April 30th: This Day in History

 

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

On this day in 311, Emperor Galerius legally recognized Christians in the Roman Empire. Roman Emperor Licinius unified the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule on this day in 313. The Islamic conquest of Hispania started on this day in 711. Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad landed at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus). On this day in 1250, King Louis IX of France was ransomed for one million dollars. In 1396 on this day, Crusaders & the Earl of Nevers departed from Dijon, France. Orbital calculations suggest that on this day in 1483, Pluto moved inside Neptune's orbit until July 23, 1503. Christopher Columbus was given a royal commission to equip his fleet on this day in 1492. The first French colonists arrived in what is now part of the United States on this day in 1562, as Jean Ribault and other colonists arrived in Florida. Tsjeng Tsj'eng-Kung commenced the siege of the Dutch Fort Zeelandia in Formosa on this day in 1661. George Washington was inaugurated in New York City as the first President of the United States on this day in 1789. On this day in 1803, France sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States for $15 million. This set a record as the largest peaceful territorial expansion in history, and doubled the size of the young United States.  In 1859 on this day, Charles Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities" was first published in the literary periodical All the Year Round. It continued in weekly installments until November 26. On this day in 1863, Mexican forces attacked the French Foreign Legion in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico. The George Washington Bridge linking New York City and New Jersey opened on this day in 1889. It remains the most widely traversed bridge in the world to this day, with a quarter of a million vehicles crossing it daily, and over 100 million every year. On this day in 1900, the United States Congress passed the Hawaiian Organic Act, formally annexing the Republic of Hawaii into the United States and establishing the Territory of Hawaii  into the United States. The ice cream cone made its debut on this day in 1904. The Soviet Red Army opened the attack on the Reichstag in Berlin, Germany, on this day in 1945. On this day in 1945 in the waning days of World War II in Europe, while holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin as Allied armies were choking the life off from Nazi Germany and closing in on his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. In 1948 on this day, the Organization of American States Charter was signed at Bogota, Colombia. US troops invaded Cambodia on this day in 1970. On this day in 1991 in Bangladesh, a cyclone killed over 131,000 & left 9 million people homeless. On this day in 2012, the unfinished One World Trade Center overtook the Empire State Building to become the tallest building in New York, and the Western Hemisphere.

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

 • On this day in 311, Emperor Galerius legally recognized Christians in the Roman Empire.

 • Roman Emperor Licinius unified the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule on this day in 313.

• The Islamic conquest of Hispania started on this day in 711. Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad landed at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus).

1064 - German King Henry IV gives away Utrecht county of West Friesland

Royal France

 • On this day in 1250, King Louis IX of France was ransomed for one million dollars.

1315 - Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged on the public gallows at Montfaucon.

1349 - Jewish community at Radolszell Germany, exterminated

 •  In 1396 on this day, Crusaders & the Earl of Nevers departed from Dijon, France.

 • Orbital calculations suggest that on this day in 1483, Pluto moved inside Neptune's orbit until July 23, 1503.

 •  Christopher Columbus was given a royal commission to equip his fleet on this day in 1492.

1492 - Spain announces it will expels all Jews

1506 - Philip of Bourgondy & England sign trade agreement

1527 - Henry VIII of England and King Francis of France signed the treaty of Westminster.

• The first French colonists arrived in what is now part of the United States on this day in 1562, as Jean Ribault and other colonists arrived in Florida.

1563 - Jews are expelled from France by order of Charles VI

1598 - First theater performance in America (Spanish comedy-Rio Grande)

1616 - English King Jacob I leaves Brielle/Vlissingen

1650 - French rebel Henri de la Tour Turenne signs treaty with Spain

• Tsjeng Tsj'eng-Kung commenced the siege of the Dutch Fort Zeelandia in Formosa on this day in 1661.

1671 - Petar Zrinski, the Croatian Ban from the Zrinski family, is executed.

