Wednesday, December 31, 2014

History for December 31

History for December 31 - On-This-Day.com
Henri Matisse 1869, George Marshall 1880, Simon Wiesenthal 1908 


Anthony Hopkins 1937, John Denver 1943, Ben Kingsley 1943 


Tim Matheson 1947, Donna Summer 1948, Val Kilmer 1959 


1687 - The first Huguenots set sail from France for the Cape of Good Hope, where they would later create the South African wine industry with the vines they took with them on the voyage. 


1695 - The window tax was imposed in Britain, which resulted in many windows being bricked up. 


1891 - New York's new Immigration Depot was opened at Ellis Island, to provide improved facilities for the massive numbers of arrivals. 


1929 - Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played "Auld Lang Syne" as a New Year's Eve song for the first time. 


1947 - Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were married. 


1955 - General Motors became the first U.S. corporation to earn more than one billion dollars in a single year. 


1960 - The farthing coin, which had been in use in Great Britain since the 13th century, ceased to be legal tender. 



1979 - At year end oil prices were 88% higher than at the start of 1979. 


1997 - Michael Kennedy, 39-year-old son of the late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was killed in a skiing accident on Aspen Mountain in Colorado


1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was designated acting president. 

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