer, writer, and poet (b. 1879)

1972 Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and Marine (b. 1934)

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

1978 Basil Wolverton, American illustrator (b. 1909)

1980 Marshall McLuhan, Canadian philosopher and theorist (b. 1911)

1980 Raoul Walsh, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1887)

1983 Sevim Burak, Turkish author and playwright (b. 1931)

1985 Ricky Nelson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1940)

1987 Jerry Turner (anchorman), American journalist (b. 1929)

1988 Nicolas Calas, Greek-American poet and critic (b. 1907)

1990 George Allen (American football coach), American football player and coach (b. 1918)

1990 Vasily Lazarev, Russian physician, colonel, and astronaut (b. 1928)

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

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

1993 Brandon Teena, American murder victim (b. 1972)

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

1994 Woody Strode, American football player, wrestler, and actor (b. 1914)

1996 Wesley Addy, American actor (b. 1913)

1997 Floyd Cramer, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1933)

1997 Billie Dove, American actress (b. 1903)

1998 Ted Glossop, Australian rugby league player and coach (b. 1934)

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

1999 Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, Indian Muslim scholar and author (b. 1914)

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, Canadian guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1951)

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

2004 Gérard Debreu, French economist and mathematician, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences laureate (b. 1921)

2005 Enrico Di Giuseppe, American tenor and educator (b. 1932)

2005 Phillip Whitehead, English screenwriter, producer, and politician (b. 1937)

2006 Ya'akov Hodorov, Israeli footballer (b. 1927)

2006 Seymour Martin Lipset, American sociologist, author, and academic (b. 1922)

2006 George Sisler, Jr., American businessman (b. 1917)

2007 Roy Amara, American scientific researcher (b. 1925)

2007 Michael Goldberg (painter), American painter and educator (b. 1924)

2007 Bill Idelson, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1919)

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

2007 Ettore Sottsass, Austrian-Italian architect and designer (b. 1917)

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

2009 Cahal Daly, Irish cardinal and philosopher, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Armagh (b. 1917)

2009 Justin Keating, Irish surgeon, journalist, and politician, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (b. 1930)

2010 Raymond Impanis, Belgian cyclist (b. 1925)

2010 Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1927)

2012 Tarak Mekki, Tunisian businessman and politician (b. 1958)

2012 Jovette Marchessault, Canadian author and playwright (b. 1938)

2012 Günter Rössler, German photographer and journalist (b. 1926)

2013 James Avery (actor), American actor (b. 1945)

2013 Roberto Ciotti, Italian guitarist and composer (b. 1953)

2013 Bob Grant (radio host), American radio host (b. 1929)

2013 Irina Korschunow, German author and screenwriter (b. 1925)

2014 Edward Herrmann, American actor (b. 1943)

2014 Abdullah Hussain, Malaysian author (b. 1920)

2014 Norm Phelps, American author and activist (b. 1939)

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

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

2015 Natalie Cole, American singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1950)

2015 Wayne Rogers, American actor and investor (b. 1933)

2016 William Christopher, American actor (b. 1932)

2018 Kader Khan, Indian actor (b. 1937)

2021 Betty White, American actress, comedian and producer (b. 1922)

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

2022 Barry Lane, English golfer (b. 1960)

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

Christian Calendar of saints:

- 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)

January 0

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/31 BBC: On This Day]

[https://www.onthisday.com/events/december/31 Historical Events on December 31]