April 30
April 30 is the 120th day of the year (121st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 245 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 311 – The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.
- 313 – Battle of Tzirallum: Emperor Licinius defeats Maximinus II and unifies the Eastern Roman Empire.
- 1006 – Supernova SN 1006, the brightest supernova in recorded history, appears in the constellation Lupus.
- 1315 – Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged on the public gallows at Montfaucon.
- 1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.
- 1513 – Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the orders of Henry VIII.
- 1671 – Petar Zrinski, the Croatian Ban from the Zrinski family, is executed.
- 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 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.
- 1863 – A 65-man French Foreign Legion infantry patrol fought a force of nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers to nearly the last man in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico.
- 1871 – The Camp Grant Massacre takes place in Arizona Territory.
- 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 in a train wreck in Vaughn, Mississippi, while trying to make up time on the Cannonball Express.
- 1904 – The Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair opens in St. Louis, Missouri.
- 1907 – Honolulu, Hawaii becomes an independent city.
- 1920 – Peru becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- 1925 – Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc is sold to Dillon, Read & Company for $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.
- 1927 – Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
- 1937 – The Philippines holds a plebiscite for Filipino women on whether they should be extended the right to suffrage; over 90% would vote in the affirmative.
- 1938 – The animated cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt debuts in movie theaters, introducing Happy Rabbit (a prototype of Bugs Bunny).
- 1938 – The first televised FA Cup Final takes place between Huddersfield Town and Preston North End.
- 1939 – The 1939-40 New York World's Fair opens.
- 1939 – NBC inaugurates its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's N.Y. World's Fair opening day ceremonial address.
- 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 – World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for one day. Soviet soldiers raise the Victory Banner over the Reichstag building.
- 1947 – In Nevada, the Boulder Dam is renamed Hoover Dam a second time.
- 1948 – In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established.
- 1953 – In Warner Robins, Georgia, an F4 tornado kills 18 people.
- 1956 – Former Vice President and Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia. He collapses after proclaiming "I would rather be a servant in the house of the lord than sit in the seats of the mighty."
- 1961 – K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned.
- 1963 – The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.
- 1966 – The Church of Satan is established at the Black House in San Francisco, California.
- 1967 – The Aldene Connection opened in Roselle Park, NJ, shutting down the CNJ's Jersey City waterfront terminal and transferring commuters to Newark Penn Station.
- 1973 – Watergate Scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that top White House aids H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and others have resigned.
- 1975 – Fall of Saigon (or Liberation of Saigon from the Communist perspective): Communist forces gain control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Duong Van Minh.
- 1980 – Accession of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
- 1988 – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II officially opens World Expo '88 in Brisbane, Australia.
- 1993 – CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free.
- 1993 – Virgin Radio broadcasts for the first time in the United Kingdom.
- 1993 – Monica Seles is stabbed by Günter Parche, an obsessed fan, during a quarterfinal match of the 1993 Citizen Cup in Hamburg, Germany
- 1995 – U.S. President Bill Clinton became the first President to visit Northern Ireland.
- 1999 – Cambodia joins the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bringing the number of members to 10.
- 2004 – U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
- 2008 – Two skeletal remains found near Ekaterinburg, Russia are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and one of his sisters.
- 2009 – Chrysler automobile company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- 2009 – Seven people are killed and 17 injured at a Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.
