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What happened in history on this day: December 31?
Since 1995, I have been collecting information on a variety of topics,
creating several timelines of history.
Here you will find specific events from those databases
for this day, on the topics of personal computers, video games, the Walt Disney Company,
Chevrolet Corvettes, A&W Root Beer, Sweden, and Canadian coins.
On December 31 in ...
- 1975 - To date, MITS has sold 2,000 Altair 8800 systems. IMS Associates has shipped 50 IMSAI 8080 systems.
- 1976 - To date, MITS has shipped over 10,000 Altair 8800 kits.
- 1978 - Total industry sales of personal computers to date: 200,000, valued at US$500 million.
- 1978 - Shipments of floppy disks to date: 270,000.
- 1979 - Number of floppy disk drives manufactured to date: 2.5 million.
- 1981 - Shipments of floppy disks to date: over 250 million.
- 1982 - Shipments of Commodore VIC-20 computers to date: 750,000.
- 1982 - Shipments of Timex Timex/Sinclair 1000 computers to date: 600,000.
- 1982 - Shipments of Texas Instruments TI 99/4 computers to date: 575,000.
- 1983 - Shipments of IBM PC computers to date: one million.
- 1984 - Shipments of the IBM JX personal computer in Japan to date: about 6,000.
- 1984 - Shipments of the Commodore 64 to date: 3.5 million.
- 1987 - Shipments of IBM PS/2 Model 30 computers to date: 350,000.
- 1987 - Shipments of Apple IIgs computers to date: 340,000.
- 1987 - Shipments of IBM PS/2 Model 50 computers to date: 308,000.
- 1987 - Shipments of IBM PC AT Model 5170 computers to date: 263,000.
- 1987 - Shipments of Atari 130XE and 65XE computers to date: 261,000.
- 1987 - Shipments of MS-DOS to date: 10.5 million.
- 1987 - Shipments of Apple Macintosh SE computers to date: 255,000.
- 1987 - Shipments of Apple IIe computers to date: 231,000.
- 1987 - Shipments of IBM PC XT Model 5160 computers to date: 217,000.
- 1987 - Shipments of Leading Edge PC Model D computers to date: 210,000.
- 1990 - At the end of the year, 29% of American households with TV sets also have a personal computer. 7.6% have a CD-ROM drive on their PC, and 17% have a modem on the PC.
- 1991 - Shipments of Apple Macintosh computers to date: 7 million.
- 1991 - Total sales of Lotus 1-2-3 to date: 16 million.
- 1991 - Total shipments of Microsoft Windows 3.0 to date: 15 million.
- 1992 - Unit shipments of personal computers worldwide to date: about 135 million.
- 1993 - Shipments of IBM OS/2 2.1 to date: 3 million.
- 1994 - Shipments of Windows NT to date: 1 million.
- 1994 - Shipments of Windows to date: 50-60 million.
- 1994 - Shipments of OS/2 2.0 (and higher) to date: nearly 10 million.
- 1996 - IBM announces it has developed a hard drive storing 5 gigabits per square inch. Drives could be released for sale in a few years.
- 1996 - Shipments of Windows 95 operating system to date: about 65 million.
- 1999 - Shipments of CD-R discs worldwide to date: 1.4 billion.
- 1999 - Shipments of CD-RW drives to date: 14 million.
- 2004 - Microsoft officially ends support for Windows NT 4.0.
- 1924 - Walt Disney signs the new contract with M.J. Winkler Productions for more Alice films.
- 1924 - Disney ships the 12th Alice Comedy film, Alice the Toreador, to M.J. Winkler Productions.
- 1926 - Live-action filming is completed for the Alice Comedy film Circus Story (later named Alice's Circus Daze).
- 1926 - Live-action filming is completed for the Alice Comedy film Alice's Knaughty Knight.
- 1926 - Live-action filming is completed for the Alice Comedy film Alice's Three Bad Eggs.
- 1937 - Walt Disney announces to the Disney family that Pinocchio would be the studio's second animated feature film.
