"Today in history: On Dec. 31, 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned, making Prime Minister Vladimir Putin acting president. Also on this date: In 1879, Thomas Edison first demonstrated his electric incandescent lights for the public by illuminating some 100 bulbs in and around his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. In 1904, New York's Times Square saw its first New Year's Eve celebration, with an estimated 200,000 people in attendance."
"In 1972, baseball player Roberto Clemente, 38, was killed when a plane he chartered and was traveling on crashed shortly after takeoff from Puerto Rico while carrying relief supplies for earthquake-devastated Nicaragua. In 1985, singer Rick Nelson, 45, and six others were killed when fire broke out aboard a plane that was taking the group to a New Year's Eve performance in Dallas. In 1995, the syndicated comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, created by Bill Watterson, came to an end after a 10-year run."
Dec. 31 is New Year's Eve. Notable events on this date include Russian President Boris Yeltsin's 1999 resignation that made Prime Minister Vladimir Putin acting president; Thomas Edison's 1879 public demonstration of electric incandescent lights at Menlo Park; Times Square's first New Year's Eve celebration in 1904; the 1972 plane crash that killed Roberto Clemente; the 1985 plane fire that killed Rick Nelson and others; the end of Calvin and Hobbes in 1995; Wuhan's 2019 viral pneumonia outbreak later known as COVID-19; the 2022 death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI; and a 2024 Puerto Rico blackout that left over 1.3 million without power. Birthdays include Anthony Hopkins, Andy Summers, Ben Kingsley, Taylor Hackford, and Diane von Furstenberg.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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