Births
- 1245 – King Philip III of France (d. 1285)
- 1331 – Gaston Phoebus of Foix (d. 1391)
- 1553 – Louise of Lorraine, queen of France (d. 1601)
- 1623 – François de Laval, first bishop of New France (d. 1708)
- 1651 – Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, French educational reformer, Catholic saint (d. 1719)
- 1662 – Queen Mary II of England (d. 1694)
- 1664 – François Louis, Prince of Conti, French general (d. 1709)
- 1710 – Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (d. 1795)
- 1723 – Mathurin Jacques Brisson, French naturalist (d. 1806)
- 1770 – David Thompson, Canadian explorer (d. 1857)
- 1777 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician (d. 1855)
- 1803 – Albrecht Graf von Roon, Prime Minister of Prussia (d. 1879)
- 1812 – Kaspar Hauser, German mystery boy (d. 1833)
- 1829 – Ferdinand von Hochstetter, Austrian geologist (d. 1884)
- 1857 – Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist (d. 1940)
- 1864 – Juhan Liiv, Estonian poet (d. 1913)
- 1865 – Max Nettlau, German anarchist (d. 1944)
- 1869 – Hans Poelzig, German architect (d. 1936)
- 1870 – Franz Lehár, Austrian composer (d. 1948)
- 1874 – Cyriel Verschaeve, Flemish clergyman (d. 1949)
- 1876 – Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist (d. 1937)
- 1877 – Alice B. Toklas, American companion of Gertrude Stein (d. 1967)
- 1883 – Jaroslav Hašek, Czech novelist (d. 1923)
- 1893 – Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi foreign minister (d. 1946)
- 1895 – Philippe Panneton, French Canadian physician, diplomat and writer (d. 1960)
- 1896 – Hans List, Austrian inventor (d. 1996)
- 1897 – Humberto Mauro, Brazilian director and screenwriter (d. 1983)
- 1901 – Simon Kuznets, Ukrainian-born economist, Nobel laureate (d. 1985)
- 1902 – Theodore Schultz, American economist, Nobel laureate (d. 1998)
- 1905 – Sergey Nikolsky, Russian mathematician
- 1908 – Eve Arden, American actress (d. 1990)
- 1908 – Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic Foreign and later Prime Minister (d. 1970)
- 1909 – Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)
- 1909 – F. E. McWilliam, Irish sculptor (d. 1992)
- 1910 – Srirangam Srinivasarao, Telugu poet and lyricist
- 1914 – Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian songwriter and performer (d. 2008)
- 1916 – Claude E. Shannon, American engineer and mathematician (d. 2001)
- 1916 – Robert Shaw, American conductor (d. 1999)
- 1920 – Duncan Hamilton, British racing driver (d. 1994)
- 1921 – Tove Maës, Danish actress (d. 2011)
- 1923 – Percy Heath, American jazz musician (Modern Jazz Quartet) (d. 2005)
- 1923 – Al Lewis, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Francis Tucker, South African rally driver (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Kagamisato Kiyoji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 42nd Yokozuna (d. 2004)
- 1925 – Corinne Calvet, French actress (d. 2001)
- 1925 – Johnny Horton, American musician (d. 1960)
- 1926 – Cloris Leachman, American actress
- 1928 – Hugh Hood, Canadian author (d. 2000)
- 1930 – Félix Guattari, French philosopher and social theorist (d. 1992)
- 1933 – Dickie Davies, British television presenter
- 1933 – Willie Nelson, American musician
- 1934 – Don McKenney, Canadian hockey player
- 1934 – Jerry Lordan, British composer and singer (d. 1995)
- 1938 – Juraj Jakubisko, Slovak film director
- 1938 – Gary Collins, American actor
- 1938 – Larry Niven, American author
- 1940 – Burt Young, American actor
- 1941 – Stavros Dimas, Greek politician
- 1941 – Johnny Farina, American musician and composer (Santo & Johnny)
- 1943 – Frederick Chiluba, former Zambian president (1991–2001) (d. 2011)
- 1943 – Bobby Vee, American singer
- 1944 – Jill Clayburgh, American actress (d. 2010)
- 1945 – Annie Dillard, American writer
- 1945 – Michael Smith, American astronaut (d. 1986)
- 1946 – Lee Bollinger, American lawyer, educator and president of Columbia University
- 1946 – King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
- 1946 – Don Schollander, American swimmer
- 1946 – Bill Plympton, American animator