1695 - William Congreve's "Love for Love," premieres in London

1722 - Game of Billiards is mentioned in New England Courant

1725 - Emperor Charles VI and King Philip IV of Spain sign Treaty of Vienna

1748 - Ceasefire at Aken ends

1763 - London Journalist John Wilkes confined in the Tower

1772 - John Clais patents 1st scale

1774 - Pope Clement XIV proclaims a universal jubilee

Statue of George Washington in Morristown, New Jersey

• George Washington was inaugurated in New York City as the first President of the United States on this day in 1789.

1790 - Colonial troops occupy Bonni's marroon village

1794 - The Battle of Boulou is fought, in which French forces defeated the Spanish under General Union.

1798 - Dept of Navy forms

•  On this day in 1803, France sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States for $15 million. This set a record as the largest peaceful territorial expansion in history, and doubled the size of the young United States. 

1804 - Hague's Theater opens

1808 - 1st practical typewriter finished by Italian Pellegrini Turri

1812 - (Eastern) Louisiana admitted as 18th US state

1838 - Nicaragua declares independence from Central American federation

1852 - Anton Rubinsteins opera "Dmitri Donskoi," premieres in St Petersburg

1857 - San Jose State University forms

Bust of English Writer Charles Dickens

•  In 1859 on this day, Charles Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities" was first published in the literary periodical All the Year Round. It continued in weekly installments until November 26.

1859 - Paul Morphy returns from 10-mo chess tour of Europe, retires

1860 - Navaho indians attack Fort Defiance (Canby)

1861 - President Lincoln ordered Federal Troops to evacuate Indian Territory

1862 - Swift Run Gap, West Virginia skirmishes

The flag of Mexico.

• On this day in 1863, Mexican forces attacked the French Foreign Legion in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico.

1864 - Battle of Jenkin's Ferry, Arkansas; Gen W R Scurry is killed

1864 - New York becomes 1st state to charge a hunting license fee

1865 - -5/1] Gen Shermans "Haines's Bluff" at Snyder's Mill, Virginia

1869 - Hawaiian YMCA organized

1871 - The Camp Grant Massacre of Apaches in Arizona Territory, perpetrated by white andMexican adventurers; 144 die

1885 - Boston Pops Orchestra forms

1888 - Hail stones kills about 250 in Moradabad district of Delhi

1889 - First US national holiday, on centennial of Washington's inauguration

The George Washington Bridge at night.

• The George Washington Bridge linking New York City and New Jersey opened on this day in 1889. It remains the most widely traversed bridge in the world to this day, with a quarter of a million vehicles crossing it daily, and over 100 million every year.

1900 - 165 lb Robert Fitzsimmons KOs 305 lb Ed Dunkhost in a boxing match

• On this day in 1900, the United States Congress passed the Hawaiian Organic Act, formally annexing the Republic of Hawaii into the United States and establishing the Territory of Hawaii  into the United States.

1900 - Casey Jones dies in a train wreck in Vaughn, Mississippi, while trying to make up time on the Cannonball Express.

1902 - Debussy's opera "Pelléas et Mélissande," premieres in Paris

1903 - NY Highlanders (Yankees) 1st home game, (Hilltop Park-168th St and  Broadway, Manhattan), they beat Wash Senators, 6-2

• The ice cream cone made its debut on this day in 1904.

1905 - First official soccer game between Belgium-Netherlands (1-4)

1907 - Honolulu, Hawaii becomes an independent city.

1910 - Cleveland Indian Addie Joss wins 2nd no-hitter beating White Sox

1911 - Portugal approves woman suffrage

1916 - Chicago Cubs play first game at Weeghman Park (Wrigley Field) beat Reds

1918 - Orange Nassau soccer team forms in Groningen

1919 - Phillies beat Bkln Dodgers 9-0 in 20 innings

1921 - American Professional Football Association reorganizes in Akron

1921 - Pope Benedict XV encyclical "On Dante"

1922 - Chic White Sox Charles Robertson perfect games Detroit Tigers, 2-0

1925 - Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc is sold to Dillon, Read & Company for $146 million plus $50 million for charity.

