December 31

Track	Year	Event	Artist	Song	Album
1.	1600	The British East India Company is chartered.	The Police	Tea in the Sahara	Synchronicity
2.	1695	A window tax is imposed in England, causing many householders to brick up windows to avoid the tax.	Brandtson	Bricks and Windows	Trying to Figure Things Out
3.	1759	Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum and starts brewingGuinness.	Genesis	Keep It Dark	Abacab
4.	1857	Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, Ontario, then a small logging town, as the capital of Canada.	Triumvirat	The Capital of Power	Spartacus
5.	1862	American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.	Johnny Cash	In Virginia	Johnny and June
6.	1879	Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, N.J.	Animal Collective	Hey Light	Here Comes the Indian
7.	1904	The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square (then known as Longacre Square) in New York, New York.	Walkmen	New Year's Eve	Bows and Arrows
8.	1923	The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC.	Nick Drake	At the Chime of a City Clock	Bryter Layter
9.	1955	The General Motors Corporation becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over $1 billion USD in a year.	The Lovin' Spoonful	Money	Money
10.	1960	The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.	Map	Legal and Tender	Think Like an Owner
11.	1983	The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.	Electric Light Orchestra	Ma-ma-ma belle	On the Third Day
12.	1992	Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved in what is dubbed by media as the Velvet Divorce, resulting in the creation of theCzech Republic and Slovakia.	My Way My Love	Czech Sun	Dedicated to an Angel on Your Shoulder

(Historical facts about December 31 are from Wikipedia.)

December 30

Track	Year	Event	Artist	Song	Album
1.	1816	The Treaty of St. Louis is proclaimed.	The Rolling Stones	You Gotta Move	Sticky Fingers
2.	1853	Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroadbuilding in the Southwest.	The Magnetic Fields	Railroad Boy	Distant Plastic Trees
3.	1853	A dinner party is held inside a life-size model of an Iguanodon created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London.	Single Frame	I've Been to a Party at this House	Wetheads Come Running
4.	1903	A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills 600.	Duran Duran	A View to a Kill	A View to a Kill
5.	1919	Lincoln's Inn in London admits its first female bar student.	French Kicks	Young Lawyer	Young Lawyer
6.	1924	Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies.	Deerhoof	The Galaxist	Friend Opportunity
7.	1977	For the second time, Ted Bundy escapes from his cell in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.	Eloy	Escape to the Heights	Metromania
8.	2009	The last roll of Kodachrome film is developed by Dwayne's Photo, the only remaining Kodachrome processor at the time, concluding the film's 74-year run as a photography icon.	Snow Patrol	Please Just Take These Photos from My Hands	A Hundred Million Suns

(Historical facts about December 30 are from Wikipedia.)

December 29

Track	Year	Event	Artist	Song	Album
1.	1778	American Revolutionary War: 3,500 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia without firing a shot.	Franz Ferdinand	Well That Was Easy	You Could Have It So Much Better
2.	1813	British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York during the War of 1812.	The Dillinger Escape Plan	43 % Burnt	Calculating Infinity
3.	1835	The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of theMississippi River to the United States.	Ryan Adams	Rip Off	Easy Tiger
4.	1845	According with International Boundary delimitation, U.S.A annexes the Mexican state of Texas, following the Manifest Destiny doctrine. For others, the Republic of Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S. state.	The Carter Family	My Heart's Tonight in Texas	The Carter Family: 1927-1934
5.	1959	Physicist Richard Feynman gives a speech entitled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", which is regarded as the birth of nanotechnology.	Interpol	A Time to Be So Small	Precipitate
6.	1966	The Beatles start the recording session that would become the hit single Penny Lane at Abbey Road Studio.	The Beatles	Penny Lane	Magical Mystery Tour
7.	1997	Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's 1.25 million chickens to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.	The Magnetic Fields	A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off	69 Love Songs, Vol. 1
8.	2003	The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.	The Cure	Speak My Language	Japanese Whispers

(Historical facts about December 29 are from Wikipedia.)

