Discover

Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

Events

★ 637 - Antioch surrendered to the Muslim forces under Rashidun Caliphate after the Battle of Iron bridge.

★ 1137 - Battle of Rignano between Ranulf of Apulia and Roger II of Sicily.

★ 1270 - The Eighth Crusade and siege of Tunis end by an agreement between Charles I of Sicily (brother to King Louis IX of France, who had died months earlier) and the sultan of Tunis.

★ 1340 - Battle of Rio Salado

★ 1470 - Henry VI of England returns to the English throne after Earl of Warwick defeats Yorkists in battle.

★ 1502 - Vasco da Gama returns to Calicut for the second time.

★ 1831 - In Southampton County, Virginia, escaped slave Nat Turner is captured and arrested for leading the bloodiest slave revolt in United States history.

★ 1864 - Second war of Schleswig concluded. Denmark renounces all claim to Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg, which come under Prussian and Austrian administration.

★ 1864 - Helena, Montana is founded after four prospectors discover gold at "Last Chance Gulch."

★ 1894 - Domenico Melegatti obtains a patent for a procedure to be applied in producing pandoro industrially.

★ 1905 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia grants Russia's first constitution, creating a legislative assembly.

★ 1918 - The Ottoman Empire signs an armistice with the Allies, ending the First World War in the Middle East

★ 1920 - The Communist Party of Australia founded in Sydney.

★ 1922 - Benito Mussolini was made Prime Minister of Italy

★ 1925 - John Logie Baird creates Britain's first television transmitter.

★ 1929 - The Stuttgart Cable Car is constructed in Stuttgart, Germany.

★ 1938 - Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's ''The War of the Worlds'', causing a nationwide panic.

★ 1941 - World War II: Franklin Delano Roosevelt approves US$1 billion in Lend-Lease aid to the Allied nations.

★ 1941 - 1,500 Jews from Pidhaytsi (in western Ukraine) were sent by Nazis to Belzec extermination camp.

★ 1944 - Anne Frank is deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

★ 1946 - Muffin the Mule, the first major British children's television star, makes his début on BBC Television.

★ 1947 - The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which is the foundation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is founded.

★ 1950 - Pope Pius XII witnesses the "Miracle of the Sun" while at the Vatican"^[1]

★ 1953 - Cold War: US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally approves the top secret document National Security Council Paper No. 162/2, which states that the United States' arsenal of nuclear weapons must be maintained and expanded to counter the communist threat.

★ 1960 - Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

★ 1961 - Nuclear testing: The Soviet Union detonates the hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya; at 58 megatons of yield, it is still the largest nuclear device ever detonated. Nikita Kruschev announces that the scientists had planned to make it 100 megatons, but had reduced the yield so as to avoid breaking all the windows in Moscow.

★ 1961 - Due to "violations of Lenin's precepts", it is decreed that Josef Stalin's body be removed from its place of honour inside Lenin's tomb and buried near the Kremlin wall with a plain granite marker instead.

★ 1965 - Vietnam War: Just miles from Da Nang, United States Marines repel an intense attack by wave after wave of Viet Cong forces, killing 56 guerrillas. Among the dead, a sketch of Marine positions was found on the body of a 13-year-old Vietnamese boy who sold drinks to the Marines the day before.

★ 1970 - In Vietnam, the worst monsoon to hit the area in six years causes large floods, kills 293, leaves 200,000 homeless and virtually halts the Vietnam War.

★ 1972 - US President Richard Nixon approves legislation to increase Social Security spending by US$5.3 billion.

★ 1973 - The Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus for the first time in history.

★ 1975 - Prince Juan Carlos becomes Spain's acting head of state, taking over for the country's ailing dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco.

★ 1978 - First rehearsal of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, the world's first openly-gay choral organization

★ 1980 - El Salvador and Honduras sign a peace treaty to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's Football War before the International Court of Justice.

★ 1983 - The first democratic elections in Argentina after seven years of military rule are held.

★ 1985 - Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off for mission STS-61-A, its final successful mission.

★ 1987 - In Japan, NEC releases the first 16-bit home entertainment system, the PC-Engine.

★ 1988 - Philip Morris buys Kraft Foods for US$13.1 billion.

★ 1991 - The Madrid Conference for Middle East peace talks opens.

★ 1995 - Quebec sovereignists narrowly lose a referendum for a mandate to negotiate independence from Canada (vote was 50.6% to 49.4%).

★ 2002 - British Digital terrestrial television (DTT) Service Freeview starts transmitting throughout parts of the United Kingdom

★ 2003 - Wicked opens on Broadway to become "Broadway's Biggest Blockbuster" -New York Times.

★ 2004 - In Punjab, India the expelled BSP leader Satnam Singh Kainth launches Bahujan Samaj Party (Kainth).

★ 2005 - The rebuilt Dresden Frauenkirche (destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden during World War II) is reconsecrated after a thirteen-year rebuilding project.

★ 2006 - The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex surpasses the 13,000 points mark for the first time in its history.

