December 31: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

Denmark’s Queen Margrethe announced that she would end her 52-year-long reign.

Queen Margrethe took over the throne from her father, King Frederik IX, on January 14, 1972. She was succeeded by Crown Prince Frederik, who was crowned King Frederik X on January 14, 2024.

The Washington Post called Lorde a bigot in a full-page ad after she canceled her show in Israel.

NASA successfully put two satellites designed to study the Moon’s interior structure into the Moon’s orbit.

The purpose of the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) was also to better map the surface of the Moon and its gravitational field. The two satellites' mission was a complete success, but due to fuel constraints, they were ultimately crashed into the surface of the Moon almost a year later, on December 17, 2012.

A blue moon and a lunar eclipse occurred on the same day.

The fact that both happened on New Year's Eve made the event even more special. While we use the expression "once in a blue moon" to refer to something rare, a blue moon is just the second full moon within a calendar month. Unfortunately for spectators, the lunar eclipse was only partial; otherwise, it would have been an incredible sight!

Boris Yeltsin resigned as the President of Russia, which left Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as acting President.

Blizzard Entertainment released the first Diablo game.

Diablo's expectations were low, with the game's executive producer estimating a hundred thousand or so sales in total. Fortunately for Blizzard, these estimates couldn't have been more wrong - there were more than 450,000 preorders alone, with more than 2 million copies sold by 2000.

Barbra Streisand performed her first live public concert in 20 years.

The Fog Bowl, a heavy, dense fog rolled over Soldier Field in Chicago during the second quarter of the Bears vs. Eagles NFC Divisional Playoff Game.

It cut the visibility to 15-20 yards.

Ted Bundy escaped from jail.

While imprisoned in Colorado, Ted Bundy used the fact that employees were in Christmas break to his advantage. When he broke out, many employees were away, including the chief jailer.

Paul McCartney filed a lawsuit to break up The Beatles.

Evel Knievel attempted to jump the Caesar’s Palace Fountain.

Jumping the Vegas' Caesars Palace Fountain was Knievel's longest attempted motorcycle jump at 141 feet. He failed the jump and broke several bones – his pelvis, femur, hip fractures, wrist, and both ankles. On top of that, he suffered a concussion.

US President Harry Truman officially proclaimed the end of World War II.

The New Year’s Eve Ball was lowered in New York Times Square for the very first time.

American inventor Ogden Bolton Jr. patented the first electric-powered bicycle.

Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the new capital of Canada.

The British East India Trading Company was given a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I.

The company's name to which the charter was awarded was the Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies. The initial charter essentially gave the company a monopoly on all trade west of the Americas and east of Africa.

Roman Emperor Commodus survived an assassination attempt.

Conspirators talked the Emperor's mistress into poisoning Commodus, but he vomited up the poison. The collaborators sent Commodus' wrestling partner to strangle him in the bath – a plot which succeeded.