What Happened Today in History
Explore the major events, famous birthdays and notable deaths that happened on this day in history.
October 30 in history is full of turning points. This page walks you through what happened on October 30 in history, who was born on October 30 and who passed away on October 30, so nothing about this day slips past you.
Major Events on October 30 in History 40
- 2023
First rescue of a prisoner during the Israeli invasion of Gaza.
- 2022
A pedestrian suspension bridge collapses in the city of Morbi, Gujarat, leading to the deaths of at least 135 people.
- 2020
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, triggering a tsunami. At least 119 people die mainly due to collapsed buildings.
- 2015
A fire in a nightclub in the Romanian capital of Bucharest kills sixty-four people and leaves more than 147 injured.
- 2014
Sweden becomes the first European Union member state to officially recognize Palestine as an independent and sovereign state.
- 2014
Four people are killed when a Beechcraft Super King Air crashes at Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita, Kansas.
- 2013
Forty-five people are killed and seven injured after a bus catches fire in Mahabubnagar district, Andhra Pradesh (present-day Telangana), India.
- 2005
The rebuilt Dresden Frauenkirche (destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden during World War II) is reconsecrated after a thirteen-year rebuilding project.
All entries for October 30（+32）
- 1995
Quebec citizens narrowly vote (50.58% to 49.42%) in favour of remaining a province of Canada in their second referendum on national sovereignty.
- 1991
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The Madrid Conference commences in an effort to revive peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine.
- 1985
Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off for mission STS-61-A, its final successful mission.
- 1983
The first democratic elections in Argentina, after seven years of military rule, are held.
- 1983
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake in the Turkish provinces of Erzurum and Kars leaves approximately 1,340 people dead.
- 1980
El Salvador and Honduras agree to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's Football War before the International Court of Justice.
- 1975
Prince Juan Carlos I of Spain becomes acting head of state, taking over for the country's ailing dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco.
- 1975
Forty-five people are killed when Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 450 crashes into Suchdol, Prague, while on approach to Prague Ruzyně Airport (now Václav Havel Airport Prague) in Czechoslovakia (present-day Czech Republic).
- 1973
The Bosphorus Bridge in Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus for the second time.
- 1968
A squad of 120 North Korean Army commandos land in boats along a 25-mile long section of the eastern coast of South Korea in a failed attempt to overthrow the dictatorship of Park Chung Hee and bring about the reunification of Korea.
- 1961
The Soviet Union detonates the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful explosive device ever detonated.
- 1959
Piedmont Airlines Flight 349 crashes on approach to Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport in Albemarle County, Virginia, killing 26 of the 27 on board.
- 1956
Hungarian Revolution: The government of Imre Nagy recognizes newly established revolutionary workers' councils. Army officer Béla Király leads anti-Soviet militias in an attack on the headquarters of the Hungarian Working People's Party.
- 1953
President Eisenhower approves the top-secret document NSC 162/2 concerning the maintenance of a strong nuclear deterrent force against the Soviet Union.
- 1948
A luzzu fishing boat overloaded with passengers capsizes and sinks in the Gozo Channel off Qala, Gozo, Malta, killing 23 of the 27 people on board.
- 1947
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the foundation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), is founded.
- 1944
Holocaust: Anne and Margot Frank are deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they die from disease the following year, shortly before the end of WWII.
- 1942
World War II: Lt. Tony Fasson and Able Seaman Colin Grazier drown while taking code books from the sinking German submarine U-559.
- 1941
President Roosevelt approves $1 billion in Lend-Lease aid to the Allied nations.
- 1941
Holocaust: Fifteen hundred Jews from Pidhaytsi are sent by Nazis to Bełżec extermination camp.
- 1938
Orson Welles broadcasts a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing a massive panic in some of the audience in the United States.
- 1920
The Communist Party of Australia is founded in Sydney.
- 1918
World War I: The Ottoman Empire signs the Armistice of Mudros with the Allies.
- 1918
World War I: Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, a state union of Kingdom of Hungary and Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia is abolished with decisions of Croatian and Hungarian parliaments.
