Portal:University of Oxford/On this day/December 31

Births
 * 1635 – Robert Southwell (Queen's), politician and President of the Royal Society
 * 1696 – Thomas Winnington (Christ Church), politician
 * 1870 – David John Jones (Jesus), Dean of Llandaff 1931–48
 * 1877 – Edward Keble Talbot (Christ Church), Anglican priest
 * 1946 – Sheila Forbes (St Hilda's), Principal of St Hilda's from 2007
 * 1946 – Martin Mansergh (Christ Church), Irish politician
 * 1947 – June Tabor (St Hugh's), folk singer
 * 1948 – Rick Trainor (Merton and Nuffield), American academic
 * 1973 – Gul Khan, cricketer

Other events
 * 1966 – Abbas Ali Baig makes his test match debut for India.
 * 2005 – Kenneth Dover (Balliol and Corpus Christi) stands down as Chancellor of the University of St Andrews.

Deaths
 * 1384 – John Wycliffe (Balliol and Queen's), theologian and bible translator
 * 1660 – Thomas Powell (Jesus), Welsh cleric and writer
 * 1714 – John Wynne (Jesus), Welsh industrialist
 * 1715 – William Wycherley (Queen's), dramatist
 * 1826 – William Gifford (Exeter), critic and poet
 * 1936 – Ralph Wigram (University), Foreign Office civil servant who assisted Churchill before the Second World War
 * 1939 – Frank Benson (New College), actor and theatre manager
 * 1955 – Cyril Garbett (Keble), Archbishop of York 1942–55
 * 2001 – Guido di Tella (St Antony's), Argentine businessman and politician
 * 2001 – John Grigg (New College), writer and historian
 * 2005 – Phillip Whitehead (Exeter), Labour politician