Births

★ 1218 - Emperor Chukyo of Japan (d. 1234)

★ 1513 - Jacques Amyot, French writer (d. 1593)

★ 1624 - Paul Pellisson, French writer (d. 1693)

★ 1735 - John Adams, President of the United States (d. 1826)

★ 1751 - Richard Sheridan, Irish playwright (d. 1816)

★ 1762 - André Chénier, French writer (d. 1794)

★ 1786 - Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé, French Canadian writer (d. 1871)

★ 1799 - Ignace Bourget, bishop of Montreal (d. 1885)

★ 1821 - Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian writer (d. 1881)

★ 1839 - Alfred Sisley, French artist (d. 1899)

★ 1844 - Harvey W. Wiley, American chemist (d. 1930)

★ 1847 - Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist (d. 1897)

★ 1857 - Georges Gilles de la Tourette, French neurologist (d. 1904)

★ 1861 - Antoine Bourdelle, French sculptor (d. 1929)

★ 1871 - Paul Valery, French poet (d. 1945)

★ 1871 - Buck Freeman, American baseball player (d. 1949)

★ 1882 - William Halsey, Jr, American admiral (d. 1959)

★ 1882 - Günther von Kluge, German field marshal (d. 1944)

★ 1885 - Ezra Pound, American poet (d. 1972)

★ 1886 - Zoe Akins, American playwright (d. 1958)

★ 1888 - Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, Greek athlete and Olympic champion (d. 1913)

★ 1893 - Charles Atlas, Italian-born bodybuilder (d. 1972)

★ 1893 - Roland Freisler, German Nazi politician (d. 1945)

★ 1894 - Jean Rostand, French biologist (d. 1977)

★ 1895 - Gerhard Domagk, German bacteriologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (declined) (d. 1964)

★ 1895 - Dickinson W. Richards, American physician, Nobel laureate (d. 1973)

★ 1896 - Ruth Gordon, American actress (d. 1985)

★ 1896 - Kostas Karyotakis, Greek poet (d. 1928)

★ 1897 - Rex Cherryman, American actor (d. 1928)

★ 1898 - Bill Terry, baseball player (d. 1989)

★ 1900 - Ragnar Granit Finnish neuroscientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1991)

★ 1906 - Alexander Gode, German-American linguist (d. 1970)

★ 1906 - Giuseppe Farina, Italian race car driver (d. 1966)

★ 1907 - Sol Tax, American anthropologist (d. 1995)

★ 1909 - Homi J. Bhabha, Indian physicist (d. 1966)

★ 1911 - Ruth Hussey, American actress (d. 2005)

★ 1914 - Richard E Holz, American composer

★ 1915 - Fred Friendly, American journalist (d. 1998)

★ 1916 - Leon Day, American baseball player (d. 1995)

★ 1917 - Bobby Bragan, American baseball player

★ 1917 - Nikolai Vasilievich Ogarkov, Soviet field marshal (d. 1994)

★ 1917 - Maurice Trintignant, French race car driver (d. 2005)

★ 1926 - Jacques Swaters, Belgian racing driver

★ 1927 - Joe Adcock, American baseball player (d. 1999)

★ 1928 - Daniel Nathans, American microbiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1999)

★ 1930 - Nestor Almendros, Spanish cinematographer (d. 1992)

★ 1930 - Clifford Brown, American musician (d. 1956)

★ 1931 - Vince Callahan, Representative of the 34th district in the House of Delegates

★ 1932 - Louis Malle, French film director (d. 1995)

★ 1934 - Frans Brüggen, Dutch musician

★ 1935 - Agota Kristof, Hungarian writer

★ 1935 - Michael Winner, British film director

★ 1935 - Jim Perry, American baseball player

★ 1935 - Robert Caro, American biographer

★ 1936 - Polina Astakhova, Ukrainian gymnast (d. 2005)

★ 1937 - Claude Lelouch, French film director

★ 1939 - Leland H. Hartwell, American scientist, Nobel laureate

★ 1939 - Grace Slick, American singer (Jefferson Airplane)

★ 1939 - Edward Holland, Jr., American singer

★ 1940 - Ed Lauter, American actor

★ 1941 - Theodor W. Hänsch, German physicist, Nobel laureate

★ 1941 - Otis Williams, American singer

★ 1943 - Joanna Shimkus, Canadian actress

★ 1945 - Henry Winkler, American actor

★ 1947 - Timothy B. Schmit, American musician (Eagles)

★ 1948 - Rusty Goffe, British actor

★ 1951 - Harry Hamlin, American actor

★ 1953 - Charles Martin Smith, American actor

★ 1956 - Juliet Stevenson, English actress

★ 1957 - Kevin Pollak, American actor

★ 1958 - Joe Delaney, American football player (d. 1983)

