On this day: March 30

Events on March 30

• 598 Avar–Byzantine wars: The Avars lift the siege at the Byzantine stronghold of Tomis. Their leader Bayan I retreats north of the Danube River after the Avaro-Slavic army is decimated by the plague. Wikipedia
• 1282 The people of Sicily rebel against the Angevin king Charles I, in what becomes known as the Sicilian Vespers. Wikipedia
• 1841 The National Bank of Greece is founded in Athens. Wikipedia
• 1842 Ether anesthesia is used for the first time, in an operation by the American surgeon Dr. Crawford Long. Wikipedia
• 1844 One of the most important battles of the Dominican War of Independence from Haiti takes place near the city of Santiago de los Caballeros. Wikipedia
• 1855 Origins of the American Civil War: "Border Ruffians" from Missouri invade Kansas and force election of a pro-slavery legislature. Wikipedia
• 1867 Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million, about two cents/acre ($4.19/km2), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward. Wikipedia
• 1870 Texas is readmitted to the United States Congress following Reconstruction. Wikipedia
• 1885 The Battle for Kushka triggers the Panjdeh Incident which nearly gives rise to war between the Russian and British Empires. Wikipedia
• 1900 Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discover the first clay tablet with hieroglyphic writing in a script later called Linear B. Wikipedia
• 1912 Sultan Abd al-Hafid signs the Treaty of Fez, making Morocco a French protectorate. Wikipedia
• 1918 Four days of inter-ethnic clashes broke out in Baku, Azerbaijan, resulting in about 12,000 deaths. Wikipedia
• 1918 Beginning of the bloody March Events in Baku and other locations of Baku Governorate. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: Allied bombers conduct their most severe bombing run on Sofia, Bulgaria. Wikipedia
• 1949 Cold War: A riot breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík, when Iceland joins NATO. Wikipedia
• 1959 Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India. Wikipedia
• 1965 Vietnam War: A car bomb explodes in front of the United States Embassy, Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others. Wikipedia
• 1972 Vietnam War: North Vietnamese forces began the Easter Offensive in an attempt to gain as much territory and destroy as many South Vietnamese units as possible. Wikipedia
• 1981 U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley Jr.; three others are wounded in the same incident. Wikipedia
• 1982 Space Shuttle program: STS-3 mission is completed with the landing of Columbia at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Wikipedia
• 2002 Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, widow of King George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth II, died at Royal Lodge aged 101. Wikipedia
• 2006 Cyclone Glenda, one of the strongest tropical cyclones in the Australian region makes landfall near Onslow, Western Australia. Wikipedia
• 2009 The Manawan Police Academy in Lahore, Pakistan, was attacked and held for several hours by 12 gunmen, resulting in 16 deaths and 95 injuries. Wikipedia
• 2019 Pope Francis visits Morocco. Wikipedia
• 2023 Donald Trump became the first former U.S. president to be indicted by a grand jury. Wikipedia
• 2023 Donald Trump becomes the first former United States president to be indicted by a grand jury. Wikipedia

Born on March 30

• 1135 Maimonides, Spanish rabbi and philosopher (April 6 also proposed, d. 1204) Wikipedia
• 1432 Mehmed the Conqueror, Ottoman sultan (died 1481) Wikipedia
• 1746 Francisco Goya, Spanish-French painter and sculptor (died 1828) Wikipedia
• 1811 Robert Bunsen, German chemist and academic (died 1899) Wikipedia
• 1844 Paul Verlaine, French poet (died 1896) Wikipedia
• 1853 Vincent van Gogh, Dutch-French painter and illustrator (died 1890) Wikipedia
• 1874 Charles Lightoller, English 2nd officer on the RMS Titanic (died 1952) Wikipedia
• 1882 Melanie Klein, Austrian-English psychologist and author (died 1960) Wikipedia
• 1892 Stefan Banach, Polish mathematician and academic (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1895 Jean Giono, French author and poet (died 1970) Wikipedia
• 1926 Ingvar Kamprad, Swedish businessman, founded IKEA (died 2018) Wikipedia
• 1937 Warren Beatty, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1938 Klaus Schwab, German economist and engineer, founded the World Economic Forum Wikipedia
• 1945 Eric Clapton, English guitarist and singer-songwriter Wikipedia
• 1950 Robbie Coltrane, Scottish actor (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1963 Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, Mongolian journalist and politician, 4th President of Mongolia Wikipedia
• 1964 Tracy Chapman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Wikipedia
• 1968 Celine Dion, Canadian singer-songwriter Wikipedia
• 1979 Norah Jones, American singer-songwriter and pianist Wikipedia
• 1982 Philippe Mexès, French footballer Wikipedia
• 1984 Samantha Stosur, Australian tennis player Wikipedia
• 1986 Sergio Ramos, Spanish footballer Wikipedia

Died on March 30

• 116 Quirinus of Neuss, Roman martyr and saint Wikipedia
• 365 Ai of Jin, emperor of the Jin Dynasty (born 341) Wikipedia
• 1842 Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, French painter (born 1755) Wikipedia
• 1912 Karl May, German author (born 1842) Wikipedia
• 1925 Rudolf Steiner, Austrian philosopher and author (born 1861) Wikipedia
• 1949 Friedrich Bergius, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1884) Wikipedia
• 1950 Léon Blum, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (born 1872) Wikipedia
• 1965 Philip Showalter Hench, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1896) Wikipedia
• 1970 Heinrich Brüning, German economist and politician, Chancellor of Germany (born 1885) Wikipedia
• 1986 James Cagney, American actor and dancer (born 1899) Wikipedia
• 1988 Edgar Faure, French historian and politician, Prime Minister of France (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 2002 Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Queen Consort of King George VI of the United Kingdom, Empress Consort of India (born 1900) Wikipedia
• 2010 Martin Sandberger, German SS officer and convicted war criminal (born 1911) Wikipedia
• 2012 Leonid Shebarshin, Russian KGB officer (born 1935) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Blessed Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Maria Restituta Kafka Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John Climacus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Mamertinus of Auxerre Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Quirinus of Neuss Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Thomas Son Chasuhn, Marie-Nicolas-Antoine Daveluy (part of The Korean Martyrs) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Tola of Clonard Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: March 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Land Day (Palestine) Wikipedia
• National Doctors' Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day (Trinidad and Tobago) Wikipedia
• School Day of Non-violence and Peace (Spain) Wikipedia

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