It was a busy day — a second gained here, a day lost there, a blue moon eclipsed over this way, an evil empire ditched (perhaps), a now-evil light bulb lit, a quad of Beatles on the way out, a state divided in the East, and thus goes a busy day in history (which is alleged to repeat itself, you know).
1384 — John Wycliffe (the Morning Star of the Reformation) dies.
1695 — A window tax is imposed in England, causing many householders to brick up windows to avoid the tax. Coming soon to a window near you?
1862 — President Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union (thus dividing Virginia in two). I’ve long wondered why the US has two Virginias.
1879 — Thomas Edison does his first public demonstration of incandescent lighting.
1944 — Hungary declares war on Germany.
1945 — Someone ratifies the United Nations charter.
1946 — President Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
1968 — A Russian guy (I suppose) flies the Tupolev TU-144 (the first supersonic airliner) for the first time.
1970 — Paul McCartney files a lawsuit; he wants The Beatles dissolved. I never got to drive one of those cars. 😯
1974 — Private US citizens are allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years.
1978 — Taiwan and the USA bid a final farewell to having diplomatic relations.
1983 — The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the US government. I think I liked Ma Bell better than I like Qwest.
1991 — The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is officially dissolved. The Great Charade continues to this day. 🙄
1992 — Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
1994 — Kiribati tosses this day altogether (for this year only) as they do a time zone swap. Is it still 1994 there?
1999 — Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President. See 1991 entry above. Thanks.
1999 — The United States hands the Panama Canal Zone control over to Panama.
2006 — Great Britain pays the final installment of its Second World War debt to the United States. Good for them!
2008 — One leap second is added to the end of the year.
2009 — We helped produce an eclipsed blue moon.
2010 — The “Universal Hour of Peace” — beginning at 11:30 pm on Dec 31, 2010, and ending at 12:30 am on Jan 1, 2011 — is dedicated to creating peace throughout our planet. Every man, woman and child is asked to spend the hour in meditation, prayer, conversation, listening to beautiful music or whatever helps them concentrate on peace. Oh wow.
2010 — Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico announces that he will not pardon Billy the Kid.
2017 — Pending. To be announced.
- Will some of us never know what all happened, thanks to Kim Jung Un?
- Will ISIS send a few homicide bombers among the anti-government protesters in Iran?
- Will Jesus settle the Temple Mount dispute once and for ever by coming back as He said he would?
- Will you read A Backward Look for the Forward Look?