UK, 
US, 
Australia & 
IrelandAt A Glance
31 December 2011 at a glance
- Day of the week
- 31 December 2011 was a Saturday.
- Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
- The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “We Found Love” by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris.
- Top Film of 2011
- The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 2011 was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
- Bestselling Novel of 2011
- “The Litigators” by John Grisham was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 2011.
- Top-Rated TV Show
- “Sunday Night Football” (NBC) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 2011–12 season.
- Star sign
- The star sign for 31 December is Capricorn.
- Chinese zodiac
- In the Chinese zodiac, 31 December 2011 fell in the Year of the Rabbit.
- Birthstone
- The birthstone for December is Turquoise.
- Moon phase
- The moon phase on 31 December 2011 was Waxing Crescent.
On this day: 31 December
- 2004 The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 ft).
- 2009 Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur.
- 2011 NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon.
- 2015 A fire breaks out at the Downtown Address Hotel in Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates, located near the Burj Khalifa, two hours before the fireworks display is due to commence. Sixteen injuries were reported; one had a heart attack, another suffered a major injury, and fourteen others with minor injuries.
- 2019 The World Health Organization is informed of cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause, detected in Wuhan. This later turned out to be COVID-19, the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Famous people born on December 31
- Val Kilmer, American actor (1959–2025)
- Sophia Laforteza, Filipino-American singer (born 2002)
- Alex Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager (born 1941)
- Charles Edward Stuart, Scottish claimant to the throne of England (1720–1788)
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.
Events of 2011 in the United States
A selection from Wikipedia's '2011 in the United States'. Not a complete list.
- February 27 – The 83rd Academy Awards, hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway, are held at Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Tom Hooper's The King's Speech wins four awards out of 12 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
- March 11 – Following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issues a tsunami warning to parts of the U.S. West Coast along the affected coastal areas in Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. Territories in the Pacific Ocean.
- April 15 – Rio is released in theaters.
Life in the US in 2011
President
Barack Obama
Gas (per gallon)
$3.52
Loaf of Bread
$1.74
Average House
$242,300
Weekly Wage
$737
Or
Browse by Year
About The Day You Were Born
Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.
About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →