Today is Tuesday, Dec. 31, the 366th and final day of 2024.
Tonight is New Year’s Eve.
The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include Pope Callixtus III, born Alfonso de Borgia, in 1378; Charles Edward Stuart, Scotland’s “Bonnie Prince Charlie,” in 1720; artist Henri Matisse in 1869; businesswoman Elizabeth Arden in 1878; U.S. Army Gen. George Marshall in 1880; Saudi King Salman in 1935 (age 89); actor Anthony Hopkins in 1937 (age 87); actor Sarah Miles in 1941 (age 83); musician Andy Summers (Police/Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band) in 1942 (age 82); actor Ben Kingsley in 1943 (age 81); musician John Denver in 1943; musician Pete Quaife (Kinks) in 1943; fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg in 1946 (age 78); musician Burton Cummings (Guess Who/Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band) in 1947 (age 77); musician Donna Summer in 1948; musician Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith/Thin Lizzy) in 1951 (age 73); actor James Remar in 1953 (age 71); actor Tim Matheson in 1947 (age 77); actor Bebe Neuwirth in 1958 (age 66); actor Val Kilmer in 1959 (age 65); musician Paul Westerberg (Replacements) in 1959 (age 65); musician Scott Ian (Anthrax) in 1963 (age 61); writer Nicholas Sparks in 1965 (age 59); musician Joe McIntyre (New Kids on the Block) in 1972 (age 52); Donald Trump Jr., businessman/son of President Donald Trump, in 1977 (age 47); musician/dancer Psy in 1977 (age 47); musician Jason Sechrist (Portugal. The Man) in 1979 (age 45); actor Ricky Whittle in 1981 (age 43); musician Drew Taggart (Chainsmokers) in 1989 (age 35); Canadian Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater Patrick Chan in 1990 (age 34); Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Gabby Douglas in 1995 (age 29); actor Nadia Parkes in 1995 (age 29); actor Hunter Schafer in 1999 (age 25).
On this date in history:
In 1862, the Union ironclad ship USS Monitor sank off Cape Hatteras, N.C., during a storm. Sixteen members of the crew were lost.
In 1879, Thomas Edison gave the first public demonstration of his incandescent lamp — in Menlo Park, N.J.
In 1929, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians did their first New Year’s Eve broadcast from the Roosevelt Grill in New York City.
In 1947, America’s favorite Western movie couple, singing cowboy Roy Rogers and co-star Dale Evans, were married.
In 1968, the Soviet Union tested its supersonic airliner, the TU-144, months before the Anglo-French Concorde.
In 1972, Pittsburgh Pirates great Roberto Clemente and four other people died in a cargo plane crash en route to deliver supplies to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua. The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from Puerto Rico.
In 1983, the court-ordered breakup of the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. took effect.
In 1983, a bloodless military coup overthrew Nigerian President Shehu Shagari’s government, replacing him with Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
In 1985, fire broke out on a chartered DC-3 aircraft and it crashed in northeastern Texas, killing rock singer Rick Nelson, his fiancee and five band members.
In 1988, the Chicago Bears defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 20-12 in the so-called “Fog Bowl,” when thick fog shrouded Chicago’s Soldier Field.
In 1994, Russian forces launched a full air and ground attack on Grozny, the capital city of the rebel republic of Chechnya.
In 1997, the Algerian government announced that more than 400 people had been massacred by Islamic extremists during the last nine days of December.
In 1999, Panama assumed full control of the Panama Canal.
In 1999, Boris Yeltsin resigned as president of Russia, leaving Vladimir Putin acting president.
In 2004, authorities in Buenos Aires reported at least 175 deaths and hundreds of injuries in a fire at a crowded nightclub. A government official said, “Only two exits were open; the others were tied up with wire. These young people were doomed in a death trap.”
In 2006, Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, increasing its membership to 27 countries.
In 2014, Beji Caid Essebsi becomes Tunisia’s first freely elected president. The country’s Parliament ousted him 18 months later with a vote of no confidence.
In 2019, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission in China first reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia. Epidemiologists later identified the cause of the diseases as a novel coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic killed more than 1.7 million people across the globe in 2019.
In 2020, the historic Brexit trade agreement with the European Union entered legal force in Britain just hours before the official end of the transition period.
In 2022, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 2005 until his unexpected resignation in 2013, died at his residence following several days of declining health. He was 95.
In 2023, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announced her plans to abdicate the throne January 14 after more than half a century on the throne.
A thought for the day: “I’m not interested in age. People who tell me their age are silly. You’re as old as you feel.” — Canadian entrepreneur Elizabeth Arden
