Today in History : December 31
| 1775 | George Washington orders recruiting officers to accept free blacks into the army. | |
| 1852 | The richest year of the gold rush ends with $81.3 million in gold produced. | |
| 1862 | Union General William Rosecrans‘ army repels two Confederate attacks at the Battle of Murfreesboro (Stone’s River). | |
| 1910 | John B. Moisant and Arch Hoxsey, two of America’s foremost aviators, die in separate plane crashes. | |
| 1911 | Helene Dutrieu wins the Femina aviation cup in Etampes. She sets a distance record for women at 158 miles. | |
| 1915 | The Germans torpedo the British liner Persia without any warning killing 335 passengers. | |
| 1923 | The Sahara is crossed by an automobile for the first time. | |
| 1930 | Brewery heir Adolphus Busch is kidnapped. | |
| 1941 | General MacArthur reports that U.S. lines in Manila have been pushed back by the Japanese. | |
| 1942 | After five months of battle, Emperor Hirohito allows the Japanese commanders at Guadalcanal to retreat. | |
| 1944 | Hungary declares war on Germany. | |
| 1965 | California becomes the largest state in population. | |
| 1977 | Cambodia breaks relations with Vietnam. | |
| Born on December 31 | ||
| 1720 | Charles Edward Stuart, grandson of James II, known as the Young Pretender and Bonnie Prince Charlie. | |
| 1815 | George Gordon Meade, Union general who defeated Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg. | |
| 1869 | Henri Matisse, French artist. | |
| 1889 | George Catlett Marshall, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army during World War II, Secretary of State under Truman, won Nobel Peace Prize for the Marshall Plan. | |
| 1908 | Simon Wiesenthal, survivor of the Nazi Holocaust who dedicated his life to tracking down former Nazis. | |
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