December 31st, 1880

Born on December 31st, 1880

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 52,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 657 days, exactly on February 9th, 2026, people who were born on December 31st, 1880 will be 53,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on December 31st?

December 31st, 1950

Korean War: North Korean troops attacked United Nations forces in the first of two battles at Wonju.

December 31st, 2010

28 tornadoes (one depicted) touched down in midwestern and southern United States, part of an outbreak that led to the deaths of nine people and large property damage.

December 31st, 1999

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin became acting president upon President Boris Yeltsin's unexpected resignation.

December 31st, 1998

The European Exchange Rate Mechanism froze the exchange rates of the legacy currencies in the eurozone, establishing the value of the euro.

December 31st, 1993

Brandon Teena, an American trans man, was raped and murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska; his death led to increased lobbying for hate crime laws in the United States.

December 31st, 1986

Three disgruntled employees set fire to the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killing more than 90 people and injuring 140 others, making it the second-deadliest hotel fire in United States history.

December 31st, 1972

Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash en route to deliver aid to victims of that year's Nicaragua earthquake.

December 31st, 1965

Central African military officers led by Jean-Bédel Bokassa began a coup d'état against the government of President David Dacko.

December 31st, 1961

RTÉ, Ireland's first television network, began broadcasting.

December 31st, 1909

The Manhattan Bridge, connecting Lower Manhattan to Downtown Brooklyn and considered to be the forerunner of modern suspension bridges, opened to traffic.

December 31st, 1907

New York City held its first annual ball drop event in Times Square as part of New Year's Eve celebrations.

December 31st, 1862

The Battle of Stones River in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, began with an engagement in which both sides would suffer their highest casualty rates in the American Civil War.

December 31st, 1857

Queen Victoria announced the choice of Ottawa (pictured), then a small logging town, to be the capital of the British colony of Canada.

December 31st, 1775

American Revolutionary War: At the Battle of Quebec, British forces repulsed an attack by the Continental Army to capture Quebec City and enlist French Canadian support.

December 31st, 1759

Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease at £45 per annum to the St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin and began brewing Guinness.

Birthdays
... of famous people, actors, celebrities and stars on December 31st

Born on December 31st, 1880

78

George Marshall

American army officer and statesman (1880–1959)

*December 31st, 1880, Uniontown †October 16th, 1959, Washington, D.C.

Same Day
Who's birthday is on December 31st?

84

Henri Matisse

French artist (1869–1954)

*December 31st, 1869, Le Cateau-Cambrésis †November 3rd, 1954, Nice

78

Vernon Wells

Australian actor

*December 31st, 1945, Rushworth

87

Elizabeth Arden

Canadian American businesswoman

*December 31st, 1878, Woodbridge †October 18th, 1966, New York City

65

Ferdinand Noack

German classical archaeologist and classical philologist (1865-1931)

*December 31st, 1865, Burgholzhausen vor der Höhe †September 21st, 1931, Berlin

31

Manu Attri

Badminton player

*December 31st, 1992, Meerut

86

Anthony Hopkins

Welsh actor and director (born 1937)

*December 31st, 1937, Port Talbot

96

Simon Wiesenthal

Jewish Austrian Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter

*December 31st, 1908, Buchach †September 20th, 2005, Vienna

57

Rudy Gunawan

Badminton player

*December 31st, 1966, Surakarta City

49

Bas Böttcher

German writer and poetry slam performer

*December 31st, 1974, Bremen

53

Viktor Dyk

Czech poet, prose writer, playwright, politician and political writer (1877-1931)

*December 31st, 1877, Pšovka †May 14th, 1931, Lopud

76

Umm Kulthum

Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress

*December 31st, 1898, Tamay Ez-Zahayra †February 3rd, 1975, Cairo

69

Guy Mollet

French politician (1905-1975)

*December 31st, 1905, Flers †October 3rd, 1975, 7th arrondissement of Paris

73

Max Pechstein

German artist (1881-1955)