- 1938 - The cover of Radio Guide features Disney's Dopey character.
- 1957 - Disneyland welcomes its 10-millionth guest, Leigh Woolfenden.
- 1957 - The first New Year's Eve Party is held in Disneyland, with 7500 attending.
- 1969 - Buena Vista releases the live-action feature film The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes to theatres in the USA.
- 1972 - The last Sunday color comic strip of Uncle Remus is published.
- 1983 - The Disney TV show in Canada airs the film The Wise One.
- 1990 - The stage show Dick Tracy Starring in Diamond Double-Cross at Videopolis in Disneyland gives its last performance.
- 1991 - Mongolia issues twelve postage stamps marking the 50th anniversary of Fantasia.
- 1991 - Tokyo Disneyland welcomes its 110-millionth guest.
- 1992 - The Beauty and the Beast stage show begins performances at Videopolis in Euro Disneyland.
- 1992 - The 8TRAX club opens in Pleasure Island at Walt Disney World.
- 1994 - The Walt Disney Company signs a preliminary agreement to commit up to US$34 million to renovate and lease the New Amsterdam Theater in New York.
- 1999 - The film Fantasia/2000 is shown at a special screening and gala party at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California. Tickets cost US$2000.
- 1999 - Illuminations 2000 debuts in Epcot at Walt Disney World.
- 1999 - The Imaginations Parade debuts in Disneyland Paris.
- 2008 - The Year of a Million Dreams promotion at Disneyland ends.
- 2011 - The Cirque du Soleil theater in Tokyo Disney Resort ceases playing the production "Zed".
- 1953 - A Chevrolet Engineering Work Order directs that the body of Corvette #853 be moved to #856, with the chassis of #853 and body of #856 to be scrapped.
- 1974 - Zora Arkus-Duntov officially resigns from Chevrolet.
- 2000 - Standings at the end of the 2000 American Le Mans Series:
- GTS drivers championship: 6th is Andy Pilgrim, 8th is Ron Fellows, 12th is Justin Bell, 14th is Kelly Collins.
- GTS team championship: 3rd is Corvette Racing.
- GTS automobile manufacturers championship: 3rd is Chevrolet.
- 1938 - Dr. Gerhard Schacher, former economic adviser to the German Reichbank, warns that the next European crisis will arise January 11 when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain goes to Rome, Italy; if Preier Benito Mussolini is pemitted to take the territory he demands, then Adolf Hitler will claim Alsace-Lorraine, and move into Soviet Ukraine, involving France and Russia in war.
- 1939 - The Russian 163rd Division on the middle of Finland fails, with the division virtually annihilated by the Finns.
- 1941 - Erich von Manstein's 11th Army ceases attempts to take the fortress of Sevastopol.
- 1941 - American Admiral Chester Nimitz takes command of the US Pacific Fleet.
- 1941 - (evening) Japanese submarines shell Hilo, Hawaii, and Nawiliwili, Kauai.
- 1942 - (0915 hours) A German destroyer sights British destroyers of convoy JW-51B, and opens fire.
- 1942 - (0944 hours) In convoy JW-51B, two British destroyers fake launching a torpedo attack on Admiral Hipper, causing it to turn away from the convoy.
- 1942 - (1019 hours) Cruiser Admiral Hipper cripples British destroyer Onslow escorting convoy JW-51B.
- 1942 - (1050 hours) Cruiser Lützow nears convoy JW-51B, but does not attack due to poor visibility.
- 1942 - (1106 hours) Cruiser Admiral Hipper makes a fifth try to avoid british destroyers and attach convoy JW-51B, but again turns away for fear of torpedo attacks.
- 1942 - (1133 hours) Cruisers Sheffield and Jamaica of Force R arrive at convoy JW-51B, opening fire on the Admiral Hipper, which then withdraws to Altenfjord.
- 1942 - British cruiser Sheffield sinks German destroyer Eckholdt.
- 1942 - (1137 hours) Cruiser Admiral Hipper is hit twice on the port side.
- 1942 - German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper sinks British HMS Achates, while defending an arctic convoy.
