On this day: December 31

POSTED: 02:25 AM PST Dec 29, 2012    UPDATED: 11:00 PM PST Dec 30, 2012 
ship going through Panama Canal

Times Square holds its first New Year's Eve celebration, the board game Monopoly is patented, "Calvin and Hobbes" say goodbye, and the U.S. relinquishes control of the Panama Canal, all on this day.