December 28

Track	Year	Event	Artist	Song	Album
1.	1065	Westminster Abbey is consecrated.	M83	In Church	Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts
2.	1612	Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star.	The Flaming Lips	Watching the Planets	Embryonic
3.	1795	Construction of Yonge Street, formerly recognized as the longest street in the world, begins in York, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto, Ontario).	Foo Fighters	Long Road to Ruin	Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
4.	1832	John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign.	American Analog Set	I Must Soon Quit the Scene	The Golden Band
5.	1846	Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.	Belle & Sebastian	The State I Am In	Tigermilk
6.	1867	United States claims Midway Atoll, the first territory annexed outside Continental limits.	The Casket Lottery	Midway	Choose Bronze
7.	1895	The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines, marking the debut of the cinema.	Yes	Cinema	90125
8.	1912	The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco, California.	Hayden	Street Car	Skyscraper National Park
9.	1958	"Greatest Game Ever Played" – Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football Leaguesudden death overtime game at New York's Yankee Stadium.	Tommy Edwards	It's All in the Game	It's All in the Game
10.	1973	The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.	Ace of Base	Living in Danger	The Sign
11.	2000	U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years.	The Smashing Pumpkins	Farewell and Goodnight	Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

(Historical facts about December 28 are from Wikipedia.)

December 27

Track	Year	Event	Artist	Song	Album
1.	1657	The Flushing Remonstrance is signed.	Pink Floyd	A Great Day of Freedom	Division Bell
2.	1703	Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines into England.	Tommy James and the Shondells	Sweet Cherry Wine	Cellophane Symphony
3.	1836	The worst ever avalanche in England occurs at Lewes, Sussex, killing 8 people.	New Order	Avalanche	Republic
4.	1845	Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time by Dr. Crawford Williamson Long in Jefferson, Georgia.	Son, Ambulance	An Instant Birth	Euphemystic
5.	1932	Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City.	Barry White	Let the Music Play	Let the Music Play
6.	1945	The World Bank was created with the signing of an agreement by 28 nations.	The Elected	The Bank and Trust	Sun, Sun, Sun
7.	2004	The company Clonaid announces that it has successfully cloned a human being, although it has never presented any verifiable evidence.	Single Frame	Exact Copy of This in the Basement	Body / End / Basement
8.	2004	Radiation from an explosion on the magnetar SGR 1806-20 reaches Earth. It is the brightest extrasolar event known to have been witnessed on the planet.	The Jazz June	Burned Out Bright	Breakdance Suburbia

(Historical facts about December 27 are from Wikipedia.)

December 26

Track	Year	Event	Artist	Song	Album
1.	1776	American Revolutionary War: The British are defeated in the Battle of Trenton.	Point of Recognition	Day of Defeat	Day of Defeat
2.	1792	The final trial of Louis XVI of France begins in Paris.	The Anniversary	The Death of the King	Your Majesty
3.	1861	American Civil War: The Trent Affair: Confederate diplomatic envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell are freed by theUnited States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and Britain.	Lesley Gore	Brink of Disaster	One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found
4.	1862	Four nuns serving as volunteer nurses on board USS Red Rover are the first female nurses on a U.S. Navy hospital ship.	Haymarket Riot	Goodnight Nurse	Endless Bummer
5.	1898	Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.	The Microphones	The Glow Pt. 2	The Glow Pt. 2
6.	1919	Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox is sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee.	Nancy Sinatra	So Long, Babe	Boots
7.	1933	FM radio is patented.	Stars	My Radio (FM Mix)	Nightsongs
8.	1966	The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.	Depeche Mode	Black Celebration	Black Celebration
9.	1982	Time Magazine's Man of the Year is for the first time a non-human, the personal computer.	Sufjan Stevens	Dear Mr. Supercomputer	The Avalanche

(Historical facts about December 26 are from Wikipedia.)

December 25

Track	Year	Event	Artist	Song	Album
1.	800	Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.	Family	Coronation	Bandstand
2.	1066	William the Conqueror is crowned king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.	Splendor Bin	Coronation Day	Stealth
3.	1100	Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned the first King of Jerusalem in theChurch of the Nativity.	Gentle Giant	Pantagruel's Nativity	Acquiring the Taste
4.	1818	The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.	Frank Sinatra	Silent Night	A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra
5.	1868	U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.	The Get Up Kids	Forgive and Forget	Red Letter Day
6.	1946	The first in Europe artificial, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated within Soviet nuclear reactor F-1.	Aisler Set	Attraction Action Reaction	How I Learned to Write Backwards
7.	1950	The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.	D'swooners	Stone Free	Japanese Garage Bands of the 60's
8.	1974	Marshall Fields drives a vehicle through the gates of the White House, resulting in a four-hour standoff.	Peter Gabriel	Intruder	Melt
9.	1990	The first successful trial run of the system which would become the World Wide Web.	Marillion	The Web	Script for a Jester's Tear
10.	N/A	Christmas Day, Christian holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. (International)	The Beach Boys	Christmas Day	Christmas with the Beach Boys

(Historical facts about December 25 are from Wikipedia.)

