Today
Thursday December 31 2026
- Day of the year
- 365/ 365
- Week
- 532,026
- Days left
- 0100%
- Moon
- 41%Waning crescent
Today is Thursday, December 31, 2026. It is day 365 of 2026, a year of 365 days: 0 remain, and 100% of the year has gone. Under ISO 8601 this date falls in week 53.
What's celebrated on this date
No United Nations international day falls on this date.
Coming up
- January 4World Braille Day
- January 24International Day of Education
- January 27International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Saints and name days
Saints whose feast falls on this date, most widely known first.
- Sylvester I33rd pope and saint (reigned 314-335)
- Catherine LabouréFrench Daughter of Charity and saint (1806–1876)
- Odilo of ClunyBenedictine Abbot of Cluny (c.962–1049)
- Marius AventicensisSaint, bishop of Avenches (then Lausanne)
- Theophylact of OhridByzantine archbishop and saint
Sources : Wikidata (P841) · CC0 1.0
Astronomy
New York
- Sunrise
- 07:20
- Sunset
- 16:38
- Length of day
- 9h 18m+1 min vs yesterday
- Solar noon
- 11:59
Times shown for America/New_York
Season
Winter
began on December 21, 2026
Next season
Spring — 79 days, March 20, 2027 (March equinox)
Public holidays — United States
Not a public holiday in the United States.
Next public holiday : New Year's Day — January 1, 2027
National holidays only. Regions, provinces and Länder add their own.
Moon
Waning crescent
Illumination : 41%
Moon age : 22.7 days
- Next full moon
- January 22, 2027
- Next new moon
- January 7, 2027
Astrology
Today's zodiac sign
Capricorn
until January 20, 2027 — Aquarius
Zodiac dates are an astrological convention, not the Sun's actual position among the constellations. The astronomy above is measured; this is not.
On this day in history
406
Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gaul. Wikipedia
535
Byzantine general Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Gothic garrison of Palermo (Panormos), and ending his consulship for the year. Wikipedia
1600
The British East India Company is chartered. Wikipedia
1687
The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope. Wikipedia
1775
American Revolutionary War: Battle of Quebec: British forces under General Guy Carleton repulse an attack by Continental Army General Richard Montgomery in a snowstorm. Wikipedia
1862
American Civil War: The three-day Battle of Stones River begins near Murfreesboro, Tennessee between the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg and the Union Army of the Cumberland under General William S. Rosecrans. Wikipedia
Show more (4)
1879
Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Wikipedia
1963
The Central African Federation officially collapses, subsequently becoming Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia. Wikipedia
1999
The first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, resigns from office, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President and successor. Wikipedia
1999
The U.S. government hands control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties. Wikipedia
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
Births and deaths
Born on this day December 31
- 1378Pope Callixtus III (died 1458)
- 1514Andreas Vesalius, Belgian anatomist, physician, and author (died 1564)
- 1668Herman Boerhaave, Dutch botanist and physician (died 1738)
- 1738Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, English general and politician, 3rd Governor-General of India (died 1805)
- 1763Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (died 1806)
- 1869Henri Matisse, French painter and sculptor (died 1954)
- 1880George Marshall, American general and politician, 50th United States Secretary of State (died 1959)
- 1899Silvestre Revueltas, Mexican violinist, composer, and conductor (died 1940)
Died on this day December 31
- 335Pope Sylvester Iaged 35 years
- 1194Leopold V, Duke of Austria (born 1157)aged 37 years
- 1302Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine (born 1238)aged 62 years
- 1384John Wycliffe, English philosopher, theologian, and translator (born 1331)aged 64 years
- 1510Bianca Maria Sforza, Holy Roman Empress (born 1472)aged 38 years
- 1610Ludolph van Ceulen, German-Dutch mathematician and academic (born 1540)aged 70 years
- 1705Catherine of Braganza, Queen Consort of England, Scotland and Ireland (born 1638)aged 67 years
- 2004Gérard Debreu, French economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1921)aged 83 years
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
The day in words
In New York the sun rises at 07:20 and sets at 16:38, giving 9h 18m of daylight — 1 minute more than yesterday. It has been winter since December 21, 2026; spring opens in 79 days, on March 20, 2027 (March equinox).
The moon is a waning crescent, 41% illuminated. The next full moon falls on January 22, 2027 and the next new moon on January 7, 2027.
The saints' calendar attaches December 31 to Sylvester I, Catherine Labouré and Odilo of Cluny.
No United Nations international day falls on December 31. The next one on the calendar is World Braille Day, on January 4.
It is not a public holiday in the United States.
On this day in history: Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gaul (406); Byzantine general Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Gothic garrison of Palermo (Panormos), and ending his consulship for the year (535). English Wikipedia records 10 events for this date.
Pope Callixtus III was born on December 31, 1378; Pope Sylvester I died on December 31, 335.
359 days remain until Christmas and 1 until New Year's Day.
In astrology — kept separate from the measured astronomy above, deliberately — December 31 falls under the sign of Capricorn.
Calendar
By the numbers
- 100%
- of the year elapsed
- 359
- until Christmas
- 1
- until New Year
- 425
- until the next 29 February
2026 — Common year (365 days)
Work with dates
Sources
Every block on this page names where its data comes from. Nothing here is generated when the source is silent.
- United Nations — International Days— What's celebrated today
- Wikidata (P841)— Saints and name days · CC0 1.0
- Wikipedia (en)— On this day in history · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26