- 1942 - (evening) Two Oboe-led British Mosquito bombers attack the German night-fighter unit headquarters near Florennes, Belgium. One hit is scored, with two near misses.
- 1943 - Soviet forces capture Zhitomir.
- 1943 - Winston Churchill shows Bernard Montgomery plans for the invasion of Europe. Montgomery argues that three divisions on 25 miles of Normandy is too small, and too restricted in area.
- 1943 - (evening) On the beach at the seaside village of Luc-sur-Mer (France), British No. 1 Combined Operation Pilotage and Beach Reconnaissance Party emerges from midget submarine to take samples of the sand, to determine if it could support trucks and tanks of an invasion.
- 1944 - British Mosquito bombers attack the Gestapo headquarters at Oslo, Norway.
- 1944 - Adolf Hitler launches Operation Nordwind, the second surprise offensive at the southern flank of the Allied line in Germany.
- 1944 - (2340 hours) a German V-2 rocket lands in Crouch Hill, Islington, England, killing 15, seriously injuring 34. This is the last rocket of the year, the 382nd to hit England.
- 1945 - The last American troops leave Iran.
- 1945 - The government of France officially recognizes the government of Yugoslavia
- 1945 - Allied Headquarters in Japan orders the suspension of teaching Japanese history, geography, and morals in Japanese schools, pending re-writes of textbooks.
- 1945 - In the US Congressional Pearl Harbor Investigating Committee, Admiral Harold Stark, former Chief of Naval Operations, testifies that eleven specific warnings of possible Japanese hostile action were sent from Washington to Pacific Naval Command during October to December 1941.
- 1969 - The USSR issues a postage stamp marking the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Romania.
- 1992 - Marshall Islands issues two postage stamps marking the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Barents Sea.
- 1999 - Dominica issues six postage stamps as part of a Millennium series, depicting events of World War II: Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, D-Day invasion, Yalta Conference, Germany surrenders, Russians raise flag over Reichstag building.
- 2000 - Ireland issues a 30 pence postage stamp depicting peace at the end of World War II, part of a millennium series of stamps.
- 1981 - Percent of US homes with a cartridge-based video game system: 9%. 80% of them are Atari systems.
- 1981 - Unit sales of Atari VCS game systems to date: 6 million.
- 1982 - Unit sales of home video game systems to date: 15 million.
- 1986 - To date, Nintendo has sold almost two million Disk Systems for the Famicom in Japan.
- 1987 - Unit sales to date of Nintendo Entertainment System game systems: about 4 million.
- 1988 - Unit sales to date of Nintendo Entertainment System game systems: about 11 million.
- 1989 - Unit sales to date of Nintendo Entertainment System game systems: about 20 million.
- 1990 - To date, Nintendo has sold 4.4 million Disk Systems for the Famicom.
- 1990 - Unit sales to date of Nintendo Entertainment System game systems: about 27.5 million.
- 1991 - NEC releases the PC Engine Super CD-ROM2 for the PC Engine in Japan.
- 1992 - Unit sales of Nintendo Game Boy game systems worldwide to date: 32.2 million.
- 1992 - Unit sales of Nintendo Entertainment Systems worldwide to date: 64.2 million.
- 1992 - Unit sales of Super Nintendo Entertainment System game systems worldwide to date: 17.8 million.
- 1993 - Unit sales of the video game Double Dragon to date: 8 million copies.
- 1994 - Shipments of home video games in the US to date: 40 million.
- 1995 - Squaresoft releases the Final Fantasy IV video game for the PlayStation.
- 1999 - Unit shipments of Nintendo's Mario Party video game in the USA to date: 1.15 million.
- 2003 - Total worldwide sales to date of Halo video game for the Xbox: 4 million.
- 2003 - Total shipments of video game systems in the US to date: Xbox 8.6 million, GameCube 6.8 million.
- 2003 - Total shipments to date of video game systems worldwide: Xbox 13.7 million, PlayStation 2 70 million.
- 2003 - Total shipments of Game Boy Advance video game systems in the world to date: 8.1 million.
