January 30Birthdays & History

On this day: January 30 in history

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

1. 1018Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.Europe
2. 1287King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.Asia
3. 1607An estimated 200 square miles (51,800 ha) along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary in England are destroyed by massive flooding, resulting in an estimated 2,000 deaths.Europe
4. 1648Eighty Years' War: The Treaty of Münster and Osnabrück is signed, ending the conflict between the Netherlands and Spain.Europe
5. 1649Charles I of England is executed in Whitehall, London.Europe
6. 1661Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed more than two years after his death, on the 12th anniversary of the execution of the monarch he himself deposed.Europe
7. 1667The Truce of Andrusovo is signed, ending the Russian-Polish War of 1654-1667.Europe
8. 1789Tây Sơn forces emerge victorious against Qing armies and liberate the capital Thăng Long.Asia
9. 1806The original Lower Trenton Bridge (also called the Trenton Makes the World Takes Bridge), which spans the Delaware River between Morrisville, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey, is opened.North America
10. 1820Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica.World
11. 1826The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the northwest coast of Wales, is opened.Europe
12. 1835In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson, but fails and is subdued by a crowd, including several congressmen as well as Jackson himself.North America
13. 1847Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco, California.North America
14. 1858The first Hallé concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of The Hallé orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra.Europe
15. 1862American Civil War: The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.North America
16. 1889Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in the Mayerling.Europe
17. 1902The first Anglo-Japanese Alliance is signed in London.AsiaEurope
18. 1908Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is released from prison by Jan C. Smuts after being tried and sentenced to two months in jail earlier in the month.Asia
19. 1911The destroyer USS Terry makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of Douglas McCurdy 16 kilometres (10 miles) from Havana, Cuba.Latin America
20. 1920Japanese carmaker Mazda is founded, initially as a cork-producing company.Asia
21. 1925The Government of Turkey expels Patriarch Constantine VI from Istanbul.Middle East
22. 1930The Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union orders the confiscation of lands belonging to the Kulaks in a campaign of Dekulakization, resulting in the executions and forced deportations of millions.Europe
23. 1933Adolf Hitler's rise to power: Hitler takes office as the Chancellor of Germany.Europe
24. 1939During a speech in the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler makes a prediction about the end of the Jewish race in Europe if another world war were to occur.Europe
25. 1942World War II: Japanese forces invade the island of Ambon in the Dutch East Indies. Some 300 captured Allied troops are killed after the surrender. One-quarter of the remaining POWs remain alive at the end of the war.AsiaEurope
26. 1944World War II: The Battle of Cisterna, part of Operation Shingle, begins in central Italy.Europe
27. 1945World War II: Raid at Cabanatuan: One hundred and twenty-six American Rangers and Filipino resistance fighters liberate over 500 Allied prisoners from the Japanese-controlled Cabanatuan POW camp.North AmericaAsiaAsia
28. 1945World War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with German refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing approximately 9,500 people.Europe
29. 1948Following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in his home compound, India's prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, broadcasts to the nation, saying "The light has gone out of our lives". The date of the assassination becomes observed as "Martyrs' Day" in India.Asia
30. 1948British South American Airways' Tudor IV Star Tiger disappears over the Bermuda Triangle.EuropeLatin AmericaNorth America
31. 1956In the United States, Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery bus boycott.North America
32. 1959MS Hans Hedtoft, specifically designed to operate in icebound seas, strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks, killing all 95 aboard.North AmericaEurope
33. 1959The forces of the Sultanate of Muscat occupy the last strongholds of the Imamate of Oman, Saiq and Shuraijah, marking the end of Jebel Akhdar War in Oman.Middle East
34. 1960The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties.Africa
35. 1964In a bloodless coup, General Nguyễn Khánh overthrows General Dương Văn Minh's military junta in South Vietnam.Asia
36. 1968Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies.AsiaNorth America
37. 1969The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.Europe
38. 1972The Troubles: Bloody Sunday: British paratroopers open fire on anti-internment marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing 13 people; another person later dies of injuries sustained.Europe
39. 1972Pakistan leaves the Commonwealth of Nations in protest of its recognition of breakaway Bangladesh.Asia
40. 1974Pan Am Flight 806 crashes near Pago Pago International Airport in American Samoa, killing 97.Oceania
41. 1975The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is established as the first United States National Marine Sanctuary.North America
42. 1975Turkish Airlines Flight 345 crashes into the Sea of Marmara near Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport, killing 42.Middle East
43. 1979A Varig Boeing 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.Asia
44. 1982Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called "Elk Cloner".North America
45. 1989The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is closed.North AmericaAsia
46. 1995Hydroxycarbamide becomes the first approved preventive treatment for sickle cell disease.North America
47. 2000Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ivory Coast, killing 169.Africa
48. 2006The Goleta postal facility shootings occur, killing seven people before the perpetrator took her own life.North America
49. 2007Microsoft Corporation releases Windows Vista, a major release of the operating system Microsoft Windows and the NT based kernel.North America
50. 2013Naro-1 becomes the first carrier rocket launched by South Korea.Asia
51. 2020The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.World

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