What is December 31?
{{calendar}} {{day}} This date is well known for [[New Year's Eve]] as it is the last [[day]] of a given [[calendar year]], as the following [[day]] is [[January 1]], the first [[day]] of the following [[year]]. == Events == === Up to 1900 === * [[192]] &ndash; [[Narcissus]] murders Roman Emperor [[Commodus]]. * [[406]] &ndash; [[Vandals]], [[Alans]] and [[Suebians]] cross the [[Rhine]], beginning the invasion of [[Gaul]]. * [[1225]] &ndash; The Ly [[Dynasty]] in [[Vietnam]] ends after 216 years, as [[Tran Thai Tong]], still a boy, becomes [[Emperor]]. This is the beginning of the Tran Dynasty. * [[1472]] &ndash; The throwing of [[snow]]balls is banned in [[Amsterdam]]. * [[1494]] &ndash; [[First Italian War]]: Troops of King [[Charles VIII of France]] enter [[Rome]]. * [[1600]] &ndash; The [[British East India Company]] is created. * [[1660]] &ndash; [[James II of England]] is named [[Duke]] of [[Normandy]] by [[Louis XIV of France]]. * [[1687]] &ndash; The first [[Huguenot]]s set sail from [[France]] for the [[Cape of Good Hope]]. * [[1695]] &ndash; [[Window]] [[tax]] is introduced in [[England]]. As a result, many people [[brick]] up their windows in order not to have to pay the tax. * [[1703]] &ndash; An [[earthquake]] and [[tsunami]] damage [[Tokyo]], [[Odawara]] and several nearby towns, killing around 10,000 people. * [[1720]] &ndash; A storm [[flood]] ravages the North German coast, separating a dune on [[Heligoland]] from the main [[island]]. * [[1775]] &ndash; [[American Revolutionary War]]: In the [[Battle of Quebec]], British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army General [[Richard Montgomery]]. * [[1790]] &ndash; [[Efimeris]], the oldest Greek [[newspaper]] still in print, is published for the first time. * [[1796]] &ndash; [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]], is incorporated as a [[city]]. * [[1857]] &ndash; [[Queen Victoria]] chooses [[Ottawa]] as the capital of [[Canada]]. * [[1862]] &ndash; [[Abraham Lincoln]] signs the Act creating the state of [[West Virginia]] and thus splitting [[Virginia]] in