NO PAPER FRIDAY: Due to the holiday, there will not be a paper printed on Friday. The first edition of The Bradford Era for 2021 will be printed Saturday.
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HISTORY OF DECEMBER 31: Most of us are focused on what tomorrow brings, so we typically forget that December 31st has its own interesting happenings.
Some of those include:
— The United States officially handed over control of the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999.
— Taipei 101, at the time the tallest building in the world, opened in Taipei, Taiwan, in 2004. The structure looms at a height of 1,667 feet.
— The Soviet Union officially ceased to exist on this day in 1991. On Dec. 21, 1991, Russia and other former Soviet republics declared themselves independent and formed the Commonwealth of Independent States.
— Ottawa, located in the Ontario Province of Canada, was named the capital of the country on this day in 1857 by Queen Victoria.
FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS: Henri Matisse, the artist often regarded as the most important French painter of the 20th century, was born in 1869.
Meanwhile, in 1880, George C. Marshall, the U.S. Army chief of staff during World War II was born. Marshall also served as the U.S secretary of state from 1947–49 and of defense from 1950–51. Marshall was the architect of the Marshall Plan for European recovery, and he was a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1953.
Finally, American Author Nicholas Sparks and Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins were both born on this day in 1965 and 1937, respectively.
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FIRST WORD OF 2021: As we reach midnight tonight, most people will say their first word of the year. What is it?
Happy.
As in, Happy New Year. We wish all of our readers a Happy New Year now, and more than likely we will be saying it with you as the clock strikes twelve.
