March 30 in history — What Happened Today in History

Israeli-Palestinian conflict: in the first organized response against Israeli policies by a Palestinian collective since 1948, Palestinians create the first Land Day.

Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.

Delta Air Lines Flight 9877 crashes at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, killing 19.

Vietnam War: A car bomb explodes in front of the United States Embassy, Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others.

The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed in New York City.

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.

Cold War: A riot breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík, when Iceland joins NATO.

World War II: Soviet forces invade Austria and capture Vienna. Polish and Soviet forces liberate Danzig.

World War II: Allied bombers conduct their most severe bombing run on Sofia, Bulgaria.

World War II: In a raid on Nuremberg, RAF Bomber Command suffers its greatest loss of the war, losing 95 bombers from a force of 795.

Second Sino-Japanese War: Japan declares Nanking capital of a new Chinese puppet government, nominally controlled by Wang Jingwei.

The Heinkel He 100 fighter sets a world airspeed record of 463 mph (745 km/h).

Beginning of the bloody March Events in Baku and other locations of Baku Governorate.

Sultan Abd al-Hafid signs the Treaty of Fez, making Morocco a French protectorate.

Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discover the first clay tablet with hieroglyphic writing in a script later called Linear B.

German Society of Chemistry issues an invitation to other national scientific organizations to appoint delegates to the International Committee on Atomic Weights.

The Battle for Kushka triggers the Panjdeh Incident which nearly gives rise to war between the Russian and British Empires.

Texas is readmitted to the United States Congress following Reconstruction.

Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million, about two cents/acre ($4.19/km2), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward.

Danish prince Wilhelm Georg is chosen as King George of Greece.

Discovery of the chemical elements: Sir William Crookes announces his discovery of thallium.

The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.

Origins of the American Civil War: "Border Ruffians" from Missouri invade Kansas and force election of a pro-slavery legislature.

One of the most important battles of the Dominican War of Independence from Haiti takes place near the city of Santiago de los Caballeros.

Ether anesthesia is used for the first time, in an operation by the American surgeon Dr. Crawford Long.

The National Bank of Greece is founded in Athens.

The Florida Territory is created in the United States.

Physicist Augustin Fresnel reads a memoir on optical rotation to the French Academy of Sciences, reporting that when polarized light is "depolarized" by a Fresnel rhomb, its properties are preserved in any subsequent passage through an optically-rotating crystal or liquid.

Thomas Rhett, American country music singer and songwriter

Michal Březina, Czech figure skater

Chris Sale, American baseball player

João Sousa, Portuguese tennis player

Will Matthews, Australian rugby league player

Thanasis Papazoglou, Greek footballer

Richard Sherman, American football player

Larisa Yurkiw, Canadian alpine skier

Trent Barreta, American wrestler

Calum Elliot, Scottish footballer

Kwok Kin Pong, Hong Kong footballer

Marc-Édouard Vlasic, Canadian ice hockey player

Sergio Ramos, Spanish footballer

Kate O'Mara, English actress (born 1939)

Alice Raftary, American educator of blind adults (born 1927)

Daniel Hoffman, American poet and academic (born 1923)

Bobby Parks, American basketball player and coach (born 1962)

Phil Ramone, South African-American songwriter and producer, co-founded A & R Recording (born 1934)

Edith Schaeffer, Chinese-Swiss religious leader and author, co-founded L'Abri (born 1914)

Bob Turley, American baseball player and coach (born 1930)

Janet Anderson Perkin, Canadian baseball player and curler (born 1921)

Aquila Berlas Kiani, Indian-Canadian sociologist and academic (born 1921)

Francesco Mancini, Italian footballer and coach (born 1968)

Granville Semmes, American businessman, founded 1-800-Flowers (born 1928)

Leonid Shebarshin, Russian KGB officer (born 1935)

Jaime Escalante, Bolivian-American educator (born 1930)