Today is Thursday, December 31, the last day of 2009. There are no days left in the year.
1762 _ Mozart family moves from Vienna to Salzburg
1805 _ End of French Republican calendar; France returns to Gregorianism
1907 _ For the first time a ball drops at Times Square to signal the New Year
1911 _ Marie Curie receives her second Nobel Prize
1958 _ Cuban dictator Batista flees
1961 _ Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than $12 billion
1966 _ Monkee's ``I'm a Believer" hits No. 1 and stays there for seven weeks
1970 _ President Allende nationalizes Chilean coal mines
1991 _ USSR, last day of existence
1999 _ Control of Panama Canal reverts to Panama