31 December

Jacques Cartier
31 December 1491 – 1 September 1557
French explorer who claimed Canada for France.

Herman Boerhaave
31 December 1668 – 23 September 1738
Dutch doctor regarded as the instigator of teaching hospitals and author of several medical publications.

Bonnie Prince Charlie
31 December 1720 – 31 January 1788
Scottish ‘The Young Pretender’ to the English Throne.

Henri Matisse
31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954
French Fauvist artist and sculptor. Paintings can be seen in the Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris; Matisse Museum, Nice; Guggenheim Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; National Gallery & TATE Modern, London; Bührle Collection, Zurich.

George Marshall
31 December 1880 – 16 October 1959
American Secretary of State and originator of The Marshall Plan for reconstruction of Europe after WW II.

Elizabeth Arden
31 December 1884 – 18 October 1966
Canadian businesswoman who established Elizabeth Arden cosmetics.

Max Pechstein
31 December 1881 – 29 June 1955
German artist whose paintings can be seen in the Brücke Museum, Berlin; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; The Albertina, Vienna; Kunstmuseum Lucerne.

Jule Styne
31 December 1905 – 20 September 1994
English born songwriter of Broadway musicals.

Simon Wiesenthal
31 December 1908 – 20 September 2005
Austrian holocaust survivor who hunted war criminals from WW II.

Today’s Quote
Throughout life, one does not miss any chance to hold onto the things that are really precious, if one is truly wise.
… Ed Greenwood

Today’s No. 1 Hit
1979 – Please Don’t Go by K.C. and the Sunshine Band.

Today’s events
31 December 1599 – The East India Company is formally established in England.
31 December 1923 – BBC Radio broadcasts the Big Ben chimes.
31 December 1960 – The Farthing coin (a quarter of one penny) ceases to be valid money in England.
31 December 1991 – The Soviet Union is officially defunct.
31 December 1999 – Panama gains control of its Panama Canal.