Today in History

From wikipedia.org:

Events
406 - Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia
1600 - British East India Company is chartered
1687 - The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope
1695 - A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax
1857 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, Ontario, as the capital of Canada
1879 - Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time (Menlo Park, New Jersey)
1929 - Guy Lombardo plays Auld Lang Syne for the first time
1944 - World War II: Hungary declares war on Germany
1946 - President Harry Truman officially proclaims an end of hostilities in World War II
1955 - General Motors becomes the first American corporation to make over USD $1 billion in a year
1960 - The farthing coin, used in Britain since the 13th century, ceases to be legal tender
1961 - The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than USD $12 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Europe
1972 - Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua
1983 - The last day that the AT&T Bell System exists before being broken up by the United States Government
1991 - The Soviet Union officially dissolves
1995 - The publication of the last new Calvin and Hobbes cartoon strip
1999 - The Panama Canal comes completely under Panama's jurisdiction

Births
1378 - Pope Callixtus III (d. 1458)
1869 - Henri Matisse, painter and graphic artist (d. 1954)
1880 - George Marshall, recipient of Nobel Prize in Peace 1953 for the Marshall Plan (d. 1959)
1908 - Simon Wiesenthal, concentration camp survivor, activist
1920 - Rex Allen, actor, singer (d. 1999)
1937 - Anthony Hopkins, actor
1943 - John Denver, country/pop musician (d. 1997)
1943 - Ben Kingsley, actor
1947 - Burton Cummings, musician (“The Guess Who”)
1948 - Donna Summer, singer
1951 - George Thorogood, musician
1958 - Bebe Neuwirth, actress

Deaths
1888 - Samson Raphael Hirsch, rabbi (b. 1888)
1948 - Malcolm Campbell, Grand Prix race car driver (b. 1885)
1969 - George Lewis, jazz musician (b. 1900)
1972 - Roberto Clemente, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1934)
1985 - Rick Nelson, singer (b. 1940)
1999 - Sarah Knauss, dies at the age of 119 years - at death, the world's oldest person alive. (b. 1880)

Holidays & observances
The seventh day of Christmas in Western Christianity

The evening is called New Year’s Eve. In the Netherlands the traditional food is oil-dumpling. At 24:00 the beginning of the new year is celebrated, see January 1

The day and evening are called Hogmanay in Scotland