April 30Birthdays & History

On this day: April 30 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 311The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.Europe
2. 1305Roger de Flor, leader of the mercenary Catalan Company, is murdered, leading to widespread pillaging by the mercenaries in Thrace.Europe
3. 1315Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged at the instigation of Charles, Count of Valois.Europe
4. 1492Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration. He is named admiral of the ocean sea, viceroy and governor of any territory he discovers.Europe
5. 1513Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the orders of Henry VIII.Europe
6. 1598Juan de Oñate begins the conquest of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.North America
7. 1598Henry IV of France issues the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots.Europe
8. 1636Eighty Years' War: Dutch Republic forces recapture a strategically important fort from Spain after a nine-month siege.Europe
9. 1789On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first President of the United States.North America
10. 1803Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.North AmericaEurope
11. 1812The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana.North America
12. 1838Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation.Latin AmericaNorth America
13. 1859Charles Dickens publishes the first edition of his literary magazine, All the Year Round, containing the first installment of his best-selling classic, A Tale of Two Cities.Europe
14. 1863A 65-man French Foreign Legion infantry patrol fights a force of nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers to nearly the last man in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico.EuropeLatin America
15. 1864American Civil War: Confederate forces led by General E. Kirby Smith attack federal troops retreating across the Saline at Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas.North America
16. 1871The Camp Grant massacre takes place in Arizona Territory.North America
17. 1885Governor of New York David B. Hill signs legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, New York's first state park, ensuring that Niagara Falls will not be devoted solely to industrial and commercial use.North America
18. 1897J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London.Europe
19. 1900Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.North America
20. 1905Albert Einstein completes his doctoral thesis at the University of Zurich.Europe
21. 1925Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc, is sold to Dillon, Read & Co. for US$146 million plus $50 million for charity.North America
22. 1927The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women's federal prison in the United States.North America
23. 1937The Commonwealth of 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.Asia
24. 1939NBC 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.North America
25. 1939The 1939–40 New York World's Fair opens.North America
26. 1943World War II: The British submarine HMS Seraph surfaces near Huelva to cast adrift a dead man dressed as a courier and carrying false invasion plans.Europe
27. 1945World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for less than 40 hours.Europe
28. 1945World War II: Stalag Luft I prisoner-of-war camp near Barth, Germany is liberated by Soviet soldiers, freeing nearly 9,000 American and British airmen.EuropeNorth America
29. 1945World War II: Soviet soldiers raise the first Soviet flag over the Reichstag. The Victory Banner will be raised the next day.Europe
30. 1947In Nevada, Boulder Dam is renamed Hoover Dam.North America
31. 1948In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established.Latin AmericaNorth America
32. 1956Former Vice President and Democratic Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia.North America
33. 1957Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery enters into force.World
34. 1961K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned.Europe
35. 1963The 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.AsiaEurope
36. 1973Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon fires White House Counsel John Dean; other top aides, most notably H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, resign.North America
37. 1975Fall of Saigon: Communist forces gain control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Dương Văn Minh.Asia
38. 1979Eruption of Mount Marapi: Mount Marapi, a complex volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, erupts. Between 80 and 100 people are killed.Asia
39. 1980Beatrix is inaugurated as Queen of the Netherlands following the abdication of Juliana.Europe
40. 1980The Iranian Embassy siege begins in London.Middle EastEurope
41. 1982The Bijon Setu massacre occurs in Calcutta, India.Asia
42. 1989The Monkseaton shootings occur in Tyne and Wear, England. One is killed and 16 are injured.Europe
43. 1993CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free.Europe
44. 1994Formula One racing driver Roland Ratzenberger is killed in a crash during the qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix run at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari outside Imola, Italy.Europe
45. 1999Neo-Nazi David Copeland carries out the last of his three nail bombings in London at the Admiral Duncan gay pub, killing three people and injuring 79 others.Europe
46. 2000Canonization of Faustina Kowalska in the presence of 200,000 people and the first Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated worldwide.Europe
47. 2004U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers committing war crimes against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.North AmericaMiddle East
48. 2008Two skeletal remains found near Yekaterinburg are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei and Anastasia, two of the children of the last Tsar of Russia, whose entire family was executed at Yekaterinburg by the Bolsheviks.Europe
49. 2009Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.North America
50. 2009Seven civilians and the perpetrator are killed and another ten injured at a Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands in an attempted assassination on Queen Beatrix.Europe
51. 2012An overloaded ferry capsizes on the Brahmaputra River in India killing at least 108 people. At least 150 more are missing and presumed dead.Asia
52. 2013Willem-Alexander is inaugurated as King of the Netherlands following the abdication of Beatrix.Europe
53. 2014A bomb blast in Ürümqi, China kills three people and injures 79 others.Asia
54. 2021Forty-five men and boys are killed in the Meron stampede in Israel.Middle East

Source: Wikipedia "April 30" / CC BY-SA 4.0