1927 - Princess Juliana gets seat in Dutch Council of State

1928 - Cherkess Autonomous Region forms in RSFSR (until 1957)

1929 - Earnest Streeruwitz becomes chancellor of Austria

1934 - Austrian gets "Austrian facist" constitution

1935 - World Congress for Women's Rights concludes in Istanbul

1937 - The Philippines holds a plebiscite for Filipino women on whether they should be extended the right to suffrage; over 90% would vote in the affirmative.

1938 - The first televised FA Cup Final takes place between Huddersfield Town and Preston North End.

1939 - NBC/RCA first public TV demo with FDR at opening of NY World's Fair

1941 - Spread of Judaism begins in Croatia

1942 - First submarine built on Great Lakes launched, (Peto), Manitowoc, Wi

1943 - Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp for Jews forms

1943 - Dutch strike against forced labor in Nazi Germany's war industry

1945 - Concentration camp Munchen-Allag freed

1945 - Lord Haw-Haw calls for crusade against the bolsheviks

1945 - Red Army occupies Demmin

The Reichstag in Berlin, Germany

• The Soviet Red Army opened the attack on the Reichstag in Berlin, Germany, on this day in 1945.

1945 - Russian Army frees Ravensbruck concentration camp

• On this day in 1945 in the waning days of World War II in Europe, while holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin as Allied armies were choking the life off from Nazi Germany and closing in on his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler's dreams of a "1,000-year" Reich.    Since at least 1943, it was becoming increasingly clear that Germany would fold under the pressure of the Allied forces. In February of that year, the German 6th Army, lured deep into the Soviet Union, was annihilated at the Battle of Stalingrad, and German hopes for a sustained offensive on both fronts evaporated. Then, in June 1944, the Western Allied armies landed at Normandy, France, and began systematically to push the Germans back toward Berlin. By July 1944, several German military commanders acknowledged their imminent defeat and plotted to remove Hitler from power so as to negotiate a more favorable peace. Their attempts to assassinate Hitler failed, however, and in his reprisals, Hitler executed over 4,000 fellow countrymen.    In January 1945, facing a siege of Berlin by the Soviets, Hitler withdrew to his bunker to live out his final days. Located 55 feet under the chancellery, the shelter contained 18 rooms and was fully self-sufficient, with its own water and electrical supply. Though he was growing increasingly mad, Hitler continued to give orders and meet with such close subordinates as Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler and Josef Goebbels. He also married his long-time mistress Eva Braun just two days before his suicide.    In his last will and testament, Hitler appointed Admiral Karl Donitz as head of state and Goebbels as chancellor. He then retired to his private quarters with Braun, where he and Braun poisoned themselves and their dogs, before Hitler then also shot himself with his service pistol.    Hitler and Braun's bodies were hastily cremated in the chancellery garden, as Soviet forces closed in on the building. When the Soviets reached the chancellery, they removed Hitler's ashes, continually changing their location so as to prevent Hitler devotees from creating a memorial at his final resting place. Only eight days later, on May 8, 1945, the German forces issued an unconditional surrender, leaving Germany to be carved up by the four Allied powers.

1945 - US troops attack the Elbe

1947 - Boulder Dam renamed in honor of Herbert Hoover

• In 1948 on this day, the Organization of American States Charter was signed at Bogota, Colombia.

1948 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak

1952 - Mr Potato Head is 1st toy advertised on television

1955 - Element 101, Mendelevium, announced 1955 - Imperial Bank of India nationalized

1955 - West German unions protest for 40-hour work week and higherwages

1958 - Ted Williams is 10th major league player to get 1,000 extra-base hits

1961 - 1st shuttle flights between Wash DC, Boston & NYC begin (Eastern)

1961 - Premier Fidel Castro of Cuba receives Lenin-Peace Prize

1961 - SF Giant Willie Mays hits 4 HRs in a game

1962 - NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 75,190 m

1967 - Highest tower to the world finished, 537m (USSR)

• US troops invaded Cambodia on this day in 1970. 

