April 30

Events

• 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule.
• 711 - Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus).
• 1492 - Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.
• 1671 - Petar Zrinski, the Croatian Ban from the Zrinski family, is executed.
• 1794 - The Battle of Boulou is fought, in which French forces defeated the Spanish under General Union.
• 1789 - On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected President of the United States.
• 1803 - Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling – overnight – the size of the young nation.
• 1812 - The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana.
• 1838 - Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation
• 1894 - Coxey's Army reaches Washington, D.C to protest the unemployment caused by the Panic of 1893.
• 1900 - Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.
• 1900 - Casey Jones dies attempting to save the runaway train Cannonball Express.
• 1904 - The Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair opens in Saint Louis, Missouri.
• 1920 - Peru becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
• 1925 - Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc is sold to Dillon, Read & Company; for USD $146 million plus $50 million for charity.
• 1927 - The Federal Industrial Institute for Women, opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women's federal prison in the United States.
• 1938 - The cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt debuts in movie theaters, introducing Bugs Bunny.
• 1939 - Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to appear on television.
• 1939 - The 1939 New York World's Fair opens.
• 1943 - World War II: Operation Mincemeat – The submarine HMS Seraph surfaces in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain to deposit a dead man planted with false invasion plans and dressed as a British military intelligence officer.
• 1945 - Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for one day.
• 1947 - In Nevada, the Boulder Dam is officially renamed Hoover Dam again.
• 1948 - In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established.
• 1966 - Anton LaVey founds the Church of Satan.
• 1973 - Watergate Scandal: President Richard Nixon announces that top White House aids H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and others have resigned.
• 1975 - Vietnamese military liberates Saigon, ending the Vietnam War. Colonel Bui Tin accepts the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam from President Duong Van Minh.
• 1980 - Accession of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
• 1983 - Michael Jackson's song "Beat It" hits number 1 on the Billboard music charts.
• 1988 - In Dublin, Ireland, Céline Dion wins the thirty-third Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland singing "Ne partez pas sans moi" (Don't leave without me).
• 1991 - A tropical cyclone hits Bangladesh killing an estimated 138,000 people.
• 1992 - The last episode of the Cosby Show airs.
• 1993 - The World Wide Web was born at CERN
• 1993 - During a changeover at a tennis tournament in Hamburg, Germany, Monica Seles is stabbed in the back by a deranged fan of rival Steffi Graf. Seles would not play competitively for more than two years after the incident.
• 1994 - In Dublin, Ireland, Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan win the thirty-ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland singing "Rock'n'Roll Kids".
• 1997 - Ellen DeGeneres's character comes out of the closet on the sitcom Ellen.
• 1999 - NATO membership expands by approving the admission of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.
• 1999 - Cambodia joins the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bringing the total members to 10.
• 1999 - Neo-nazi bomber David Copeland detonates his third bomb in front of the Admiral Duncan pub and is arrested the night after.
• 2001 - Chandra Levy, a former intern to California Congressman Gary Condit, is last seen in Washington, DC.
• 2002 - A referendum in Pakistan overwhelmingly approves the Presidency of Pervez Musharraf for another five years.
• 2004 - The last edition of NPR's Morning Edition with Bob Edwards as host airs.
• 2004 - Red Hat Linux 9, the last version of Red Hat Linux is no longer supported by Red Hat Inc. It has been replaced by Red Hat Enterprise Linux And Fedora Core

