/year

December 30 in history

184 sourced entries recorded on December 30, from 39 CE to 2024 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 999Battle of Glenmama: The combined forces of Munster and Meath under Brian Boru (High King of Ireland) inflict a crushing defeat on the allied armies of Leinster and Dublin near Lyons Hill (County Kildare).source
  • 1066Granada massacre: A Muslim mob storms the royal palace in Granada, crucifies the Jewish vizier Yusuf ibn Naghrela, and massacres most of the Jewish population.source
  • 1300December 30 (17 Rabi II 700 AH) – Mahmud Ghazan, ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ikhanate area in the Middle East, crosses the Euphrates River at Qala'at Jabar (modern-day Raqqa in Syria) to invade Syria. Residents of Damascus, Aleppo and other areas of Syria, fearing a repeat of the massacre a few months earlier, flee toward Gaza. Ghazan turns back less than five weeks later because of unusually cold weather (including heavy snow and rain) that kills almost all of his cavalry's 12,000 horses.source
  • 1334Pope Benedict XII succeeds Pope John XXII, as the 197th pope.source
  • 1370Cardinal Pierre de Beaufort, nephew of the late Pope Clement VI, is unanimously elected as the new Pope by 18 of the 20 Roman Catholic cardinals at Avignon. Beaufort takes the name Pope Gregory XI and is crowned six days later.source
  • 1396Waleran III of Luxembourg, becomes the French Governor of the former Republic of Genoa.source
  • 1418The Ming Chinese explorers, commanded by Admiral Zheng He, arrive in Yemen to open trade with the Arab kingdom, and the admiral is brought to the court of the Emir Al Malik al Nasir. The Chinese stay until January 27.source
  • 1426A peace treaty is signed in Venice between the Republic of Venice (led by the Doge Francesco Foscari) and the Duchy of Milan (ruled by the Duke Filippo Maria Visconti), through the mediation the papal envoy, Cardinal Niccolò Albergati. Milan is required to relinquish control of Brescia and Vercelli to Venice, but regains control of its former lands in Liguria.source
  • 1436In the Holy Roman Empire, at Heidelberg, 13-year-old Ludwig IV of Wittelsbach becomes the new Elector of Palatine, one of the seven imperial electors and ruler of the Rhineland, upon the death of his father, Ludwig III. During his minority, Ludwig IV is guided by his uncle and guardian, Otto of Mosbach.source
  • 1443King Sejong the Great of Korea announces the creation of the Hunminjeongeum (literally "The Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People") a manual for Hangul, a standardized writing system for the Korean language.source
  • 1456A second earthquake strikes the Italian peninsula in the Kingdom of Naples at 9:30 p.m. and is estimated by geologists at 7.0 magnitude, followed by a 6.0 aftershock, and kills an indeterminate number of people.source
  • 1505Érard de La Marck is elected prince-bishop of Liège.source
  • 1546Less than a month before his death, King Henry VIII of England revises his last will and testament and designates his preference for the line of succession to the throne. The first four people on the list serve as monarchs at different times, starting with Edward VI (1547-1553), Mary I (1553-1558) and Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The fourth in the line of succession, Lady Jane Grey, reigns for nine days after the death of Edward before Mary assumes the throne.source
  • 1557Italian War of 1551–1559: King Henri II of France, through his ambassador Jean Cavenac de la Vigne sends a letter to Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for the dispatch of 150 Ottoman Navy ships to protect the French coast.source
  • 1563Swedish commander Nils Persson is given the order to invade and pillage the Danish province of Blekinge.source
  • 1617Lord Clifton is imprisoned at the Tower of London for threatening Francis Bacon, Lord Chancellor. Clifton is prosecuted by the Star Chamber on March 17 and eventually commits suicide in Fleet Prison.source
  • 1623the Newcomen Baronetcy, of Kenagh in the County of Longford, is created in the Baronetage of Ireland for Robert Newcomen.source
  • 1627December 30 (Jumada-l awwal 2, 1037 AH) – Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram, son of the later Emperor Jahangir, enters Lahore after defeating his brother Shahryar Mirza. He is proclaimed as Shah Jahan.source
  • 1641At the request of King Charles, John Williams, the Anglican Archbishop of York joins with 11 other bishops in disputing the legality of any legislation passed by the House of Lords during the time that the bishops were excluded. The House of Commons passes a resolution to have the 12 bishops arrested. King Charles, in turn, issues an order on January 3 to have five members of the House of Commons arrested for treason.source
  • 1658The Siege of Toruń ends almost six months after it started, with Poland recapturing the city from Sweden.source
