THE DAY IN HISTORY · DECEMBER 31
December 31 in history
What happened on December 31: 3 moments from the Maps of History atlases, in 406, 1885 and 1999, each linked to the map that shows it.
— Crossing of the Rhine
31 Dec 406 — Vandals, Alans and Sueves cross the frozen river near Mainz. Gaul is ravaged for three years; Spain is entered in 409. The western frontier never re-forms.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE ROME MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
— Founding of the Indian National Congress
28–31 Dec 1885 — Seventy-two delegates, most of them lawyers, journalists and teachers, met at the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College under W. C. Bonnerjee, with the retired civil servant A. O. Hume as organiser. They asked, by petition and resolution, for a larger Indian share in the government of India.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE INDIAN INDEPENDENCE & PARTITION MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
— Resignation of Boris Yeltsin
31 Dec 1999 — In a televised address Boris Yeltsin resigns six months early, asks Russians to forgive him for hopes that did not come true, and hands power to Putin as acting president. Putin’s first decree granted Yeltsin immunity; he was elected in March 2000 with 52.9%.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE REMAKING THE STATE MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
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