On this day: April 30

Events on April 30

• 311 The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians officially ended in the eastern Roman Empire. Wikipedia
• 311 The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1789 George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of the United States at Federal Hall in New York City. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1812 The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana. Wikipedia
• 1838 Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1900 Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor. Wikipedia
• 1905 Albert Einstein completes his doctoral thesis at the University of Zurich. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1943 Second World War: The Royal Navy submarine HMS Seraph began Operation Mincemeat to deceive Germany about the upcoming invasion of Sicily. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: The British submarine HMS Seraph surfaces near Huelva to cast adrift a dead man dressed as a courier and carrying false invasion plans. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: As Allied forces closed in on Berlin, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler committed suicide in the Führerbunker with Eva Braun one day after their marriage. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for less than 40 hours. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: Soviet soldiers raise the first Soviet flag over the Reichstag. The Victory Banner will be raised the next day. Wikipedia
• 1947 In Nevada, Boulder Dam is renamed Hoover Dam. Wikipedia
• 1948 In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established. Wikipedia
• 1956 Former Vice President and Democratic Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia. Wikipedia
• 1961 K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned. Wikipedia
• 1975 American forces completed a helicopter evacuation of U.S. citizens, South Vietnamese civilians and others from Saigon, just before North Vietnamese troops captured the city and ended the Vietnam War. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1979 Eruption of Mount Marapi: Mount Marapi, a complex volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, erupts. Between 80 and 100 people are killed. Wikipedia
• 1982 Sixteen monks and a nun of the Hindu organisation Ananda Marga were beaten to death and set on fire in Calcutta, India. Wikipedia
• 2000 Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun whose apparitions of Jesus inspired the Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy, was canonized by Pope John Paul II. Wikipedia
• 2004 U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers committing war crimes against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. Wikipedia

Born on April 30

• 1310 King Casimir III of Poland (died 1368) Wikipedia
• 1383 Anne of Gloucester, English countess, granddaughter of King Edward III of England (died 1438) Wikipedia
• 1662 Mary II, Queen of England and Scotland (died 1694) Wikipedia
• 1777 Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician and physicist (died 1855) Wikipedia
• 1883 Jaroslav Hašek, Czech soldier and author (died 1923) Wikipedia
• 1893 Joachim von Ribbentrop, German politician, 14th German Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs, executed Nuremberg war criminal (died 1946) Wikipedia
• 1901 Simon Kuznets, Belarusian-American economist, statistician, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1985) Wikipedia
• 1902 Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1998) Wikipedia
• 1909 Juliana of the Netherlands (died 2004) Wikipedia
• 1916 Claude Shannon, American mathematician and engineer (died 2001) Wikipedia
• 1921 Roger L. Easton, American scientist, co-invented the GPS (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1924 Uno Laht, Estonian KGB officer and author (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1946 King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden Wikipedia
• 1949 António Guterres, Portuguese academic and politician, 114th Prime Minister of Portugal and 9th Secretary-General of the United Nations Wikipedia
• 1956 Lars von Trier, Danish director and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1959 Stephen Harper, Canadian economist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada Wikipedia
• 1967 Philipp Kirkorov, Bulgarian-born Russian singer, composer and actor Wikipedia
• 1982 Kirsten Dunst, American actress Wikipedia
• 1985 Gal Gadot, Israeli actress and model Wikipedia
• 1986 Dianna Agron, American actress and singer Wikipedia
• 1988 Ana de Armas, Cuban actress Wikipedia
• 1992 Marc-André ter Stegen, German footballer Wikipedia

Died on April 30

• 65 Lucan, Roman poet (born 39) Wikipedia
• 125 An, Chinese emperor (born 94) Wikipedia
• 1030 Mahmud of Ghazni, Ghaznavid emir (born 971) Wikipedia
• 1632 Sigismund III Vasa, Swedish-Polish son of John III of Sweden (born 1566) Wikipedia
• 1883 Édouard Manet, French painter (born 1832) Wikipedia
• 1945 Eva Braun, German photographer and office and lab assistant, wife of Adolf Hitler (born 1912) Wikipedia
• 1945 Adolf Hitler, Austrian-German politician and author, dictator of Nazi Germany (born 1889) Wikipedia
• 1956 Alben W. Barkley, American lawyer and politician, 35th Vice President of the United States (born 1877) Wikipedia
• 1983 Muddy Waters, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and bandleader (born 1913) Wikipedia
• 1989 Sergio Leone, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1929) Wikipedia
• 2011 Ernesto Sabato, Argentinian physicist, author, and painter (born 1911) Wikipedia
• 2016 Harry Kroto, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1939) Wikipedia
• 2020 Rishi Kapoor, Indian actor, film director and producer (born 1952) Wikipedia
• 2024 Paul Auster, American writer and film director (born 1947) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Armed Forces Day (Georgia) Wikipedia
• Camarón Day (French Foreign Legion) Wikipedia
• Children's Day (Mexico) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Adjutor Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Aimo Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Amator, Peter and Louis Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Donatus of Evorea Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eutropius of Saintes Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Marie Guyart (Anglican Church of Canada and Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Maximus of Rome Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Miles Gerard Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pomponius of Naples Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Pius V Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Quirinus of Neuss Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Sarah Josepha Hale (Episcopal Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Suitbert the Younger Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: April 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Consumer Protection Day (Thailand) Wikipedia
• Honesty Day (United States) Wikipedia
• International Jazz Day (UNESCO) Wikipedia
• Martyrs' Day (Pakistan) Wikipedia
• May Eve, the eve of the first day of summer in the Northern hemisphere (see May 1): Beltane begins at sunset in the Northern hemisphere, Samhain begins at sunset in the Southern hemisphere. (Neo-Druidic Wheel of the Year) Wikipedia
• May Eve, the eve of the first day of summer in the Northern hemisphere (see May 1): Walpurgis Night (Central and Northern Europe) Wikipedia
• National Persian Gulf Day (Iran) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “April 30” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.