On this day: July 30

Events on July 30

• 30 BC Mark Antony wins a final cavalry battle against Octavian in the battle of Alexandria, but his infantry is defeated and the next day his fleet and troops start to desert to Octavian. Wikipedia
• 762 Baghdad is founded. Wikipedia
• 1419 First Defenestration of Prague: A crowd of radical Hussites kill seven members of the Prague city council. Wikipedia
• 1502 Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage. Wikipedia
• 1724 Bach's chorale cantata Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, a paraphrase of Psalm 124 based on a 1524 hymn by Justus Jonas, was first performed in Leipzig. Wikipedia
• 1729 Founding of Baltimore, Maryland. Wikipedia
• 1733 The first Masonic Grand Lodge in the future United States is constituted in Massachusetts. Wikipedia
• 1756 In Saint Petersburg, Bartolomeo Rastrelli presents the newly built Catherine Palace to Empress Elizabeth and her courtiers. Wikipedia
• 1859 First ascent of Grand Combin, one of the highest summits in the Alps. Wikipedia
• 1863 The Valuev Circular bans the publication of religious, educational and training books in Ukrainian in the Russian Empire. Wikipedia
• 1864 American Civil War: Battle of the Crater: Union forces attempt to break Confederate lines at Petersburg, Virginia by exploding a large bomb under their trenches. Wikipedia
• 1871 The boiler of the Staten Island Ferry Westfield II exploded at South Ferry in New York City, killing at least 45 people. Wikipedia
• 1916 World War I: German agents sabotaged U.S.-made munitions in New York Harbor that were to be supplied to the Allies. Wikipedia
• 1930 In Montevideo, the Uruguay national football team (team pictured) won the inaugural FIFA World Cup, defeating Argentina 4–2 in the final. Wikipedia
• 1930 In Montevideo, Uruguay wins the first FIFA World Cup by beating Argentina. Wikipedia
• 1932 Premiere of Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first Academy Award winning cartoon short. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: Japanese submarine I-58 sinks the USS Indianapolis, killing 883 seamen. Most die during the following four days, until an aircraft notices the survivors. Wikipedia
• 1956 A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing In God We Trust as the U.S. national motto. Wikipedia
• 1965 U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid. Wikipedia
• 1969 Vietnam War: U.S. president Richard Nixon makes an unscheduled visit to South Vietnam and meets with President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and U.S. military commanders. Wikipedia
• 1971 Apollo program: On Apollo 15, David Scott and James Irwin in the Apollo Lunar Module Falcon land on the Moon with the first Lunar Rover. Wikipedia
• 1975 Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. He is never seen or heard from again. Wikipedia
• 1980 Vanuatu gains independence. Wikipedia
• 2012 A power grid failure in Delhi leaves more than 300 million people without power in northern India. Wikipedia
• 2014 More than 150 people died after heavy rains triggered a landslide in the village of Malin in Maharashtra, India. Wikipedia
• 2026 Around 50,000 Moroccan nationals storm the borders of Spanish enclaves in Africa, principally the city of Ceuta. As of August 1, 2026, 67 are confirmed to have died while crossing. Wikipedia

Born on July 30

• 1511 Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter, historian, and architect (died 1574) Wikipedia
• 1818 Emily Brontë, English novelist and poet (died 1848) Wikipedia
• 1857 Thorstein Veblen, American economist and sociologist (died 1929) Wikipedia
• 1863 Henry Ford, American engineer and businessman, founded the Ford Motor Company (died 1947) Wikipedia
• 1881 Smedley Butler, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1940) Wikipedia
• 1898 Henry Moore, English sculptor and illustrator (died 1986) Wikipedia
• 1939 Peter Bogdanovich, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1941 Paul Anka, Canadian singer-songwriter and actor Wikipedia
• 1945 Patrick Modiano, French novelist and screenwriter, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1947 Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, and politician, 38th Governor of California Wikipedia
• 1947 Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, French virologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1948 Jean Reno, Spanish-French actor Wikipedia
• 1956 Georg Gänswein, German prelate, Prefect of the Pontifical Household, and former personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI Wikipedia
• 1958 Kate Bush, English singer-songwriter and producer Wikipedia
• 1961 Laurence Fishburne, American actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1963 Lisa Kudrow, American actress and producer Wikipedia
• 1964 Jürgen Klinsmann, German footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1968 Terry Crews, American actor and football player Wikipedia
• 1969 Simon Baker, Australian actor, director, and producer Wikipedia
• 1970 Christopher Nolan, English-American director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1974 Hilary Swank, American actress and producer Wikipedia
• 1999 Joey King, American actress Wikipedia

Died on July 30

• 579 Pope Benedict I Wikipedia
• 1718 William Penn, English businessman and philosopher, founded the Province of Pennsylvania (born 1644) Wikipedia
• 1811 Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Mexican priest and soldier (born 1753) Wikipedia
• 1898 Otto von Bismarck, German lawyer and politician, 1st Chancellor of Germany (born 1815) Wikipedia
• 1912 Emperor Meiji of Japan (born 1852) Wikipedia
• 1930 Joan Gamper, Swiss-Spanish footballer and businessman, founded FC Barcelona (born 1877) Wikipedia
• 1947 Joseph Cook, English-Australian miner and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Australia (born 1860) Wikipedia
• 1992 Joe Shuster, Canadian-American illustrator, co-created Superman (born 1914) Wikipedia
• 1996 Claudette Colbert, French-American actress (born 1903) Wikipedia
• 2007 Ingmar Bergman, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 2007 Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian director and screenwriter (born 1912) Wikipedia
• 2009 Mohammed Yusuf, Nigerian militant leader, founded Boko Haram (born 1970) Wikipedia
• 2020 Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese politician, President (1988–2000), Vice President (1984–1988) and mayor of Taipei (1978–1981) (born 1923) Wikipedia
• 2023 Paul Reubens, American actor and comedian (born 1952) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Abdon and Sennen Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Edward Powell, Richard Fetherston and Thomas Abel Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Hatebrand Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: María Natividad Venegas de la Torre Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Maxima, Donatilla, and Secunda Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Robert Barnes (Lutheran) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Tatwine Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Ursus of Auxerre Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Vicenta Chávez Orozco Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Solanus Casey Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: July 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Feast of the Throne (Morocco) Wikipedia
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Vanuatu from the United Kingdom and France in 1980. Wikipedia
• International Day of Friendship (international), and its related observances: Día del Amigo (Paraguay) Wikipedia
• Martyrs Day (South Sudan) Wikipedia

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