April 30
Events
Pre-1600
- 311 - The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.
- 1315 - Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged at the instigation of Charles, Count of Valois.
- 1492 - Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration. He is named admiral of the ocean sea, viceroy and governor of any territory he discovers.
- 1513 - Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the orders of Henry VIII.
- 1598 - Juan de Oñate begins the conquest of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.
- 1598 - Henry IV of France issues the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots.
1601–1900
- 1636 - Eighty Years' War: Dutch Republic forces recapture a strategically important fort from Spain after a nine-month siege.
- 1789 - On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first President of the United States.
- 1803 - Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.
- 1812 - The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana.
- 1838 - Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation.
- 1859 - Charles Dickens publishes the first edition of his literary magazine, All the Year Round, containing the first installment of his best-selling classic, A Tale of Two Cities.
- 1863 - A 65-man French Foreign Legion infantry patrol fights a force of nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers to nearly the last man in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Confederate forces led by General E. Kirby Smith attack federal troops retreating across the Saline at Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas.
- 1871 - The Camp Grant massacre takes place in Arizona Territory.
- 1885 - Governor of New York David B. Hill signs legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, New York's first state park, ensuring that Niagara Falls will not be devoted solely to industrial and commercial use.
- 1897 - J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton, at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London.
- 1900 - Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.
1901–present
- 1905 - Albert Einstein completes his doctoral thesis at the University of Zurich.
- 1925 - Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc is sold to Dillon, Read & Co. for US$146 million plus $50 million for charity.
- 1927 - The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women's federal prison in the United States.
- 1937 - The Commonwealth of 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.
- 1939 - The 1939–40 New York World's Fair opens.
- 1939 - NBC inaugurates its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's N.Y. World's Fair opening day ceremonial address.
- 1943 - World War II: The British submarine surfaces near Huelva to cast adrift a dead man dressed as a courier and carrying false invasion plans.
- 1945 - World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for less than 40 hours. Soviet soldiers raise the Victory Banner over the Reichstag building.
- 1945 - World War II: Stalag Luft I prisoner-of-war camp near Barth, Germany is liberated by Soviet soldiers, freeing nearly 9,000 American and British airmen.
- 1947 - In Nevada, Boulder Dam is renamed Hoover Dam.
- 1948 - In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established.
- 1956 - Former Vice President and Democratic Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia.
- 1957 - Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery entered into force.
- 1961 - K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned.
- 1963 - The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.
- 1973 - Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon fires White House Counsel John Dean; other top aides, most notably H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, resign.
- 1975 - Fall of Saigon: Communist forces gain control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Dương Văn Minh.
- 1979 - Eruption of Mount Marapi: Mount Marapi, a complex volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, erupted. Between 80 and 100 people were killed.
- 1980 - Beatrix is inaugurated as Queen of the Netherlands following the abdication of Juliana.
- 1980 - The Iranian Embassy siege begins in London.
- 1982 - The Bijon Setu massacre occurs in Calcutta, India.
- 1989 - The Monkseaton shootings occur in Tyne and Wear, England. One killed, 16 injured.
- 1993 - CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free.
- 1994 - Formula One racing driver Roland Ratzenberger is killed in a crash during the qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix run at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari outside Imola, Italy.
- 1999 - Neo-Nazi David Copeland carries out the last of his three nail bombings in London at the Admiral Duncan gay pub, killing three people and injuring 79 others.
- 2000 - Canonization of Faustina Kowalska in the presence of 200,000 people and the first Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated worldwide.
- 2004 - U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers committing war crimes against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
- 2008 - Two skeletal remains found near Yekaterinburg are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei and Anastasia, two of the children of the last Tsar of Russia, whose entire family was executed at Yekaterinburg by the Bolsheviks.
- 2009 - Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- 2009 - Seven civilians and the perpetrator are killed and another ten injured at a Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands in an attempted assassination on Queen Beatrix.
- 2012 - An overloaded ferry capsizes on the Brahmaputra River in India killing at least 108 people. At least 150 more are missing and presumed dead.
- 2013 - Willem-Alexander is inaugurated as King of the Netherlands following the abdication of Beatrix.
- 2014 - A bomb blast in Ürümqi, China kills three people and injures 79 others.
- 2021 - Forty-five men and boys are killed in the Meron stampede in Israel.
Births
Pre-1600
- 1310 - King Casimir III of Poland
- 1331 - Gaston III, Count of Foix
- 1383 - Anne of Gloucester, English countess, granddaughter of King Edward III of England
- 1425 - William III, Landgrave of Thuringia
- 1504 - Francesco Primaticcio, Italian painter
- 1553 - Louise of Lorraine, Queen of France
1601–1900
- 1623 - François de Laval, French-Canadian bishop and saint
- 1651 - Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, French priest and saint
- 1662 - Mary II of England
- 1664 - François Louis, Prince of Conti
- 1710 - Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general
- 1723 - Mathurin Jacques Brisson, French zoologist and philosopher
- 1758 - Emmanuel Vitale, Maltese commander and politician
- 1770 - David Thompson, English-Canadian cartographer and explorer
- 1777 - Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician and physicist
- 1799 - Joseph Dart, American businessman and entrepreneur
- 1803 - Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and politician, 10th Minister President of Prussia
- 1829 - Ferdinand von Hochstetter, Austrian geologist and academic
- 1848 - Eugène Simon, French naturalist
- 1857 - Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist
- 1857 - Walter Simon, German banker and philanthropist
- 1865 - Max Nettlau, German historian and academic
- 1866 - Mary Haviland Stilwell Kuesel, American pioneer dentist
- 1869 - Hans Poelzig, German architect, designed the IG Farben Building and Großes Schauspielhaus
- 1870 - Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer
- 1870 - Dadasaheb Phalke, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1874 - Cyriel Verschaeve, Flemish priest and author
- 1876 - Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist and politician
- 1877 - Léon Flameng, French cyclist
- 1877 - Alice B. Toklas, American memoirist
- 1878 - Władysław Witwicki, Polish psychologist, philosopher, translator, historian and artist
- 1879 - Richárd Weisz, Hungarian Olympic champion wrestler
- 1880 - Charles Exeter Devereux Crombie, Scottish cartoonist
- 1883 - Jaroslav Hašek, Czech soldier and author
- 1883 - Luigi Russolo, Italian painter and composer
- 1884 - Olof Sandborg, Swedish actor
- 1888 - John Crowe Ransom, American poet, critic, and academic
- 1893 - Harold Breen, Australian public servant
- 1893 - Joachim von Ribbentrop, German soldier and politician, 14th German Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs
- 1895 - Philippe Panneton, Canadian physician, academic, and diplomat
- 1896 - Reverend Gary Davis, American singer and guitarist
- 1896 - Hans List, Austrian scientist and businessman, founded the AVL Engineering Company
- 1897 - Humberto Mauro, Brazilian director and screenwriter
- 1900 - Erni Krusten, Estonian author and poet