December 31 - Christmas in CT

Christmas in CT

This Day In History

1600

The British East India Company is chartered.

1759

Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum and starts brewing Guinness.

1853

A dinner party is held inside a life-size model of an Iguanodon created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London, England.

1879

The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert & Sullivan remieres at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City.

1890

Ellis Island opens as a US immigration depot.

1897

Brooklyn's last day as a city. It is incorporated into NYC on New Years Day.

1923

The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC.

1960

The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.

1983

The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.

1994

This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 and UTC-10:00 to UTC+14:00, respectively.

Famous Birthdays

1491

Jacques Cartier, French explorer (d. 1557)

1720

Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (d. 1788)

1869

Henri Matisse, French painter (d. 1954)

1905

Jule Styne, English-born composer (d. 1994)

1937

Sir Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor

1943

John Denver, American singer and songwriter (d. 1997)
Sir Ben Kingsley, English actor

1945

Connie Willis, American writer

1947

Tim Matheson, American actor, director and producer

1958

Bebe Neuwirth, American actress

1965

Nicholas Sparks, American author