  • 1671The Académie royale d'architecture is founded by Louis XIV of France in Paris as the world's first school of architecture.source
  • 1671The Académie royale d'architecture is founded by Louis XIV in Paris, the world's first school of architecture.source
  • 1672Troops of the Dutch Republic, under the command of Carl von Rabenhaupt, are able to reclaim lost territory for the first time in the Third Anglo-Dutch War, liberating Coevorden, which had been forced to surrender to France on July 1. The moment, a boost for morale in what is remembered in Dutch history as the Rampjaar (the "Disaster Year"), is later memorialized in a painting by Pieter Wouwerman, The Storming of Coevorden.source
  • 1672first commercial public concert series in Europe begins; organised by John Banister at Whitefriars, near Fleet Street in London.source
  • 1677William Sancroft nominated by the King as Archbishop of Canterbury.source
  • 1700December 30 (December 19, O.S.) – The 4th Parliament of King William III in England is dissolved and new elections are ordered by the King.source
  • 1702Queen Anne's War: The Siege of St. Augustine in Spanish Florida is lifted.source
  • 1721Bridget Vaughan marries Arthur Bevan, a barrister.source
  • 1739Months of unseasonably cold weather begin in Ireland, precipitating the Irish Famine of 1740, known as Bliain an Áir ("The Year of Slaughter"). A January 5 dispatch from Dublin to the Stamford Mercury says "Since last Wednesday we have had the most violent cold Weather that was ever known in this Kingdom; hard Frost began that evening, which has continued ever since with a very stormy Wind at South-East." At least 13% of Ireland's population dies of starvation in the year that follows.source
  • 1749Mir Sayyid Muhammad, a grandson of the Shah Suleiman I of Persia, overthrows Shahrokh Shah to become the Shah of Persia, and briefly restores the Safavid dynasty as Suleiman II; his reign ends less than three months later, on March 20, when Kurdish tribesmen restore Shahrokh to the throne.source
  • 1757James Abercrombie replaces James Mure-Campbell, 5th Earl of Loudoun as supreme commander in the British American colonies. Abercrombie is replaced himself, after failing to take the fort at Ticonderoga.source
  • 1809Wearing masks at balls is forbidden in Boston, Massachusetts.source
  • 1812The Convention of Tauroggen is signed.source
  • 1812A brig, the Fortune, is wrecked on The Smalls, Pembrokeshire, with the loss of 10 or 11 lives.source
  • 1828Publication (begun on January 14) of Franz Schubert's song cycle Winterreise is concluded posthumously.source
  • 1834William Colenso, printer/missionary for the Church Missionary Society, arrives at Paihia in the Bay of Islands.source
  • 1835The Beagle leaves New Zealand.source
  • 1836In Saint Petersburg, the Lehman Theater catches fire, killing 800 people.source
  • 1837William Colenso completes the New Testament in Māori. He produces 5000 copies of this edition.source
  • 1845Queen's Colleges of Belfast, Cork, and Galway are incorporated in Ireland.source
  • 1845Queen's Colleges of Belfast, Cork and Galway are incorporated.source
  • 1845Queen's Colleges of Belfast, Cork and Galway are incorporated in Ireland.source
  • 1848Battle of Mór: The imperial army, led by Josip Jelačić, defeats the Hungarian army, led by Mór Perczel.source
  • 1853Gadsden Purchase: U.S. Ambassador James Gadsden signs a treaty to buy approximately 29,600 sq mi (77,000 km 2 ) of land south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest.source
  • 1853Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys approximately 77,000 km² of land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest.source
  • 1853Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest.source
  • 1858Paraguay expedition: Seventeen U.S. Navy warships, under the command of William Shubrick, depart from Uruguay on a mission to demand concessions from Paraguay, and to go to war if necessary.source
  • 1862USS Monitor sinks in a storm in the Atlantic, off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.source
  • 1862USS Monitor sinks off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.source
  • 1873Elizabeth Woolcock is hanged at the Adelaide Gaol, the only woman to be executed in South Australia.source
  • 1877The premiere of Brahms' Symphony No. 2 is given by the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Hans Richter.source
  • 1880The Transvaal becomes a republic, and Paul Kruger becomes its first president.source
  • 1884Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 is premiered in Leipzig, bringing the composer his first great success.source
