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<\/p>\nDec. 31 (UPI) — On this date in history:<\/p>\n
In 1862, the Union ironclad ship USS Monitor sank off Cape Hatteras, N.C., during a storm. Sixteen members of the crew were lost.\n<\/p>\n
In 1879, Thomas Edison gave the first public demonstration of his incandescent lamp — in Menlo Park, N.J.<\/p>\n
In 1929, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians did their first New Year’s Eve broadcast from the Roosevelt Grill in New York City.<\/p>\n
In 1947, America’s favorite Western movie couple, singing cowboy Roy Rogers and co-star Dale Evans, were married.<\/p>\n
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In 1968, the Soviet Union tested its supersonic airliner<\/a>, the TU-144, months before the Anglo-French Concorde.<\/p>\n In 1972, Pittsburgh Pirates great Roberto Clemente and four other people died in a cargo plane crash<\/a> en route to deliver supplies to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua. The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from Puerto Rico.\n<\/p>\n In 1983, the court-ordered breakup<\/a> of the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. took effect.<\/p>\n In 1983, a bloodless military coup<\/a> overthrew Nigerian President Shehu Shagari’s government, replacing him with Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.<\/p>\n In 1985, fire broke out on a chartered DC-3 aircraft and it crashed<\/a> in northeastern Texas, killing rock singer Rick Nelson, his fiancee and five band members.<\/p>\n In 1988, the Chicago Bears defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 20-12 in the so-called “Fog Bowl,” when thick fog<\/a> shrouded Chicago’s Soldier Field.<\/p>\n In 1994, Russian forces launched a full air and ground attack<\/a> on Grozny, the capital city of the rebel republic of Chechnya.<\/p>\n In 1997, the Algerian government announced that more than 400 people had been massacred by Islamic extremists<\/a> during the last nine days of December.<\/p>\n In 1999, Panama assumed full control<\/a> of the Panama Canal.<\/p>\n In 1999, Boris Yeltsin resigned as president of Russia, leaving Vladimir Putin acting president<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUPI File Photo \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n In 2004, authorities in Buenos Aires reported at least 175 deaths and hundreds of injuries in a fire at a crowded nightclub<\/a>. A government official said, “Only two exits were open; the others were tied up with wire. These young people were doomed in a death trap.”\n<\/p>\n In 2006, Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union<\/a>, increasing its membership to 27 countries.<\/p>\n In 2014, Beji Caid Essebsi becomes Tunisia’s first freely elected<\/a> president. The country’s Parliament ousted him<\/a> 18 months later with a vote of no confidence.<\/p>\n In 2019, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission in China first reported<\/a> a cluster of cases of pneumonia. Epidemiologists later identified the cause of the diseases as a novel coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic killed more than 1.7 million people across the globe in 2019.<\/p>\n In 2020, the historic Brexit trade agreement with the European Union entered legal force<\/a> in Britain just hours before the official end of the transition period.<\/p>\n In 2022, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 2005 until his unexpected resignation in 2013, died at his residence<\/a> following several days of declining health. He was 95.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767175332_269_On-This-Day-Brexit-trade-agreement-goes-into-force.jpg\")
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