- 2004 - Total unit sales of the Final Fantasy video game series to date: Japan 28.8 million, USA 18.2 million, Europe 8.7 million.
- 2005 - Total sales of Game Boy Advance series worldwide to date: 74 million.
- 2007 - Sales to date of video game systems in the US: Xbox 360 9.2 million, Nintendo Wii 7.4 million, PlayStation 3 3.3 million.
- 2007 - Sales to date of Xbox 360 systems worldwide: 17.7 million.
- 1611 - In Norrköping, the Accession Charter of King Gustav Adolf is declared.
- 1859 - Emigration of Swedes during the past ten years: 30,000.
- 1889 - Emigration of Swedes during the past ten years: 330,000.
- 1966 - The European Free Trade Association abolishes trade tariffs among Austria, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland.
- 2005 - Certain Swedish 50 öre coins and some bank notes in denominations 20, 100, and 500 kronor cease to be legal tender (but can be deposited in banks until April 28).
- 1998 - The Royal Canadian Mint launches the first 25c Millennium coin in St. John's Newfoundland.
- 1836 - The US Mint begins striking Seated Liberty silver dollars for circulation.
- 1836 - The Mint releases Gobrecht-designed dollar coins to the Bank of the United States for distribution.
- 1916 - The Philadelphia Mint stops minting Standing Liberty quarter dollars for the year, with 52,000 struck.
- 1970 - US President Richard Nixon signs the One Bank Holding Company Amendments Act of 1970 legislation into law, creating the circulating copper-nickel Eisenhower dollar coin, up to 150 million silver-clad dollar coins, removing silver from circulating Kennedy half dollars, and authorizing sale of Carson City silver dollars.
- 1974 - US President Gerald Ford issues Executive Order 11825 legalizing private ownership of gold.
- 1977 - The Mint Act provision for alternate alloy for cent expires.
- 1918 - Kid Gleason replaces Pants Rowland as Chicago White Sox manager.
- 1920 - Roy Park makes first-ball duck in only Test Cricket inning, versus England at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
- 1927 - Bill Ponsford scores 336 in cricket against South Africa, giving him 1146 for month.
- 1945 - Donald Bradman scores 112, his first post-War century, South Africa versus Australia Services.
- 1957 - Amateur Athletic Union awards Bobby Morrow the James Sullivan Memorial Trophy.
- 1958 - 47th Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in Brisbane (3-2).
- 1958 - Willie Shoemaker becomes first jockey to win national riding championship four times.
- 1961 - Green Bay Packers shutout New York Giants 37-0 in NFL championship game.
- 1962 - American Basketball League announces suspension of operation.
- 1962 - Ohio ends suit against Cincinnati Reds when they agree to stay in Cincinnati for ten years.
- 1963 - Chicago Bears win NFL championship.
- 1964 - Donald Campbell of the United Kingdom sets world water speed record (276.33 mph).
- 1966 - Test Cricket debut of Bishen Singh Bedi, India versus West Indies Calcutta, 2-92.
- 1967 - First NBA game at Great Western Forum, Los Angeles Lakers beat Houston Rockets 147-118.
- 1967 - Oakland Raiders beat Houston Oilers 40-7 in AFL championship game.
- 1967 - Coldest NFL game, -13 degrees F, dubbed the Ice Bowl. Green Bay Packers beat Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in NFL championship game.
- 1972 - 39th Sugar Bowl: Oklahoma beats Penn State 14-0.
- 1972 - Miami Dolphins beat Pittsburgh Steelers 21-7 in AFC championship game.
- 1972 - Washington Redskins beat Dallas Cowboys 26-3 in NFC championship game.
- 1973 - 40th Sugar Bowl: Notre Dame 24 beats Alabama 23.
- 1973 - 61st Australian Men's Tennis: John Newcombe beats O Parun (6-3, 6-7, 7-5, 6-1).
- 1973 - Johan Cruyff chosen European soccer Player of Year.
- 1974 - 41st Sugar Bowl: Nebraska 13 beats Florida 10.
