January 30

Events

• 1595 - William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is performed for the first time
• 1649 - King Charles I of England is beheaded.
• 1781 - Articles of Confederation ratified by 13th state, Maryland
• 1790 - The first boat specialized as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne.
• 1820 - Edward Bransfield[?] discovers Antarctica
• 1835 - Unsuccessful assassination attempt against President Andrew Jackson in the United States Capitol -- first assasination attempt against a President.
• 1847 - Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco[?].
• 1862 - The first American ironclad[?] warship, the USS Monitor is launched.
• 1900 - United Kingdom forces fighting Boers in South Africa ask for reinforcements.
• 1911 - The destroyer USS Terry[?] makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of James McCurdy 10 miles from Havana, Cuba.
• 1913 - House of Lords rejects Irish Home Rule Bill[?]
• 1925 - Government of Turkey throws Patriarch Constantine VI[?] out of Istanbul
• 1933 - Adolf Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg
• 1933 - The first of 2,956 episodes of The Lone Ranger airs on the radio for the first time.
• 1944 - United States troops invade Majuro, Marshall Islands
• 1948 - Indian pacifist and leader Mahatma Gandhi is murdered by a Hindu extremist.
• 1948 - 1948 Winter Olympics open in St. Moritz[?], Switzerland
• 1962 - Two of the high-wire "Flying Wallendas[?]" are killed when their famous seven-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit, Michigan.
• 1964 - Ranger 6[?] is launched by NASA. Its mission is it to carry television cameras and to crash-land on the moon.
• 1968 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive begin when Viet Kong[?] forces launch series of a surprise attacks in South Vietnam.
• 1969 - The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records. The impromptu concert was broken up by the police.
• 1972 - Bloody Sunday: United Kingdom forces kill thirteen Roman Catholic civil rights marchers in Northern Ireland.
• 1972 - Pakistan withdraws from the British Commonwealth
• 1989 - The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan closes.
• 1994 - Peter Leko[?] becomes the youngest grand master in chess.
• 1995 - Workers from the National Institutes of Health announce the success of clinical trials testing the first preventative treatment for sickle cell anaemia.
• 1996 - Suspected leader of the Irish National Liberation Army Gino Gallagher[?] is killed while in line for his unemployment benefit.
• 2002 - Slobodan Milosevic accuses the United Nations war crimes tribunal[?] of an "evil and hostile attack" against him.
• 2003 - Belgium legally recognizes same-sex marriage

Births

• 1687 - Johann Balthasar Neumann[?], master builder (+ 1753)
• 1781 - Adelbert von Chamisso, poet (+ 1838)
• 1882 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States (+ 1945)
• 1894 - King Boris III of Bulgaria (+ 1943)
• 1901 - Rudolf Caracciola[?], driver of racing cars (+ 1959)
• 1912 - Barbara W. Tuchman, historian (+ 1989)
• 1914 - David Wayne[?], actor (+ 1995)
• 1914 - John Ireland, actor (+ 1992)
• 1920 - Delbert Mann[?], director
• 1922 - Dick Martin[?], comedian
• 1924 - Lloyd Alexander, writer
• 1925 - Dorothy Malone[?], actress
• 1927 - Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden (+ 1986)
• 1928 - Hal Prince[?], stage producer, director
• 1930 - Gene Hackman, actor
• 1931 - Allan W. Eckert, historian, naturalist and author
• 1935 - Richard Brautigan, writer and poet (+ 1984)
• 1937 - Vanessa Redgrave, actress
• 1937 - Boris Spassky, chess grand master
• 1941 - Dick Cheney, politician
• 1943 - Marty Balin[?], musician
• 1945 - Michael Dorris[?], author (+ 1997)
• 1947 - Steve Marriott[?], musician ("The Small Faces") (+ 1991)
• 1951 - Phil Collins, musician
• 1972 - Tim Jones, Gonzo Journalist
• 1974 - Christian Bale[?], actor

Deaths

• 1649 - King Charles I of England
• 1889 - Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria and Baroness Mary Vetsera[?], at Mayerling
• 1948 - Mohandas Gandhi, Indian politician
• 1958 - Jean Crotti, Swiss artist
• 1963 - Francis Poulenc, composer
• 1980 - Professor Longhair, King of New Orleans music
• 1982 - Lightning Hopkins[?], blues musician
• 1991 - John Bardeen, physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics twice
• 1991 - John McIntire[?], actor
• 1994 - Pierre Boulle, author
• 1999 - Huntz Hall[?], actor
• 2001 - Jean-Pierre Aumont[?], actor
• 2002 - Daniel Pearl, journalist (one possible date)

Holidays and observances

January 29 - January 31 - December 30 - Historical anniversaries