TodayOn this dayDecember 31
On this day
Good news on December 31.
Positive things that happened on December 31, with 2 verified milestones. Each milestone links to the source it was checked against.
Verified milestones
Scientific firsts, civil-rights wins, conservation, medicine, kindness, and other good news. Checked against the linked source.
1907
On December 31, 1907, New York City dropped the first New Year's Eve ball in Times Square. The iron ball was covered in light bulbs and took six people to handle.
For a read-aloud. Times Square dropped its first New Year's Eve ball.
1930
Odetta, an American folk singer, was born on December 31, 1930.
For a read-aloud. Odetta, an American folk singer, was born.
For the classroom
Two questions a teacher can use as a warm-up. This page is for an adult to read with a class.
- What tradition would you start that a city could keep for a hundred years?
- Which song would you want a new year to begin with?
From the archive
Stories published on December 31 will show up here. The archive is still young.
No archive story for this date yet.
When a story is published on December 31, it will be listed here with the milestones above.