The Address Downtown Dubai hotel caught fire hours before the New Year's Eve fireworks in Dubai. Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters
Following are some of the major events to have occurred on Dec 31
1946 - U.S. President Harry Truman formally declared an end to all hostilities in World War Two.
1997 - Dow index rises over 20 percent three years in a row for the first time in its 101-year history.
1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin stunned the world by announcing his resignation and naming Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as acting president.
1999 - Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso formally took back control of the Panama Canal from the United States.
2001 - The last day for national currencies in 12 European Union member states as the biggest monetary changeover in history takes place at midnight.
2002 - Expelled U.N. inspectors left North Korea after the Communist state set alarm bells ringing by ending independent monitoring of its nuclear programme.
2002 - World's first passenger Transrapid Maglev high speed train inaugurated in Shanghai.
2004 - Taiwan opened the 508-metre (1,667 ft) Taipei 101, a 101-storey office block that surpassed the twin Petronas towers in Kuala Lumpur as the world's tallest building.
2009 - Both a blue moon and lunar eclipse occur on New Year's Eve.
2014 - Dozens killed in stampede during New Year celebrations in Shanghai.
2015 - Fire engulfs The Address Downtown Hotel in Dubai.
