On this day: January 30

Events on January 30

• 1018 Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Bolesław I, the Piast ruler of Poland, signed the Peace of Bautzen to end the German–Polish War. Wikipedia
• 1287 Wareru created the Hanthawaddy Kingdom in today's Lower Burma and declared himself king following the collapse of the Pagan Empire. Wikipedia
• 1607 Low-lying areas flooded around the coasts of the Bristol Channel in southwest England and south Wales, resulting in around 2,000 deaths. Wikipedia
• 1648 Eighty Years' War: The Treaty of Münster and Osnabrück is signed, ending the conflict between the Netherlands and Spain. Wikipedia
• 1649 King Charles I, who was defeated in both the First and the Second English Civil Wars, was beheaded for high treason in front of the Banqueting House in London. Wikipedia
• 1661 Two years after his death, Oliver Cromwell's remains were exhumed for a posthumous execution and his head was placed on a spike above Westminster Hall in London, where it remained until 1685. Wikipedia
• 1667 The Truce of Andrusovo is signed, ending the Russian-Polish War of 1654-1667. Wikipedia
• 1835 Richard Lawrence became the first person to attempt to assassinate a sitting US president when he failed to kill Andrew Jackson at the US Capitol and was subdued by the crowd. Wikipedia
• 1862 The United States Navy launched USS Monitor, the first American ironclad warship. Wikipedia
• 1889 Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in the Mayerling. Wikipedia
• 1939 In a speech to the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler threatened the "annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe". Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: The Battle of Cisterna, part of Operation Shingle, begins in central Italy. 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 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
• 1959 Danish ocean liner MS Hans Hedtoft sank, resulting in the deaths of all 95 passengers and crew. Wikipedia
• 1964 In a bloodless coup, Nguyễn Khánh overthrew Dương Văn Minh's military junta in South Vietnam, less than three months after Minh's own coup. Wikipedia
• 1968 Vietnam War: Forces of the Viet Cong and the Vietnamese People's Army launched the Tet Offensive to strike military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam. Wikipedia
• 1972 The Troubles: On Bloody Sunday, members of the British Parachute Regiment shot 26 civil-rights protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing at least 13 people. Wikipedia
• 1972 Pakistan leaves the Commonwealth of Nations in protest of its recognition of breakaway Bangladesh. Wikipedia
• 1979 Varig Flight 967 disappeared shortly after takeoff from Tokyo's Narita International Airport en route to Rio de Janeiro. Wikipedia
• 2000 Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Ivory Coast shortly after takeoff, killing 169 on board. 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
• 2007 Microsoft Corporation releases Windows Vista, a major release of the operating system Microsoft Windows and the NT based kernel. Wikipedia
• 2013 The Korea Aerospace Research Institute launched Naro-1, South Korea's first carrier rocket and their first launch vehicle to achieve Earth orbit. Wikipedia
• 2020 The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic to be a public health emergency of international concern. Wikipedia

Born on January 30

• 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
• 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
• 1972 Mike Johnson, American politician, 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Wikipedia
• 1974 Christian Bale, British actor Wikipedia
• 1974 Olivia Colman, English actress Wikipedia
• 1981 Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer Wikipedia
• 1981 Peter Crouch, English footballer Wikipedia
• 1987 Arda Turan, Turkish footballer Wikipedia

Died on January 30

• 1649 Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland (born 1600) Wikipedia
• 1730 Peter II of Russia (born 1715) 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
• 1963 Francis Poulenc, French pianist and composer (born 1899) 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
• 1994 Pierre Boulle, French soldier and author (born 1912) Wikipedia
• 2006 Coretta Scott King, American author and activist (born 1927) Wikipedia
• 2007 Sidney Sheldon, American author and screenwriter (born 1917) Wikipedia
• 2011 John Barry, English composer and conductor (born 1933) 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

Sources

• Wikipedia — “January 30” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/January 30” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

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 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for January 30 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.