On this day 31st December

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Some notable facts about this date, for more, visit http://www.onthisday.com

Facts

406 80,000 Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine at Mainz, beginning invasion of Gallia

1744 English astronomer James Bradley announces discovery of Earth's nutation motion (wobble)

1775 Battle of Quebec in American Revolutionary War; Americans defeated trying to take British stronghold

1861 22,990mm of rain falls in Cherrapunji Assam in India in 1861, a world record

1890 Ellis Island (NYC) opens as a US immigration depot

1958 Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista tells his Cabinet he is fleeing the country

Deaths

192 Commodus, Emperor of Rome (180-192), murdered at 31

1568 Shimazu Tadayoshi, Japanese warlord (b. 1493)

1719 John Flamsteed, 1st Astronomer Royal, dies at 73

1948 Malcolm Campbell, English race driver, dies at 63

1972 Roberto Clemente, slugger (Pitts Pirate), dies in a plane crash at 38

1980 Marshall McLuhan, Canadian cultural philosopher, dies at 69

1994 Woody Strode, African American football player and actor (Posse, Cotton Club, Vigilante, Scream), dies of lung cancer at 80

2015 Natalie Cole, American vocalist (Pink Cadillac, Miss You Like Crazy), dies at 65

Sport

1945 Bradman scores 112, his 1st post-War century, SA v Aust Services

1967 "The Ice Bowl", Packers beat Cowboys 21-17 in NFL championship game (-13°F)

1974 NY Yankees sign Jim "Catfish" Hunter for 5 yrs for a record $3.75 million

Films and TV

1923 BBC begins using Big Ben chime ID

1981 CNN Headline News debuts

Born on this day

1977 Donald Trump Jr, American businessman and son of Donald Trump and Ivana Trump, born in NYC, New York

1982 Craig Gordon, Scottish footballer

A Couple of Pics from those no longer with us


Malcolm Campbell


Natalie Cole

On this day 31st December | Ecency