- 1947 – Leslie Grantham, British actor
- 1947 – Finn Kalvik, Norwegian singer
- 1947 – Tom Køhlert, Danish footballer
- 1947 – Manousos Manousakis, Greek director and producer
- 1947 – Mats Odell, Swedish politician
- 1948 – Perry King, American actor
- 1948 – Alexander Onassis, son of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis (d. 1973)
- 1949 – Phil Garner, baseball manager
- 1949 – António Guterres, Prime Minister of Portugal
- 1952 – Jacques Audiard, French film director
- 1953 – Merrill Osmond, American musician (The Osmonds)
- 1954 – Thom Bray, American actor
- 1954 – Jane Campion, New Zealand film director
- 1954 – Frank-Michael Marczewski, German footballer
- 1955 – Nicolas Hulot, French journalist
- 1955 – Dimitra Liani, widow of the former Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou
- 1956 – Lars von Trier, Danish film director
- 1957 – Aviva Chomsky, American historian, daughter of Noam Chomsky
- 1958 – Charles Berling, French actor, director and screenwriter
- 1959 – Paul Gross, Canadian actor, director, and writer
- 1959 – Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
- 1959 – W. Thomas Smith, Jr, American author and columnist
- 1960 – Kerry Healey, American politician
- 1960 – David Miscavige, American cult leader
- 1961 – Isiah Thomas, American basketball player
- 1963 – Michael Waltrip, American race car driver
- 1963 – Stefan Kisyov, Bulgarian novelist
- 1964 – Tony Fernandes, Malaysian entrepreneur
- 1964 – Ian Healy, Australian cricketer
- 1964 – Kent James, American musician
- 1964 – Barrington Levy, Jamaican musician
- 1965 – Adrian Pasdar, American actor
- 1966 – Jeff Brown, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1966 – Dave Meggett, former NFL player and convicted sex offender
- 1967 – Steven Mackintosh, British actor
- 1969 – Paulo Jr., Brazilian musician (Sepultura)
- 1969 – Warren Defever, American musician, composer
- 1971 – John Boyne, Irish novelist
- 1971 – Darren Emerson, British DJ (Underworld)
- 1972 – JR Richards, American musician, composer, actor (Dishwalla)
- 1973 – Jeff Timmons, American singer (98 Degrees)
- 1975 – Elliott Sadler, American race car driver
- 1975 – Mike Chat, American actor
- 1975 – Johnny Galecki, American actor
- 1976 – Amanda Palmer, American musician (The Dresden Dolls)
- 1977 – Jeannie Haddaway, American politician
- 1977 – Pell James, American actress
- 1978 – Tom Fulp, animator and founder of Newgrounds
- 1979 – Gerardo Torrado, Mexican footballer
- 1980 – Jeroen Verhoeven, Dutch footballer
- 1980 – Luis Scola, Argentinean basketball player
- 1981 – John O'Shea, Irish footballer
- 1981 – Emma Pierson, British actress
- 1981 – Kunal Nayyar, Indian/British actor
- 1982 – Lloyd Banks, American rapper
- 1982 – Kirsten Dunst, American actress
- 1982 – Cleo Higgins, British singer and actress
- 1982 – Drew Seeley, Canadian actor and singer
- 1983 – Tatjana Hüfner, German luger
- 1983 – Troy Williamson, American football player
- 1984 – Shawn Daivari, American wrestler and manager
- 1984 – Lee Roache, British footballer
- 1985 – Ashley Alexandra Dupré, American singer and call girl
- 1986 – Dianna Agron, American actress
- 1987 – Alipate Carlile, Australian rules footballer
- 1987 – Nikki Webster, Australian entertainer
- 1987 – Rohit Sharma, Indian cricketer
- 2002 – Miguel Urdangarín y de Borbón, Spanish prince
Deaths
- 65 – Lucan, Roman poet (b. 39)
- 1030 – Mahmud of Ghazni, ruler of the Ghaznavid Dynasty of India (b. 971)
- 1063 – Emperor Renzong of China (b. 1010)
- 1131 – Adjutor, Roman Catholic Saint
- 1341 – John III, Duke of Brittany (b. 1285)
- 1439 – Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, British military leader (b. 1382)
- 1513 – Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, Yorkist pretender to the English throne (b. 1471 or 1472)
- 1524 – Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard, French soldier (b. 1473)
- 1544 – Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, Lord Chancellor of England
- 1550 – Tabinshwehti, King of Burma (b. 1516)
- 1632 – King Sigismund I of Sweden (b. 1561)
- 1632 – Johan Tzerclaes, Count of Tilly, Bavarian general (b. 1559)