*December 31st, 1881, Zwickau †June 29th, 1955, Berlin

88

Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

King of Saudi Arabia since 2015

*December 31st, 1935, Riyadh

67

Vaughan Jones

New Zealand mathematician and Fields Medalist

*December 31st, 1952, Gisborne †September 6th, 2020, Nashville

93

Francesco Alberoni

Italian journalist and professor of sociology (1929–2023)

*December 31st, 1929, Borgonovo Val Tidone †August 14th, 2023, Milan

70

James Remar

American actor

*December 31st, 1953, Boston

58

Horacio Quiroga

Uruguayan playwright, poet, and short story writer

*December 31st, 1878, Salto †February 19th, 1937, Buenos Aires

65

Bebe Neuwirth

American actress

*December 31st, 1958, Newark

80

Ben Kingsley

English actor

*December 31st, 1943, Snainton

Same year
Born in 1880

47

Nikolai Astrup

Norwegian painter (1880-1928)

*August 30th, 1880, Bremanger Municipality †January 21st, 1928, Førde

57

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Founding father of the Republic of Turkey (c. 1881-1938)

*November 30th, 1880, Thessaloniki †November 10th, 1938, Dolmabahçe Palace

77

Christabel Pankhurst

Suffragette, co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union, editor (1880-1958)

*September 22nd, 1880, Manchester †February 13th, 1958, Santa Monica

64

Fritz Weege

German art historian and archaeologist (1880-1945)

*October 29th, 1880, Frankfurt †August 20th, 1945, Wrocław

87

Helen Keller

American author and activist (1880–1968)

*June 27th, 1880, Tuscumbia †June 1st, 1968, Easton

36

Franz Marc

German painter (1880-1916)

*February 8th, 1880, Munich †March 4th, 1916, Braquis

90

John Boyd Orr

Scottish nutritionist, Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (1880-1971)

*September 23rd, 1880, Kilmaurs †June 25th, 1971, Brechin

84

Douglas MacArthur

United States Army general in WWI, WWII and Korea (1880–1964)

*January 26th, 1880, Little Rock †April 5th, 1964, Washington, D.C.

92

Johannes Aavik

Estonian philologist and Fennophile

*December 8th, 1880, Randvere †March 18th, 1973, Stockholm

77

Alfred Noyes

English poet

*September 16th, 1880, Wolverhampton †June 28th, 1958, Ventnor

53

Charlotte Fränkel

German classical archaeologist

*August 25th, 1880, Berlin †December 7th, 1933, Berlin

78

Walter von Molo

Austrian writer (1880–1958)

*June 14th, 1880, Šternberk †October 27th, 1958, Murnau am Staffelsee

86

Rudolf von Gutmann

Austrian industrialist and art collector (1880–1966)

*May 21st, 1880, Vienna †July 9th, 1966, Victoria

38

Guillaume Apollinaire

French poet

*August 26th, 1880, Rome †November 9th, 1918, Paris

86

Ludwig von Ficker

Austrian publisher and writer

*April 13th, 1880, Munich †March 20th, 1967, Innsbruck

40

Alexander Blok

Russian poet (1880–1921)

*November 16th, 1880, Saint Petersburg †August 7th, 1921, Saint Petersburg

84

Seán O'Casey

Irish writer (1880-1964)

*March 30th, 1880, Dublin †September 18th, 1964, Torquay

82

Wilhelmina of the Netherlands

Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948 (1880-1962)

*August 31st, 1880, Noordeinde Palace †November 28th, 1962, Het Loo Palace

55

Oswald Spengler

German historian and philosopher (1880-1936)

*May 29th, 1880, Blankenburg †May 8th, 1936, Munich

73

Bertie Charles Forbes

American journalist

*May 14th, 1880, New Deer †May 6th, 1954, New York City

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on December 31st

Fixed holidays (Christian feast day, New Year's Eve) which are celebrated on December 31st.

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Leap year

Yes: 1880 is a leap year, therefore has a 29th of February with an additional leap day and a total of 366 days (instead of the usual 365 days in a normal year).

Calendar
December 1880