- 1974 - Free agent pitcher Catfish Hunter signs record US$3.75 million five-year New York Yankees contract.
- 1975 - 42nd Sugar Bowl: Alabama 13 beats Pennsylvania State 6.
- 1980 - New York Islanders' greatest shutout margin (9-0) versus Chicago Black Hawks.
- 1984 - Test Cricket debut of Mohammad Azharuddin, versus England at Calcutta, India.
- 1988 - NHL player Mario Lemieux scores a goal in each of the five different ways possible in one game (even-strength, power-play, shorthanded, penalty shot, and empty-net)
- 1989 - Fog Bowl: Heavy fog rolls in on Chicago Bears 20-12 victory over Philadelphia Eagles.
- 1989 - Jockey Kent Desormeaux sets record with 598 wins in a year.
- 1991 - Daniel R McCarthy elected New York Yankees managing general partner.
- 1991 - J Donald Crump resigns as Canadian Football League Commissioner.
- 1995 - 62nd Sugar Bowl: Virginia Tech beats Texas.
- 1995 - Matthew Elliott scores separate cricket century same day for Victoria.
- 1997 - Marv Levy retires as coach of Buffalo Bills.
- 1997 - Orlando Hernandez, half-brother of pitcher Livan, defects from Cuba.
- 2007 - In Baltimore, Maryland, USA, the Baltimore Ravens fire long-time head coach Brian Billick, after finishing a disappointing 5-win, 11-loss season. Billick spent nine seasons in Baltimore and was the Ravens' most successful coach with an 85-67 record.
- 2008 - Moscow Dynamo defeats Canada in hockey to win the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland.
- 2021 - At Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, USA, NHL regular season game: Washington Capitals beats Detroit Red Wings by score 3-1. Capitals' forward Alexander Ovechkin scores his 275th power play goal, breaking the record held by Dave Andreychuk.
- 2021 - At Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, USA, NHL regular season game: New York Rangers beats Tampa Bay Lightning by score 4-3.
- 2021 - At T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, NHL regular season game: Vegas Golden Knights beats Anaheim Ducks by score 3-1.
- 2021 - At Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, USA, NHL regular season game: New Jersey Devils beats Edmonton Oilers by score 6-5.
- 1775 - Battle of Québec; Americans unable to take British stronghold.
- 1776 - Rhode Island establishes wage and price controls to curb inflation: Limit is 70 cents a day for carpenters, 42 cents for tailors.
- 1781 - Continental Congress charters the Bank of North America.
- 1783 - Import to America of African slaves banned by all of the Northern states.
- 1862 - James Edward Rains, USA lawyer, CSA Brigadier-General, dies in battle at age 29.
- 1862 - Joshua Woodrow Sill, USA Brigadier-General, dies in battle at age 31.
- 1862 - Battle of Stone's River, Tennessee, CSA (Stone River, Murfreesboro).
- 1862 - US President Abraham Lincoln signs act admitting West Virginia to the USA.
- 1862 - Skirmish at Parker Cross Roads, Tennessee, CSA.
- 1862 - USA ironclad ship Monitor sinks off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, CSA. 16 crew die, 47 are rescued.
- 1879 - Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time.
- 1890 - Ellis Island (New York City, New York) opens as a US immigration depot.
- 1897 - Brooklyn's last day as a city, next day it incorporates into New York City.
- 1904 - The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Longacre Square (later known as Times Square) in New York City, New York.
- 1907 - For the first time, a ball drops in New York City's Times Square to signify the start of the New Year at midnight.
- 1909 - Manhattan Bridge opens.
- 1923 - First transatlantic radio broadcast of a voice, Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) to Manchester (England).
- 1938 - Dr R N Harger's "drunkometer", first breath test, introduced in Indiana, USA.
- 1938 - Herbert Lehman is sworn in as Governor of New York State for fourth four-year term.
- 1938 - Dr. Charles Greeley Abbot, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, receives a US patent for a "solar distilling apparatus", which uses concentrated Sun's rays to heat contaminated water to boiling, then the water vapor is collected.