- 1642 – Dmitry Pozharsky, Russian prince (b. 1578)
- 1660 – Petrus Scriverius, Dutch writer (b. 1576)
- 1655 – Eustache Le Sueur, French painter (b. 1617)
- 1696 – Robert Plot, British naturalist (b. 1640)
- 1712 – Philipp van Limborch, Dutch Protestant theologian (b. 1633)
- 1736 – Johann Albert Fabricius, German classical scholar and bibliographer (b. 1668)
- 1758 – François d'Agincourt, French composer (b. 1684)
- 1792 – John Montagu, supposed inventor of the sandwich (b. 1718)
- 1795 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French writer and numismatist (b. 1716)
- 1806 – Onogawa Kisaburō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 5th Yokozuna (b. 1758)
- 1841 – Peter Andreas Heiberg, Danish author and philologist (b. 1758)
- 1847 – Archduke Charles of Austria, Austrian general (b. 1771)
- 1863 – Jean Danjou, French foreign legion captain (b. 1828)
- 1865 – Robert FitzRoy, British admiral and meteorologist (b. 1805)
- 1875 – Jean Frederic Waldeck, French explorer, lithographer, and cartographer (b. 1766)
- 1879 – Emma Hale Smith Bidamon, wife of Joseph Smith, and mother of Joseph Smith III (b.1804)
- 1883 – Édouard Manet, French painter (b. 1832)
- 1900 – Casey Jones, American train engineer (b. 1863)
- 1903 – Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and suffragist (b. 1831)
- 1936 – Alfred Edward Housman, British poet (b. 1859)
- 1943 – Otto Jespersen, Danish philologist (b. 1860)
- 1943 – Beatrice Webb, British economist (b. 1858)
- 1945 – Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler's wife (b. 1912)
- 1945 – Adolf Hitler, Austrian-German dictator of Nazi Germany (b. 1889)
- 1956 – Alben W. Barkley, Vice President of the United States (b. 1877)
- 1966 – Richard Farina, American folk singer and author (b. 1937)
- 1970 – Inger Stevens, Swedish actress (b. 1934)
- 1972 – Gia Scala, British-American actress (b. 1934)
- 1973 – Václav Renč, Czech poet, dramatist and translator (b. 1911)
- 1974 – Agnes Moorehead, American actress (b. 1900)
- 1980 – Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician (b. 1898)
- 1982 – Lester Bangs, American music journalist, author, and musician (b. 1949)
- 1983 – George Balanchine, Russian-born dancer and choreographer (b. 1904)
- 1983 – Muddy Waters, American musician (b. 1913)
- 1989 – Princess Bang-ja of Korea (b. 1901)
- 1989 – Sergio Leone, Italian filmmaker (b. 1929)
- 1993 – Tommy Caton, British footballer (b. 1962)
- 1994 – Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian race car driver (b. 1960)
- 1995 – Maung Maung Kha, Prime minister of Burma (b. 1920)
- 1996 – David Opatoshu, American actor (b. 1918)
- 1998 – Nizar Qabbani, Syrian poet (b. 1926)
- 2000 – Poul Hartling, Danish diplomat and politician (b. 1914)
- 2002 – Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, founder of the Gründerzeit Museum in Berlin-Mahlsdorf (b. 1928)
- 2002 – Nitsa Tsaganea, Greek actress (b. 1899)
- 2003 – Peter 'Possum' Bourne, New Zealand race car driver (b. 1956)
- 2003 – Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist (b. 1923)
- 2003 – Mark Berger, University of Kentucky professor (b. 1955)
- 2005 – Ron Todd, TGWU General Secretary (1985 – 1992) (b. 1927)
- 2006 – Lawrence Patrick, Biomechanics Professor, crash test subject (b. 1920)
- 2006 – Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesian novelist (b. 1925)
- 2006 – Beatriz Sheridan, Mexican actress and director (b. 1934)
- 2007 – Grégory Lemarchal, French singer (b. 1983)
- 2007 – Kevin Mitchell, American football player (b. 1971)
- 2007 – Tom Poston, American actor (b. 1921)
- 2007 – Gordon Scott, American actor (b. 1927)
- 2007 – Zola Taylor, American singer (b. 1938)
- 2008 – John Cargher, Australian radio broadcaster (b. 1919)
- 2009 – Venetia Burney, Person who suggested Pluto's name for the planet (b. 1918)
- 2009 – Henk Nijdam, Dutch professional road bicycle rider (b. 1935)
- 2010 – Gerry Ryan, Irish radio broadcaster (b. 1956)
- 2011 – Dorjee Khandu, Indian, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh (b. 1955)
Holidays and observances
External links