  • 1888The Crispi government enacted the first Italian law introducing timid regulations on migrant protection to regulate expanding emigration from Italy. The Emigration Act of 1888 is also known as the Crispi Law on emigration. The law proclaimed the freedom to emigrate, as long as those intending to leave were in order with the military draft. It regulated the activities of emigration agents and regulated the contract of maritime transport. Married women could leave but only with their husband's consent. Transatlantic emigration had risen from about 20,000 a year before 1879 to 130,000 in 1887, and to nearly 205,000 in 1888.source
  • 1889Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, introduces the Kanunname of 1889 against the slave trade.source
  • 1897Natal annexes Zululand.source
  • 1902Discovery Expedition: British explorers Scott, Shackleton and Wilson reach the furthest southern point reached thus far by man, south of 82°S.source
  • 1903The Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago kills 600.source
  • 1905Law no. 1452 is passed by the National Congress of Brazil, authorizing expenditure of £4,214,550 for new warship construction (£1,685,820 in 1906).source
  • 1905A bomb kills Frank Steunenberg, ex-governor of Idaho; the case leads to a trial against leaders of the Western Federation of Miners.source
  • 1905Franz Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow is first performed, at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna.source
  • 1906The All-India Muslim League is founded as a political party in Dhaka in the British Raj; it becomes a driving force for the creation of an independent Pakistan.source
  • 1913Italy returns the Mona Lisa to France.source
  • 1916Humberto Gómez and his mercenaries seize Arauca in Colombia and declare the Republic of Arauca. He proceeds to pillage the region before fleeing to Venezuela.source
  • 1916Karl von Habsburg and his wife Zita of Bourbon-Parma are crowned emperor and empress of Austria-Hungary.source
  • 1917WWI: The British Egyptian Expeditionary Force secures the victory at the Battle of Jerusalem, by successfully defending Jerusalem from numerous counterattacks by the Ottoman-German Yildirim Army Group.source
  • 1921Twelve-year-old Alma Tirtschke is raped and murdered in Melbourne, in what becomes known as the Gun Alley Murder.source
  • 1922Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian Republic (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) come together to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.source
  • 1922Treaty on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republicssource
  • 1924American astronomer Edwin Hubble announces that Andromeda, previously believed to be a nebula, is actually another galaxy, and that the Milky Way is only one of many such galaxies in the universe.source
  • 1927The first Asian commuter metro line, the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, opens in Japan.source
  • 1927Japan's first subway line started running between Asakusa station and Ueno station, Tokyo. The line was called Ginza Line in 1953 (Showa 28, 昭和28年).source
  • 1937Einar Johan Rasmussen, ships engineer and ship owner.source
  • 1942The Kalibapi is organized by the Japanese.source
  • 1943Subhas Chandra Bose sets up a pro-Japanese Indian government at Port Blair, India.source
  • 1943The latest edition of the newspaper El Progreso de Coquimbo circulates.source
  • 1944King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving his throne vacant.source
  • 1944Stage Door Cartoon is the first cartoon produced by Eddie Selzer.source
  • 1947The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 jet fighter aircraft (NATO reporting name Fagot) makes its first flight in the Soviet Union.source
  • 1948The musical Kiss Me, Kate opens for the first of 1,077 performances in New York City.source
  • 1953Ramon Magsaysay becomes the 7th President of the Philippines.source
  • 1957Asher ze'ev Werner (born 1894), Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Tiberias, Chief Rabbi of Poalei Agudat Yisrael and a member of Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.source
  • 1958The Guatemalan Air Force fires on Mexican fishing boats which had strayed into Guatemalan territory, triggering the Mexico–Guatemala conflict.source
  • 1959Paul Wilwertz is re-appointed to the Council of State, having previously been a member from 1945 to 1954.source
  • 1961Congolese troops capture Albert Kalonji of South Kasai (who soon escapes).source
  • 1962United Nations troops occupy the last rebel positions in Katanga; Moise Tshombe moves to South Rhodesia.source
  • 1962An unexpected storm buries Maine under five feet of snow, forcing the Bangor Daily News to miss a publication date for the only time in history. The same day, also, the Netherlands are covered with several feet of snow.source
  • 1964The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is established as a permanent organ of the UN General Assembly.source
  • 1965Compulsory national service is reduced to six months.source
