December 31 ...

In 1687 the first Huguenots set sail from France for the Cape of Good Hope, where they would later create the South African wine industry with the vines they took with them on the voyage. In 1695 a 'window tax' was imposed in Britain, which unexpectedly resulted in many windows being bricked up. After many permutations, the tax was finally repealed July 24, 1851, just 155-plus years later. In 1775 the British repulsed an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec; Montgomery was killed in the battle. In 1862 President Abraham Lincoln signed an act admitting West Virginia to the Union. In 1879 Thomas Edison gave his first public demonstration of incandescent lighting to an audience in Menlo Park, NJ. In 1891 New York's new Immigration Depot was opened at Ellis Island. In 1929 Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played Auld Lang Syne as a New Year's Eve song for the first time. In 1946 President Harry Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II. In 1955 General Motors became the first US corporation to earn more than one billion dollars in a single year. In 1960 the farthing coin, which had been in use in Great Britain since the 13th century, ceased to be legal tender. In 1961 the Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $12 billion in foreign aid. In 1979 at year end oil prices were 88% higher than at the start of 1979. In 1999 Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was designated acting president.