★ 1958 - Stefan Dennis, Australian actor

★ 1960 - Diego Armando Maradona, Argentine footballer

★ 1961 - Scott Garrelts, American baseball player

★ 1962 - Courtney Walsh, West Indian cricketer

★ 1963 - Kristina Wagner, American actress

★ 1964 - Howard Lederer, American poker player

★ 1965 - Gavin Rossdale, English musician

★ 1966 - Scott Innes, American voice actor

★ 1967 - Brad Aitken, Canadian ice hockey player

★ 1969 - Masanori Hikichi, Japanese composer

★ 1970 - Maja Tatic, Bosnia singer

★ 1970 - Nia Long, American actress

★ 1970 - Ekaterini Voggoli, Greek discus thrower

★ 1971 - Ahn Jae Wook, South Korean actor and singer

★ 1973 - Adam "Edge" Copeland, Canadian wrestler

★ 1973 - Silvia Corzo, Colombian newscaster

★ 1976 - Stern John, Trinidadian footballer

★ 1977 - Jason Adelman, American actor

★ 1978 - Martin Dossett, American football player

★ 1979 - Yukie Nakama, Japanese actress

★ 1980 - Sarah Carter, Canadian actress

★ 1980 - Choi Hong-man, South Korean kickboxer

★ 1981 - Ivanka Trump, American model

★ 1981 - Jun Ji-hyun, South Korean actress

★ 1981 - Ian Snell, American baseball player

★ 1982 - Andy Greene, American ice hockey player

★ 1982 - Manny Parra, American baseball player

★ 1983 - Iain Hume, Canadian footballer

★ 1984 - Eva Pigford, American model

★ 1989 - Nastia Liukin, American gymnast

Deaths

★ 1459 - Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini, Italian humanist (b. 1380)

★ 1522 - Jean Mouton, French composer

★ 1553 - Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck, German statesman and reformer (b. 1489)

★ 1602 - Jean-Jacques Boissard, French poet (b. 1528)

★ 1611 - King Charles IX of Sweden (b. 1550)

★ 1626 - Willebrord Snell, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (b. 1580)

★ 1632 - Henri II de Montmorency, French naval officer and Governor of Languedoc (b. 1595)

★ 1654 - Emperor Go-Komyo of Japan (b. 1633)

★ 1680 - Antoinette Bourignon, Flemish mystic (b. 1616)

★ 1685 - Michel le Tellier, French statesman (b. 1603)

★ 1809 - William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1738)

★ 1816 - Frederick I of Württemberg (b. 1754)

★ 1842 - Allan Cunningham, Scottish poet and author (b. 1784)

★ 1853 - Pietro Raimondi, Italian composer (b. 1786)

★ 1883 - Robert Volkmann, German composer (b. 1815)

★ 1893 - John Joseph Caldwell Abbott, third Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1821)

★ 1894 - Honoré Mercier, politician, Premier of Quebec (b. 1840)

★ 1899 - William Henry Webb, American industrialist and philanthropist (b. 1816)

★ 1910 - Henry Dunant, Swiss founder of the Red Cross, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1828)

★ 1912 - James S. Sherman, Vice President of the United States (b. 1855)

★ 1915 - Charles Tupper, sixth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1821)

★ 1923 - Andrew Bonar Law, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1858)

★ 1957 - Fred Beebe, baseball player (b. 1880)

★ 1966 - Yórgos Theotokás, Greek novelist (b. 1906)

★ 1968 - Rose Wilder Lane, American journalist and author (b. 1886)

★ 1968 - Ramón Novarro, Mexican actor (b. 1899)

★ 1968 - Conrad Richter, American writer (b. 1890)

★ 1969 - Pops Foster, American musician (b. 1892)

★ 1975 - Gustav Ludwig Hertz, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)

★ 1978 - Edgar Bergen, American ventriloquist (b. 1903)

★ 1979 - Barnes Wallis, British aeronautical engineer (b. 1887)

★ 1979 - Donna Rachele Mussolini, Italian, wife of Benito Mussolini (b. 1890)

★ 1985 - Kirby Grant, American actor (b. 1911)

★ 1988 - T. Hee, American animator (b. 1911)

★ 1993 - Paul Grégoire, Archbishop of Montreal (b. 1911)

★ 1997 - Samuel Fuller, American film director (b. 1912)

★ 2000 - Steve Allen, American comedian, author, and composer (b. 1921)

★ 2002 - Jam Master Jay, American rapper and musician (Run DMC) (murdered) (b. 1965)

★ 2002 - Juan Antonio Bardem, Spanish director and screenwriter (b. 1922)

★ 2004 - Peggy Ryan, American actress (b. 1924)

★ 2005 - Al Lopez, baseball player and manager (b. 1908)

★ 2005 - Shamsher Singh Sheri, Indian communist leader (b. 1942)

★ 2006 - Junji Kinoshita, Japanese playwright (b. 1914)

★ 2006 - Clifford Geertz, American anthropologist (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances

★ Calendar of Saints - 'October 30th' is the feast day of the following Roman Catholic Saints:

★
★ St. Artemas

★
★ St. Herbert

★
★ St. Marcellus the Centurion

★
★ St. Maximus

★
★ St. Saturninus

★
★ St. Serapion

★ USA - Mischief Night in some areas (known as Devil's Night in Detroit)

★ International Orthopaedic Nurses Day

★ Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions in post-Soviet states

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On This Day in Canada
----