  • 1970In Biscay in the Basque country of Spain, 15,000 go on strike in protest at the Burgos trial death sentences. Francisco Franco commutes the sentences to 30 years in prison.source
  • 1970Construction of the Gezhouba Dam started.source
  • 1970Hurricane Creek mine disaster, near Hyden, Kentucky, USAsource
  • 1970The Neot HaKikar disaster (אסון נאות הכיכר): the worst natural disaster since the founding of the State of Israel. A rock detaches from a cliff due to heavy rains and crushes an IDF military base dining room. 20 Israelis are killed in the disaster (19 soldiers and a civilian) and ten soldiers were injured (three of them severely).source
  • 1971The first McDonald's in Australia opens in Yagoona, Sydney.source
  • 1973Terrorist Carlos fails in his attempt to assassinate British businessman Joseph Sieff.source
  • 1973The sentences of the "Carabanchel Ten" are announced following the Proceso 1001 trial.source
  • 1980December 28–30. Council of Association of Polish Writers convenes in Warsaw, electing Józef Szczepański as president,source
  • 1985Rural discontent at soaring interest rates and falling commodity prices is symbolised by a Canowindra farmer when he dumps 23 tonnes of wheat outside Parliament House in Canberra. His subsequent prosecution prompts a mass rally of up to 8,000 famers in Canberra on 14 February 1986.source
  • 1987Pope John Paul II issues the encyclical Sollicitudo rei socialis (On Social Concern).source
  • 1987Jorge Ochoa is released from prison on a habeas corpus petition.source
  • 1990Russian Garry Kasparov holds his title by winning the World Chess Championship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov.source
  • 1992Radio Luxembourg shuts down its English language satellite signal, putting an end to its English coverage.source
  • 1993Representatives of Israel and the Holy See sign the Fundamental Agreement Between the Holy See and the State of Israel, preparing for the establishment of diplomatic relations.source
  • 1993The new Beer Lovers Party, formed in August, is officially registered, with Andrey Romashevsky as its chairman.source
  • 1995The lowest ever United Kingdom temperature of -27.2 °C is recorded at Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands. This equals the record set at Braemar, Aberdeenshire in 1895 and 1982.source
  • 1996In the Indian state of Assam, a passenger train is bombed by Bodo separatists, killing 26.source
  • 1997The Antonio Escobar Camargo bridge between Zambrano, Bolívar and Plato, Magdalena, the longest viaduct in the country, opens.source
  • 1999Several areas in the northeast are declared a disaster zone when melting snow causes flooding and landslides.source
  • 2004A peace agreement is reached between Senegal and the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance.source
  • 2004President Wade signs a peace accord with rebels in the Casamance region after 22 years of war.source
  • 2008The National Council for Democracy and Development, the ruling military junta of Guinea after a recent coup, appoints Kabiné Komara as the country's new Prime Minister.source
  • 2012The development concept “Azerbaijan 2020: a look into the future” was adopted by the decree of Ilham Aliyevsource
  • 2019Carlos Ghosn escapes from Japan and arrives in Beirut.source
  • 2019Chinese authorities announce that He Jiankui, who claimed to have created the world's first genetically edited human babies, has been sentenced to three years in prison and fined 3 million yuan (US$430,000) for his genetic research efforts.source
  • 2020COVID-19 pandemic: The United Kingdom approves AstraZeneca-Oxford's vaccine, the second one available. The vaccine is easier to store as it only requires normal fridge temperatures, making distribution easier.source
  • 2024Maysaa Sabreen is appointed by the caretaker government as governor of the Central Bank of Syria, the first woman to hold the post.source

Births

  • 39Titus Flavius, Roman emperor (died AD 81)source
  • 159Lady Bian, wife of Cao Cao (died 230)source
  • 1190Ibn Abi'l-Hadid, Arab scholar (died 1258)source
  • 1371Prince Vasily I of Moscow (died 1425)source
  • 1490Ebussuud Efendi, Ottoman Grand Mufti (died 1574)source
  • 1548David Pareus, German theologian (died 1622)source
  • 1558Jacques-Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force, a marshal of France and peer of France (died 1652)source
  • 1578Ulrik of Denmark, Danish prince-bishop (died 1624)source
  • 1637William Cave, English divine (died 1713)source
  • 1673Ahmed III, Ottoman Sultan (died 1736)source
  • 1678William Croft, English composer (died 1727)source
  • 1722Charles Yorke, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (died 1770)source
  • 1730William Hamilton, British diplomat, antiquary (died 1803)source
  • 1757Sebastián Kindelán y O'Regan, Spanish colonial governor (died 1826)source
  • 1786Bjarni Thorarensen, poet and officialsource
  • 1865Rudyard Kipling, Indian-born English writer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1936)source
