TO D AY I N H I S TO R Y
Today is Thursday, Dec. 31, the 366th and final day of 2020.
Today’s highlight in history
On Dec. 31, 2019, the health commission in the Chinese city of Wuhan announced that experts were investigating an outbreak of respiratory illness and that most of the victims had visited a seafood market; the statement said 27 people had become ill with a strain of viral pneumonia and that seven were in serious condition.
On this date
In 1775, during the Revolutionary War, the British repulsed an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec; Montgomery was killed.
In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed an enabling act paving the way for Virginia’s western counties to become the state of West Virginia, which took place in June 1863.
In 1879, Thomas Edison first publicly demonstrated his electric incandescent light by illuminating some 40 bulbs at his lab in Menlo Park, N.J.
In 1904, New York’s Times Square saw its first New Year’s Eve celebration, with about 200,000 people in attendance.
In 1972, Baseball player Roberto Clemente, 38, was killed when a plane he chartered and was traveling on to bring relief supplies to earthquake-devastated Nicaragua crashed shortly after takeoff from Puerto Rico.
In 1974, private U.S. citizens were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more
than 40 years.
In 1986, 97 people were killed when fire broke out in a hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin announced his resignation.
One year ago:
Dozens of Iraqi
Shiite militiamen and their supporters broke into the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad and set fire to a reception area; the mob had been angered over deadly U.S. airstrikes targeting the Iranian-backed militia. Pope Francis slapped the hand of a well-wisher who had grabbed him and yanked him toward her
as he strolled in St. Peter’s Square to admire the Vatican’s Nativity scene; he apologized a day later for his “bad example.”
Today’s birthdays
Producer George Schlatter is
91. Actor Sir Anthony Hopkins is 83. Actor Tim Considine is
80. Actor Sarah Miles is 79. Actor Barbara Carrera is 79. Musician Andy Summers is 78. Actor Sir Ben Kingsley is 77. Director Taylor Hackford is 76. Designer Diane von Furstenberg is 74. Actor Tim Matheson is 73. Musician Tom Hamilton is 69. Actor Bebe Neuwirth is 62. Actor Val Kilmer is 61. Musician Scott Ian is 57. Actor Gong Li is 55. Author Nicholas Sparks is 55. Singer Joe McIntyre is 48. Donald Trump Jr. is 43. Gymnast Gabby Douglas is 25.