April 30

April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining, as the last day in April.

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.
• 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 – 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 [[]] 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.

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)
• 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 (The Munsters)
• 1911 – Luise Rinser, narrator (d. 2002)
• 1916 – Claude Shannon, the "father of information theory (d. 2001)
• 1916 – Robert Shaw, American conductor (d. 1999)
• 1926 – Cloris Leachman, actress (Oscar winner, 1971) also listed as 1930
• 1929 – Klausjürgen Wussow, actor
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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)
• 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

April 29 – May 1 – March 29 – May 29 – listing of all days