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December 31st Major News Events

  1. 1964 Donald Campbell breaks the world water speed record with his boat Bluebird
  2. 1942 Great Britain -- Churchill Meets Stalin
  3. 1963 Soviet Union -- Needs To Buy Wheat From US
  4. 1999 Boris Yeltsin resigns as Russian president, Vladimir Putin will take over as acting president

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1900 U.S.A. -- Indian Lands

1900 : Indian Chief, Pac-kee-ka-ma-que, charged that Indian affairs agent H.M. Robek with corruption and theft. Apparently, the tribes had bought 3,000 acres of land with their own money and wanted $50,000 in compensation from the U.S. government.

1964 Australia -- Donald Campbell

1964 : Donald Campbell breaks the world water speed record with his boat Bluebird, on Lake Dumbleyung in Perth, Western Australia. , the only man to break both land and water speed records in the same year.

1967 U.S.A. -- Evel Knievel

Evel Knievel fails in his attempt to jump the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. resulting in concussion that kept him lying in a coma for 29 days with a crushed pelvis and femur, fractures to his hip, wrist and both ankles.

1927 Turkey -- Economic distress

Economic distress in Turkey led companies to ditch their old strong boxes. So many Turkish businesses went broke that there was a glut of strong boxes on the market.Economic distress in Turkey led companies to ditch their old strong boxes. So many Turkish businesses went broke that there was a glut of strong boxes on the market.

1933 Rumania -- Martial law

Martial law was declared in Rumania to prevent assassination attempts on King Carol and his government officials. Premier Ion G. Duca had already been murdered.

1942 Great Britain -- Churchill Meets Stalin

Winston Churchill took a plane to Moscow to meet with communist leader Josef Stalin.

1956 Germany -- Saarland

Saarland had one million inhabitants and was rich in raw materials such as coal. It was to become Germany's tenth state at midnight. France and Germany had fought over the area for 250 years.

Born This Day In History December 31st

Celebrating Birthdays Today

John Denver

Born: 31st December 1943 Roswell, New Mexico, U.S.

Died: 12th October 1997 Pacific Grove, California, U.S.

Known For : John Denver American Singer Songwriter is best known and remembered for his string of hits from the late 60's and early 70's. His music which many consider is a mix of folk and country managed to span the globe with multiple top ten hits around the world. Some of his best known and remembered singles are "Take Me Home, Country Roads" ( 1971 ), "Rocky Mountain High" ( 1972 ), "Annie's Song" ( 1974 ), and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" ( 1975 ).

Anthony Hopkins

Born: 31st December 1937 Port Talbot, Wales

Known For : Anthony Hopkins is a Welsh born Actor who many consider one of the greatest actors of the modern era. He has won nearly every award possible in his career both stage and screen including BAFTA Award, Emmy Award and Academy Award for best actor. During his career he has played the role of some of the most famous people in history including John Quincy Adams, Adolf Hitler, David Lloyd George, Richard Nixon, Pablo Picasso and Dr. Hannibal Lecter. He is possibly best known for role as Dr. Hannibal Lecter The Silence of the Lambs. He is an admitted alcoholic who has remained sober for 30 plus years and is also recognized within the movie industry as one of the most conscientious actors and for his preparation for the roles he portrays.

1963 Soviet Union -- Needs To Buy Wheat From US

There was a rumpus in U.S. politics over the Soviet Union's request for credit to purchase American wheat to feed starving Soviets. The Democrats and Republicans were sharply divided over the issue.

1963 U.S.A. -- Snowstorm

A massive snowstorm hits the southern states and reaches up through Pennsylvania and surrounding areas. Strong winds accompanied the 17 inches that were dropped in a matter of 48 hours, causing power outages and many other problems for millions of people.

1978 Taiwan -- Severs US Diplomatic Relations

U.S. officials had to beat a hasty retreat after President Ching-kuo expressed rage at President Jimmy Carter's acknowledgement of Peking and the severing of diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

1989 Japan -- Economy

Japan's economy was in trouble with the 250 yen to the dollar. The price of gasoline rose 90% and hydro bills soared 50%.

1991 Iran --

U.S. diplomatic ties with Iran were severed as Swiss representatives were restricted and prevented from leaving the country. Switzerland had been acting on behalf of Americans in Iran and closed the Tehran embassy in protest for the way their diplomats were treated.