  • 1873Al Smith, American politician, Democratic presidential candidate (died 1944)source
  • 1879Ramana Maharshi, Indian sage, jivanmukta (died 1950)source
  • 188330 December (in Portuguese colony Macau) – João Tamagnini Barbosa, military officer and politician (died in 1948)source
  • 1884Hideki Tojo, Japanese general, 27th prime minister of Japan (died 1948)source
  • 1884Hideki Tojo (died 1948), leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and the 40th Prime Minister of Japansource
  • 1889Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, 47th President of Mexico (died 1973)source
  • 1935Sandy Koufax, American baseball playersource
  • 1942Vladimir Bukovsky, Soviet and Russian human rights activist and writer (died 2019)source
  • 1969Kersti Kaljulaid, politician, 5th President of Estoniasource
  • 1975Tiger Woods, American golfersource
  • 1995V, South Korean singersource

Deaths

  • 274Felix I, bishop of Romesource
  • 274Pope Felix I dies in Rome after a 5-year reign.source
  • 717Egwin of Evesham, bishop of Worcestersource
  • 903Tian Jun, Chinese warlord (born 858)source
  • 925Wang Shenzhi, the Chinese ruler of the Min Kingdom (now part of the Fujian province, with a capital of Fuzhou), dies after a long illness and is succeeded by his eldest son, Wang Yanhan.source
  • 925Wang Shenzhi, founder of Min (born 862)source
  • 1072Al-Qushayri, Persian Sufi scholar and theologian (born 986)source
  • 1115Theodoric II, Duke of Lorrainesource
  • 1129Roger of Cannae, Italian bishop (born 1060)source
  • 1178Pribislav, prince of Mecklenburgsource
  • 1331Bernard Gui, French inquisitor (born 1261 or 1262)source
  • 1416December 30 (10 Dhu al-Qadah 819 AH) – Hamsa Bhat, the Vizier for Ali Shah, the Sultan of Kashmir, is assassinated and Zayn al-Abidin is appointed to replace him.source
  • 1435Bonne of Berry, Regent of Savoy (born 1362)source
  • 1436Louis III, Elector Palatine (born 1378)source
  • 1439Margaret Holland, English noblewoman (born 1385)source
  • 1460Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, claimant to the English throne (in battle) (born 1411)source
  • 1460Wars of the Roses – Richard of York, set to be the next King of England, is killed along with his son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, at the Battle of Wakefield as a Lancastrian army under Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland decisively defeats the Yorkists. York's son Edward becomes leader of the Yorkist faction and the heir to the English throne.source
  • 1460Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (born 1443)source
  • 1525Jakob Fugger, German banker (born 1459)source
  • 1532Krzysztof Szydłowiecki, Polish noble (born 1467)source
  • 1591Pope Innocent IX (born 1519)source
  • 1591Pope Innocent IX dies only two months after having been elected as the Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, leaving the Papacy vacant for the 4th time in 16 months.source
  • 1640John Francis Regis, French saint (born 1597)source
  • 1643Giovanni Baglione, Italian painter and historian of art (born 1566)source
  • 1644Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist (born 1577)source
  • 1649Chinese General Geng Zhongming, having reported to the Qing dynasty commanders to face charges of harboring runaway slaves during his fight against the Southern Ming dynasty troops, commits suicide while waiting for a verdict in his court-martial. (1943). His son, Geng Jimao, continues to fight against the Southern Ming.source
  • 1777Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria dies and is succeeded by his distant cousin Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria.source
  • 1788Francesco Zuccarelli, Italian painter, elected to the Venetian Academy (born 1702)source
  • 1816Louis Henri Loison, French general (born 1771)source
  • 1896José Rizal, Filipino scholar and poet, is executed by Spanish authorities in the Philippines.source
  • 1896José Rizal, national hero of the Philippines (born 1861)source
  • 1896José Rizal, author and poet, national hero of the Philippines (born 1861)source
  • 1906Josephine Butler, British feminist, social reformer (born 1828)source
  • 1916(December 17 Old Style) – The mystic Grigori Rasputin is murdered in Saint Petersburg.source
  • 1941El Lissitzky, Russian artist, architect (born 1890)source
  • 1947Alfred North Whitehead, British mathematician, philosopher (born 1861)source
  • 2003Anita Mui, 40, Hong Kong pop queen, cervix uterine cancer.source
  • 2006Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, was executed by hanging.source
  • 2006Saddam Hussein, 69, Iraqi President (1979–2003), execution by hanging.source
  • 2008Richard Genelle, 47, American actor (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers: Zeo), heart attack.source
  • 2009Abdurrahman Wahid, 69, Indonesian politician, President (1999–2001), heart failure.source