December 24

Track	Year	Event	Artist	Song	Album
1.	1777	Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook.	Depeche Mode	Christmas Island	A Question of Lust
2.	1826	The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning.	Stars	Take Me to the Riot	In Our Bedroom After the War
3.	1851	Library of Congress burns.	The Crazy World of Arthur Brown	Fanfare – Fire Poem	The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
4.	1865	Several U.S. Civil War Confederate veterans form the Ku Klux Klan.	Youth of Today	Prejudice	We're Not in This Alone
5.	1906	Radio: Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.	The Beach Boys	Radio King Dom	Holland
6.	1955	NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition.	Elvis Presley	Santa Claus is Back in Town	Elvis' Christmas Album
7.	1968	Apollo Program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs in history.	Electric Light Orchestra	Ticket to the Moon	Time
8.	N/A	Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances	Danny Elfman	Christmas Eve Montage	Nightmare Before Christmas

(Historical facts about December 24 are from Wikipedia.)

December 23

Track	Year	Event	Artist	Song	Album
1.	1823	A Visit from St. Nicholas, also known as The Night Before Christmas, is published anonymously.	Bright Eyes	The Night Before Christmas	A Christmas Album
2.	1893	The opera Hänsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is first performed.	Hatfield and the North	Let's Eat (Real Soon)	Hatfield and the North
3.	1913	The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve.	James	Go to the Bank	Whiplash
4.	1938	Discovery of the first modern coelacanth in South Africa.	Radiohead	Weird Fishes/Arpeggi	In Rainbows
5.	1947	The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.	Fujiya & Miyagi	Conductor 71	Transparent Things
6.	1982	The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces it has identified dangerous levels of dioxin in the soil ofTimes Beach, Missouri.	Stars	Toxic Holiday	Nightsongs
7.	1986	Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling.	The Cars	Don't Cha Stop	The Cars
8.	N/A	Festivus, a holiday made popular by the sitcom Seinfeld	The Get Up Kids	Holiday	Something to Write Home About

(Historical facts about December 23 are from Wikipedia.)

December 22

Track	Year	Event	Artist	Song	Album
1.	69	Emperor Vitellius is captured and murdered by the Gemonian stairs in Rome.	Led Zeppelin	Stairway to Heaven	Led Zeppelin IV
2.	1807	The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson.	The Smiths	I Won't Share You	Strangeways, Here We Come
3.	1851	The first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India.	Evergreen	Freight Trains and Windsongs	Discography
4.	1885	Ito Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.	The Microphones	Samurai Sword	The Glow, Pt 2
5.	1956	Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity.	Gorilla Biscuits	Gorilla Biscuits	Gorilla Biscuits
6.	1965	In the United Kingdom, a 70mph speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time. Previously, there had been no speed limit.	New Order	Slow Jam	Get Ready
7.	1989	After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as president of Romania, ending Nicolae Ceauşescu'sCommunist dictatorship.	The Faith	In Control	Faith / Void Split
8.	1989	Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany	State of Alert	Gatecrashers	No Policy
9.	1992	The Archives of Terror are discovered.	The Anniversary	I Believe That the End of the Reign of Terror Is Soon Near	Another Year on the Streets

(Historical facts about December 22 are from Wikipedia.)

December 21

Track	Year	Event	Artist	Song	Album
1.	69	The end of the Year of the four emperors: Following Galba, Otho and Vitellius,Vespasian becomes the fourth Emperor of Rome within a year.	The New Pornographers	Three or Four	Twin Cinema
2.	1620	Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.	Brian Wilson	Smile	Roll Plymouth Rock
3.	1913	Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.	Criteria	Play on Words	En Garde
4.	1937	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated film, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theater.	Whiskeytown	Mirror, Mirror	Pneumonia
5.	1967	Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, after living for 18 days after the transplant.	The Magnetic Fields	I Think I Need a New Heart	69 Love Songs
6.	1968	Apollo program: Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center inFlorida. The crew performs the first ever manned Trans Lunar Injection and become the first humans to leave Earth'sgravity.	The Olivia Tremor Control	I Have Been Floated	Black Foliage: Animation Music Vol. 1
7.	1969	The Gay Activists Alliance is formed in New York City.	Gayrilla Biscuits	Degregaytion	The Demos
8.	1970	Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon meet in the White House.	Elvis Presley	Can't Help Falling in Love	Blue Hawaii

(Historical facts about December 21 are from Wikipedia.)