1993 U.S.A. -- Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand performed her first paid concert in 22 years, singing to a sellout crowd at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.

1999 Russia -- Boris Yeltsin

1999 : Boris Yeltsin resigns as Russian president, Vladimir Putin will take over as acting president

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1950s Prices including inflation prices for homes, wages, etc.

Baby Boomers raise families following 20 years of unrest (Great Depression and World War II) the peak of the Baby Boomer Years

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2005 Sudan -- Embassy

Sudan's embassy in Baghdad was shut down in an effort to get six kidnapped workers freed. Representatives of al-Qaida warned that the Sudanese captives would be murdered if diplomatic relations between Iraq and Sudan were not cut off.

2006 United States -- The G8 Debt Relief Program

On the last day of their summit, G8 leaders have agreed to extend the debt relief scheme for the world's poorest countries by two years. The initiative, managed by the I.M.F., provides support to twenty-seven nations, mostly from Africa, and was due to expire at the end of 2006. There has reportedly been no agreement on a British proposal to cancel all debts owed.

2006 Iraq -- Saddam Hussein buried in Tikrit

Saddam Hussein has been buried in Awja, the village where he was born sixty-nine years ago. The ceremony was sparsely attended in the Tikrit region north of the capital, where the former Iraqi leader was laid to rest in a family plot. His sons Uday and Qusay are also buried there.

2007 U.S.A. -- Number Of Murders

Statistics relating to the number of murders in relation to the population. We seem to assume the the violent crimes / murders has been getting worse but comparing the population nearly 60 years apart proves that the percentage is very similar. 1947 8,000 murders and the population in the US was about 145 million 2007 16,500 murders and the population in the US was about 300 million

2007 Kenya -- Riots in lieu of the Kenyan elections

Kenyan police have been battling protesters in the blazing slums of Nairobi after disputed the elections that returned President Mwai Kibaki to office. The turmoil might have triggered the deaths of more than one hundred people. Riots have also hit the opposition's western heartland near the border with Uganda, Nairobi's shanty-towns and the resort of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean coast. Reuters have estimated the one hundred deaths, based on witnesses, body counts and credible media reports. Local broadcaster K.T.N. has said the toll has reached at least 124.

2008 United States -- Bomb threats in Aspen

2008 : The ski resort of Aspen has been virtually shut down on New Year’s Eve after two homemade gasoline bombs with threatening notes were found at two of the town's banks and two more in an alley. Hours later, a longtime Aspen resident who is said to be bitter because he had not profited from the community’s transformation from a rural mining town into a luxury resort killed himself with a gunshot to the head. The suspect's body was that of James C. Blanning Jr., 72, a convicted swindler, who was found early in a car on a rural county road on New Year's Day.

2011 Sweden -- Woman Finds Wedding Ring on Garden Carrot After 16 Years

2011 : A Swedish woman who lost her wedding ring in her home in 1995 found the ring around the top of a carrot growing in her garden sixteen years later. The ring was custom made with white gold and diamonds and was designed by the woman who intended to get it re-sized as it no longer fit.

2012 United States -- Hillary Clinton Blood Clot

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was being treated after doctors discovered a blood clot between her brain and skull. Doctors stated that she would be fine and would be released once they gave her a blood-thinner.

2013 Taiwan -- Giant Rubber Duck Bursts

A giant yellow rubber duck that was put on display to float in the Keelong Port in Taiwan burst after only eleven days of being there. The duck was created as an artistic installation by a Dutch artist.

Our Price Basket

Our Pricebasket showing inflation of food etc. from 2008 to 2023 Updated Price Basket 2023

This shows the highest increase since we began collecting the data in 2008

26% increase from 2021 to 2023

Our Basket includes 20 of the basics needed to live Bread, Milk, Meat, Sugar ETC.

100 years of price Change

100 Years Of Price Changes

We spent many hours researching cost of living information for each year and I created this page after being asked a number of times about why I did not include current prices alongside our cost of living information for each year and thought this was the easiest way to make the information available. includes Average Cost Of New Home, Average Wages, New Car cost, Gallon Of Gas and a 1lb Hamburger Meat, 1920 to 2023