Important Events From This day in History – 31st December

Today in History

• 2009 Both a Blue Moon and lunar eclipse occured on the same day

  The next such event on New Year’s eve will be in 2028.

• 1994 Date skipped in Kiribati

  The Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands in Kiribati skip December 31st due to a change in their time zone from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 and UTC−10:00 to UTC+14:00, respectively.

• 1983 Coup in Nigeria

  A military coup in Nigeria overthrew the civilian government of Shehu Shagari and installed Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari.

• 1909 Manhattan Bridge opens for traffic

  On this day, the Manhattan Bridge, one of the first suspension bridges, opened to traffic. Leon Moisseiff designed the bridge, which spans the East River in New York City.

• 1907 The first annual ball drop at Times Square

  Adolph Ochs, the owner of the New York Times, organized the first annual tradition of dropping the ball at 11:59 p.m. to mark the start of the New Year.