1971 - 25th NBA Championship: Milwaukee beat Balt Bullets in 4 games

1973 - Nixon announces resignation of Haldeman, Ehrlichman, et al

1973 - Paul McCartney releases "Red Rose Speedway" including "My Love"

1973 - Women's tennis groups end disputes over sanctioning tournaments

1974 - President Nixon hands over partial transcripts of Watergate tape recordings

1975 - Last US helicopter leaves US embassy grounds, Saigon surrenders

1976 - Muhammad Ali beats Jimmy Young in 15 for heavyweight boxing title

1976 - Royal Canadian Mint opens a branch in Winnipeg Manitoba

1977 - Billy Graham beats Bruno Sammartino in Baltimore, to become WWF champ

1980 - Terrorists seize Iranian Embassy in London

1980 - Beatrix, Wilhelmina Armgard, crowned queen of Netherlands

1980 - Juliana, Queen of the Netherlands, abdicates

1982 - Alvaro Magana chosen to succeed Jose N Duarte as pres of El Salvador

1982 - Atlanta Braves win record 12th straight from beginning of season

1982 - Iranian offensive in Khusistan

1985 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island

1985 - Last edition of Brink Daily Mail/Sunday Express in South Africa

1986 - Ashrita Furman peformed 8,341 somersaults over 12 miles

1987 - Lou Lamoriello is named NJ Devils President

1987 - NY Islander Mike Bossy plays his final game

1988 - Baltimore Orioles win record 14th straight from beginning of season

1988 - Largest banana split ever, at 455 miles long, was made in Penns

1988 - New Jersey Devils beat Caps 3-2 taking 7th game of Patrick Division final

1988 - World Exposition, Expo 88 opens in Brisbane Australia

1989 - Critics Siskel & Ebert film their 500th TV movie-review show

1989 - Pope John Paul II beatifies Victoire Rasoamanarivo of Madagascar

1989 - US beats Costa Rica 1-0, in 3rd round of 1990 world soccer cup

1990 - Seattle's Brian Holman's perfect game broken up with 2 outs in 9th

1990 - US 66th manned space mission STS 31 (Discovery 10) returns from space

1990 - US hostage Frank Reed freed after 4 years in hands of pro-Iranians

•  On this day in 1991 in Bangladesh, a cyclone killed over 131,000 & left 9 million people homeless.

1992 - 208th and final episode of Cosby Show on NBC-TV

1993 - The World Wide Web is born at CERN.

1993 - Virgin Radio broadcasts for the first time in the United Kingdom.

1996 - Dutch/Itallian Beppo-SAX launches from Cape Canaveral

1997 - 42 million watch "Ellen" admit she is gay

1997 - Atlanta Braves win record 19 games in April

1997 - Big Ben stops at 12:11 PM for 54 minutes

1999 - Cambodia joins the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bringing the total members to 10. 2001 - The Mitchell Report on the Arab-Israeli conflict is published.

2002 - A referendum in Pakistan overwhelmingly approves the Presidency of Pervez Musharraf for another five years.

2004 - U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

2008 - Two skeletal remains found near Ekaterinburg, Russia were confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and one of his sisters.

2009 - Chrysler automobile company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

2009 - Failed attack on the Dutch Royal Family results in 7 deaths and 17 injured. 2009 - The United Kingdom formally ends combat operations in Iraq.

One World Trade Center in New York City.

•   On this day in 2012, the unfinished One World Trade Center overtook the Empire State Building to become the tallest building in New York, and the Western Hemisphere.

2012 - Spain's economy double dips after a 0.3% contraction and 25% unemployment rate

2012 - Overloaded ferry in the Brahmaputra River,India, killing 103 people

2012 - Manchester City defeat Manchester United 1-0 in what is claimed to be the biggest match in the English Premier League's history

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/adolf-hitler-commits-suicide

http://www.historyorb.com/events/april/30

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/apr30.htm

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory/April-30