- 1905
Tsar Nicholas II issues the October Manifesto, nominally granting the Russian peoples basic civil liberties and the right to form a duma. (October 17 in the Julian calendar)
- 1888
The Rudd Concession is granted by Matabeleland to agents of Cecil Rhodes.
- 1864
Second War of Schleswig: The Treaty of Vienna is signed, by which Denmark relinquishes one province each to Prussia and Austria.
- 1863
Danish Prince Vilhelm arrives in Athens to assume his throne as George I, King of the Hellenes.
- 1858
Approximately 20 people die in Bradford, England, UK, after being poisoned from ingesting sweets that had been accidentally adulterated with arsenic trioxide.
- 1836
Louis Napoleon launches the unsuccessful Strasbourg Coup to overthrow the July Monarchy in France
- 1831
Nat Turner is arrested for leading the bloodiest slave rebellion in United States history.
- 1817
Simón Bolívar becomes President of the Third Republic of Venezuela.
Famous Birthdays on October 30 in History 25
- 2000
Giselle, Japanese singer
- 1998
Cale Makar, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1997
Tage Thompson, American ice hockey player
- 1996
Devin Booker, American basketball player
- 1996
Dennis Gilbert, American ice hockey player
- 1996
Kennedy McMann, American actress
All entries for October 30（+19）
- 1996
Kim Ji-sung, South Korean actress
- 1994
Mia Eklund, Finnish tennis player
- 1993
Marcus Mariota, American football player
- 1992
Matt Parcell, Australian rugby league player
- 1992
Camila Silva, Chilean tennis player
- 1991
Jarell Eddie, American basketball player
- 1991
Artemi Panarin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1991
Tomáš Satoranský, Czech basketball player
- 1990
Joe Panik, American baseball player
- 1990
Suwaibou Sanneh, Gambian sprinter
- 1989
Ashley Barnes, Austrian-English footballer
- 1989
Nastia Liukin, Russian-American gymnast and actress
- 1989
Vanessa White, English singer, former member of The Saturdays
- 1988
Janel Parrish, American actress and singer
- 1987
Danielle Fong, Canadian entrepreneur, co-founder and chief scientist of LightSail Energy
- 1987
Ashley Graham, American model
- 1987
Ali Riley, New Zealand footballer
- 1986
Desmond Jennings, American baseball player
- 1986
Thomas Morgenstern, Austrian ski jumper
Notable Deaths on October 30 in History 25
- 2024
Matt Peacock, Australian journalist and author (born 1952)
- 2017
Kim Joo-hyuk, South Korean actor (born 1972)
- 2015
Mel Daniels, American basketball player and coach (born 1944)
- 2015
Al Molinaro, American actor (born 1919)
- 2015
Sinan Şamil Sam, Turkish boxer (born 1974)
- 2014
Elijah Malok Aleng, Sudanese general and politician (born 1937)
All entries for October 30（+19）
- 2014
Renée Asherson, English actress (born 1915)
- 2014
Ida Elizabeth Osbourne, Australian actress and radio host (born 1916)
- 2013
Bill Currie, American baseball player (born 1928)
- 2012
Franck Biancheri, French politician (born 1961)
- 2012
Samina Raja, Pakistani poet and educator (born 1961)
- 2010
Harry Mulisch, Dutch author, poet, and playwright (born 1927)
- 2009
Claude Lévi-Strauss, French anthropologist and ethnologist (born 1908)
- 2008
Pedro Pompilio, Argentinian businessman (born 1950)
- 2007
Robert Goulet, American actor and singer (born 1933)
- 2007
Linda S. Stein, American businesswoman and manager (born 1945)
- 2007
John Woodruff, American runner and colonel (born 1915)
- 2006
Clifford Geertz, American anthropologist and author (born 1926)
- 2006
Junji Kinoshita, Japanese playwright and scholar (born 1914)
- 2005
Al López, American baseball player and manager (born 1908)
- 2005
Shamsher Singh Sheri, Indian politician (born 1942)
- 2004
Phyllis Frost, Australian philanthropist, founded Keep Australia Beautiful (born 1917)
- 2004
Peggy Ryan, American actress and dancer (born 1924)
- 2002
Juan Antonio Bardem, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1922)
- 2002
Jam Master Jay, American rapper and producer (born 1965)
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