Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/December 31
This is a list of selected December 31 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
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December 31: New Year's Eve in the Gregorian calendar; Hogmanay in Scotland
- 1775 – American Revolutionary War: At the Battle of Quebec, British forces repulsed an attack by the Continental Army to capture Quebec City and enlist French Canadian support.
- 1960 – The farthing, a British coin first minted in England in the 13th century, ceased to be legal tender.
- 1963 – The Central African Federation officially collapsed, eventually to become Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
- 1972 – American baseball player Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash en route to deliver aid to victims of the Nicaragua earthquake.
- 1999 – Boris Yeltsin, the first democratically elected President of Russia, resigned and named Vladimir Putin as Acting President.
- 2004 – Taipei 101 (2008 New Year firework pictured) in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan, one of the world's tallest skyscrapers, opened to the public.