Births

• 1602 - William Lilly, astrologer (d. 1681)
• 1662 - Queen Mary II of England (d. 1694)
• 1777 - Carl Friedrich Gauss, mathematician, astronomer and physicist (d. 1855)
• 1865 - Max Nettlau, anarchist and historian
• 1867 - Burton Mossman, Arizona Ranger (d. 1956)
• 1870 - Franz Lehár, composer (d. 1948)
• 1877 - Alice B. Toklas, muse and brownie chef (d. 1967)
• 1883 - Jaroslav Hašek;, Czech novelist (d. 1923)
• 1889 - Ellis Wilson, artist
• 1893 - Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi foreign minister (d. 1946)
• 1908 - Eve Arden, actress, also listed as 1912 (d. 1990)
• 1909 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)
• 1910 - Al Lewis, actor and politician
• 1911 - Luise Rinser, narrator (d. 2002)
• 1916 - Claude Shannon, the "father of information theory (d. 2001)
• 1916 - Robert Shaw, American conductor (d. 1999)
• 1925 - Johnny Horton, American country musician (d. 1960)
• 1926 - Cloris Leachman, actress (Oscar winner, 1971) also listed as 1930
• 1929 - Klausjürgen Wussow, actor
• 1930 - Lawton Chiles, American politician (d. 1998)
• 1933 - Willie Nelson, country musician, composer, actor
• 1938 - Gary Collins, actor
• 1938 - Larry Niven, science fiction author
• 1940 - Burt Young, actor
• 1941 - Johnny Farina, guitarist (Santo and Johnny)
• 1943 - Bobby Vee, singer
• 1944 - Jill Clayburgh, actress
• 1945 - Annie Dillard, poet, essayist, novelist
• 1945 - Michael Smith, American astronaut (d. 1986)
• 1946 - King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden
• 1946 - Don Schollander, Olympic gold medalist in swimming
• 1948 - Perry King, actor
• 1949 - Phil Garner, major league baseball manager
• 1954 - Jane Campion, New Zealand film director
• 1955 - Nicolas Hulot, journalist, author
• 1961 - Isiah Thomas, basketball player, coach, owner
• 1964 - Barrington Levy, reggae and dancehall musician
• 1969 - Clark Vogeler, rock guitarist (The Toadies)
• 1973 - Jeff Timmons, R&B singer (98 Degrees)
• 1975 - Elliott Sadler, NASCAR driver
• 1978 - Tom Fulp, computer artist, creator and owner of Newgrounds
• 1982 - Kirsten Dunst, actress
• 1987 - Konrad Hellwig, actor, famous chef, reality TV star
• 1996 - Jaidyn Leskie, Australian murder victim, aged 14 months.

Deaths

• 65 - Lucan, Roman poet (b. 39)
• 1341 - John III of Dreux, Duke of Brittany
• 1847 - Archduke Charles, Austrian general
• 1865 - Robert Fitzroy, English admiral and meteorologist (b. 1805)
• 1875 - Jean Frederic Waldeck, French explorer, lithographer and cartographer (b. 1766)
• 1883 - Édouard Manet, impressionist painter (b. 1832)
• 1903 - Emily Stowe, first female doctor to practice in Canada, activist for women's rights and suffrage. (b.1831)
• 1936 - Alfred Edward Housman, poet (b. 1859)
• 1943 - Otto Jespersen, Danish philologist (b. 1860)
• 1945 - Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun (suicide)
• 1956 - Alben W. Barkley, former Vice President of the United States (b. 1877)
• 1970 - Inger Stevens, actress (b. 1934)
• 1974 - Agnes Moorehead, actress (b. 1900)
• 1981 - Peter Huchel, German poet
• 1982 - Lester Bangs, music journalist, author, musician (b. 1949)
• 1983 - George Balanchine, dancer, choreographer (b. 1904)
• 1983 - Muddy Waters, blues musician (b. 1915)
• 1985 - Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist
• 1989 - Yi, Bang-ja, Crown Princess of Korea (b. 1901)
• 1989 - Sergio Leone, Italian filmmaker (b. 1929)
• 1998 - Nizar Qabbani, Syrian Poet
• 2003 - Peter 'Possum' Bourne, 3-time Asia-Pacific Rally champion
• 2003 - Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist

Holidays and observances

• Scandinavia - The arrival of spring, Walpurgis Night
• Sweden - Birthday of King Carl XVI Gustav, an official flag day
• The Netherlands - Queen's Day
• Roman Empire - third day of the Floralia in honor of Flora
• Bealtaine Eve (From either Irish Bealtaine or Scottish Gaelic). Originally Druid then Celtic Holiday
• Vietnam - Liberation Day
• Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
  • Saint Maximus, 3rd century martyr
  • Saint Louis, Amator, and Peter, martyred by the Moors in 855
  • Saint Marianus and James, martyrs in Numidia in 259
  • Suitbert the Younger (d. 807)
  • Catherine of Siena
  • Joseph Benedict Cottolengo
  • Pius V, pope

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• Today in History: April 30

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