On this day: January 30

Events on January 30

• 1018 Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen. Wikipedia
• 1789 Tây Sơn forces emerge victorious against Qing armies and liberate the capital Thăng Long. Wikipedia
• 1820 Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica. Wikipedia
• 1847 Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco, California. Wikipedia
• 1858 The first Hallé concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of The Hallé orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra. Wikipedia
• 1902 The first Anglo-Japanese Alliance is signed in London. Wikipedia
• 1908 Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is released from prison by Jan C. Smuts after being tried and sentenced to two months in jail earlier in the month. Wikipedia
• 1911 The destroyer USS Terry makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of Douglas McCurdy 16 kilometres (10 miles) from Havana, Cuba. Wikipedia
• 1925 The Government of Turkey expels Patriarch Constantine VI from Istanbul. Wikipedia
• 1939 In a speech to the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler threatened the "annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe". Wikipedia
• 1939 During a speech in the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler makes a prediction about the end of the Jewish race in Europe if another world war were to occur. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: Japanese forces invade the island of Ambon in the Dutch East Indies. Some 300 captured Allied troops are killed after the surrender. One-quarter of the remaining POWs remain alive at the end of the war. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: Allied forces liberated more than 500 prisoners of war from a Japanese POW camp near Cabanatuan in the Philippines. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with German refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing approximately 9,500 people. Wikipedia
• 1948 Following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in his home compound, India's prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, broadcasts to the nation, saying "The light has gone out of our lives". The date of the assassination becomes observed as "Martyrs' Day" in India. Wikipedia
• 1948 Mahatma Gandhi, the political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement, was fatally shot by Nathuram Godse at Birla House in Delhi. Wikipedia
• 1956 In the United States, Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery bus boycott. Wikipedia
• 1959 The forces of the Sultanate of Muscat occupy the last strongholds of the Imamate of Oman, Saiq and Shuraijah, marking the end of Jebel Akhdar War in Oman. Wikipedia
• 1960 The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties. Wikipedia
• 1969 The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police. Wikipedia
• 1972 Pakistan leaves the Commonwealth of Nations in protest of its recognition of breakaway Bangladesh. Wikipedia
• 1989 The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is closed. Wikipedia
• 2000 Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ivory Coast, killing 169. Wikipedia
• 2005 Forty-six years to the day after the sinking of the Danish ocean liner MS Hans Hedtoft, Queen Margrethe II unveiled a memorial in Copenhagen to the 95 passengers and crew who perished. Wikipedia
• 2020 The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic to be a public health emergency of international concern. Wikipedia
• 2020 The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Wikipedia

Born on January 30

• 58 BC Livia, Roman wife of Augustus (died 29) Wikipedia
• 1781 Adelbert von Chamisso, German botanist and poet (died 1838) Wikipedia
• 1841 Félix Faure, French politician, 7th President of France (died 1899) Wikipedia
• 1882 Franklin D. Roosevelt, American lawyer and statesman, 32nd President of the United States (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1899 Max Theiler, South African-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1972) Wikipedia
• 1913 Amrita Sher-Gil, Hungarian-Indian painter (died 1941) Wikipedia
• 1915 Joachim Peiper, German SS officer (died 1976) Wikipedia
• 1925 Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist, invented the computer mouse (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1927 Olof Palme, Swedish statesman, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden (died 1986) Wikipedia
• 1930 Gene Hackman, American actor and author (died 2025) Wikipedia
• 1937 Boris Spassky, Russian chess grandmaster (died 2025) Wikipedia
• 1937 Vanessa Redgrave, English actress Wikipedia
• 1938 Islam Karimov, Uzbek politician, 1st President of Uzbekistan (died 2016) Wikipedia
• 1941 Dick Cheney, American businessman and politician, 46th Vice President of the United States (died 2025) Wikipedia
• 1949 Peter Agre, American physician and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1951 Phil Collins, English drummer, singer-songwriter, producer, and actor Wikipedia
• 1962 Abdullah II of Jordan Wikipedia
• 1968 Felipe VI, King of Spain Wikipedia
• 1974 Christian Bale, British actor Wikipedia
• 1974 Olivia Colman, English actress Wikipedia
• 1987 Arda Turan, Turkish footballer Wikipedia
• 2005 Prince Hashem, second son of King Abdullah II of Jordan Wikipedia

Died on January 30

• 1649 Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland (born 1600) Wikipedia
• 1730 Peter II of Russia (born 1715) Wikipedia
• 1836 Betsy Ross, American seamstress, said to have designed the American Flag (born 1752) Wikipedia
• 1928 Johannes Fibiger, Danish physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1867) Wikipedia
• 1948 Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule (born 1869) Wikipedia
• 1948 Orville Wright, American pilot and engineer, co-founded the Wright Company (born 1871) Wikipedia
• 1951 Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian-German engineer and businessman, founded Porsche (born 1875) Wikipedia
• 1969 Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1910) Wikipedia
• 1991 John Bardeen, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 2007 Sidney Sheldon, American author and screenwriter (born 1917) Wikipedia
• 2011 John Barry, English composer and conductor (born 1933) Wikipedia
• 2014 Greater, oldest known greater flamingo and Feast Festival 2021 mascot (h. c.1919–1933) Wikipedia
• 2016 Gaston Mialaret, French pedagogist and professor (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 2026 Catherine O'Hara, Canadian-American actress, comedian and screenwriter (born 1954) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day: Adelelmus of Burgos Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Aldegonde Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Anthony the Great (Coptic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Armentarius of Pavia Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Balthild Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Charles, King and Martyr (various provinces of the Anglican Communion) Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Hyacintha Mariscotti Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Martina Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Matthias of Jerusalem Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Mutien-Marie Wiaux Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Savina Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Three Holy Hierarchs (Eastern Orthodox), and its related observances: Teacher's Day (Greece) Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: January 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Day of Azerbaijani customs (Azerbaijan) Wikipedia
• Day of Saudade (Brazil) Wikipedia
• Fred Korematsu Day (California, Florida, Hawaii, Virginia) Wikipedia
• Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi, and its related observances: Martyrs' Day (India) Wikipedia
• Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi, and its related observances: School Day of Non-violence and Peace (Spain) Wikipedia
• Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi, and its related observances: Start of the Season for Nonviolence (January 30 – April 4) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “January 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.