- 1938 - US President Franklin Roosevelt issues a proclamation that the government will continue to purchase domestically mined silver for 64.64 cents per ounce until June 30. (Current world price of silver is 43 cents.)
- 1938 - The 8th International Conference of American States issues the Declaration of Lima, that the American countries agree to stand united against any threat.
- 1941 - American Admiral Chester Nimitz takes command of the US Pacific Fleet.
- 1944 - 48 people die in a train accident in Ogden, Utah, USA.
- 1946 - US President Harry Truman officially proclaims end of World War II.
- 1957 - Disneyland in Anaheim, California, welcomes its 10-millionth guest.
- 1961 - US post-war Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$12 billion.
- 1970 - US President Richard Nixon signs the Bank Holding Act legislation creating the Eisenhower dollar coin, and removing the last silver from circulating coins (Kennedy half dollars).
- 1971 - Lieutenant General Robert E Cushman, Junior, US Marine Corp, ends term as deputy director of US Central Intelligence Agency.
- 1974 - US President Gerald Ford issues Executive Order 11825 legalizing private ownership of gold.
- 1974 - Zora Arkus-Duntov, Chief Engineer of Corvette, officially resigns from Chevrolet, replaced by David McLellan.
- 1977 - Ted Bundy escapes from jail in Colorado.
- 1978 - Magic Show closes at Cort Theater in New York City after 1859 performances.
- 1978 - US Central Intelligence Agency director, Admiral Stansfield Turner retires from the Navy.
- 1978 - Taiwan's final day of diplomatic relations with the US.
- 1979 - Winterland Rock Concert Hall in San Francisco closes after 556 concerts.
- 1984 - New York City subway gunman Bernhard Goetz surrenders to police in New Hampshire.
- 1984 - US leaves UNESCO.
- 1986 - Fire at 22-story Dupont Hotel Plaza in San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA; 1000 guests in building, 95+ die. Second worst hotel fire in US history. The fire started at same time as three explosions were heard, which occurred 10 minutes after workers voted to strike at midnight.
- 1990 - The Sci-Fi Channel on cable TV begins transmitting.
- 1991 - Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at record high 3168.83.
- 1994 - The Walt Disney Company signs a preliminary agreement to commit up to US$34 million to renovate and lease the New Amsterdam Theater in New York.
- 1996 - The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway is merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, making it one of the largest railroad mergers in U.S. history.
- 1997 - After 26 years in operation, the Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee closes permanently.
- 1999 - US turns over complete administration of the Panama Canal to the Panamanian Government as stipulated in the Torrijos-Carter Treaty of 1977 free of liens and debts, in good operation and with a $1 billion investment program in place designed to ensure continued first class service to the maritime world. At the transfer, more than 97 percent of the Canal's 9,000 workers are Panamanian.
- 2006 - The U.S. soldier death toll in Iraq reaches 3,000.
- 2007 - The massive Big Dig construction project in Boston, Massachusetts ends.
- 2008 - U.S. crude oil price rises 14 percent on the final trading day of 2008, with February futures settling up US$5.57 to $44.60 per barrel.
- 2015 - US resumes export of crude oil, first since 1973.
Other history:
- 406 - 80,000 Vandels attack the Rhine at Mainz.
- 870 - Skirmish at Englefield: Ethelred of Wessex beats Danish invasion army.
- 1775 - Battle of Québec; Americans unable to take British stronghold.
- 1805 - End of French Republican calendar; France returns to Gregorianism.
- 1857 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as new capital of Canada.
- 1879 - Edison gives first public demonstration of his incandescent lamp.
- 1902 - Boers and British army sign peace treaty.
- 1907 - For the first time a ball drops at Times Square to signal the new year.
- 1924 - Edwin Hubble announces existence of distant galactic systems.
- 1995 - Cartoonist Bill Watterson ends his "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip.
- 1999 - Control of Panamá Canal reverts to Panamá.
- 2004 - Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper in the world, standing at a height of 1,670 feet (509 metres), officially opens.
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