December 30

Events
Up to 1900
1066 - In the Granada Massacre, a Muslim mob storms the royal palace, killing most of the city's Jewish population.
1460 - During The Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Wakefield takes place.
1661 - In Sweden, Drottningholm Castle is destroyed by fire.
1702 - Queen Anne's War: James Moore, Governor of the Province of Carolina, abandons the Siege of St. Augustine.
1813 - War of 1812: British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York.
1816 - The Treaty of St. Louis between the United States and the united Ottawa, Ojibwa and Pitawatomi Native American tribes is proclaimed.
1825 - The Treaty of St. Louis between the United States and Shawnee Nation is proclaimed.
1853 - Gadsden Purchase: The US buys land from Mexico for railroad building in the Southwestern United States.
1862 - The ship USS Monitor sinks off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
1880 - Tahiti becomes a French colony as part of French Oceania.
1896 - Filipino National hero Jose Rizal is executed by a firing squad.
1897 - The British colony of Natal takes over Zululand in present-day South Africa.
1901 2000
1901 - Antarctica exploration: Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Edward Adrian Wilson reach a South latitude of 82 degrees, 11 minutes, which was the farthest south anyone had been up until then.
1903 - Around 600 people are killed in a fire at the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago.
1905 - Governor of Idaho Frank Steunenberg is assassinated by a bomb attack on his home in Caldwell, Idaho.
1906 - The All-India Muslim League is founded in Dhaka. It later plays an important role in the creation of the new state of Pakistan.
1915 - Armored ship Natal sinks in the Cromarty Firth off the coast of Scotland, killing 405 out of the 705 people on board.
1916 - The last coronation in Hungary is performed for King Charles VI and Zita.
1916 - Grigori Rasputin is killed.
1919 - Lincoln's Inn in London admits its first female bar student.
1922 - The USSR is founded.
1924 - Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies.
1927 - The Ginza Line, the first subway in East Asia, opens in Tokyo.
1936 - The United Auto Workers union stakes its first sitdown strike.
1940 - California opens first freeway.
1943 - Subhas Chandra Bose raises the flag of Indian independence at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
1944 - King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving the throne vacant.
1947 - King Michael of Romania is forced to abdicate the throne.
1948 - The Cole Porter Broadway musical Kiss Me, Kate opens at the New Century Theatre.
1953 - The first color TV sets go on sale.
1958 - The Guatemalan Air Force sinks several Mexican fishing boats alleged to have breached maritime borders, killing 3 people and sparking international tension.
1965 - Ferdinand Marcos becomes President of Philippines.
1972 - The US halts the heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
1975 - Didier Ratsiraka declares the Democratic Republic of Madagascar.
1977 - Ted Bundy escapes from jail.
1981 - In the 39th game of his third NHL season, Wayne Gretzky scores five goals to take his total for the season to 50, tying records held by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy.
1993 - Israel and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations.
1996 - In Assam, Bodo separatists bomb a passenger train, killing 26 people.
1996 - Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers across Israel.
1997 - In Algeria, The Wilaya of Relizane massacre kills 400 people from four villages.
2000 - A series of bombs explode on Manila's Metro, killing 22 people.
From 2001
2004 - A nightclub fire in Buenos Aires kills 194 people.
2005 - Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the North Atlantic Ocean, tying for the latest-ever hurricane in one season.
2006 - Madrid's Barajas Airport is bombed.
2006 - Saddam Hussein is executed in Iraq.
2006 - A shipping disaster in the Java Sea kills over 400 people.
2008 - Herman Van Rompuy becomes Prime Minister of Belgium.
2011 - This day is skipped in Samoa and Tokelau, as the International Date Line is shifted, intended to improve trade relations with Australia and New Zealand.
2013 - A suicide bomb attack on a bus in Volgograd, southern Russia, kills 14 people, just a day after a train station in the same city was also targeted by a bomb attack.
2013 - Over 100 people are killed when government forces attack key buildings in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Births
Up to 1900
39 - Titus, Roman Emperor (d. 81)
1371 - Vasily I of Moscow (d. 1425)
1591 - Joseph Furttenbach, German architect, mathematician, engineer and diarist (d. 1667)
1642 - Vincenzo da Filicaja, Italian poet (d. 1707)
1673 - Ahmed III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1736)
1722 - Charles Yorke, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1770)
1741 - Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain (d. 1759)
1760 - Charles Sapinaud de La Rairie, French general (d. 1829)
1786 - Bjarni Thorarensen, Icelandic poet (d. 1841)
1787 - Otto von Kotzebue, Baltic German naval officer and explorer (d. 1846)
1819 - Theodor Fontane, German writer (d. 1898)
1819 - John W. Geary, 1st Mayor of San Francisco (d. 1873)
1825 - Newton Booth, 11th Governor of California (d. 1902)
1838 - Emile Loubet, President of France (d. 1929)
1842 - Osman Hamdi Bey, Ottoman archaeologist, painter and museum founder (d. 1910)
1847 - John Peter Altgeld, Governor of Illinois (d. 1902)
1850 - John Milne, English seismologist and geologist (d. 1913)
1851 - Asa Griggs Candler, American businessman and politician (d. 1929)
1853 - Andre Messager, French pianist, composer and conductor (d. 1929)
1865 - Rudyard Kipling, British writer (d. 1936)
1867 - Henry S. Johnston, American politician, 7th Governor of Oklahoma (d. 1965)
1869 - Stephen Leacock, English-Canadian political scientist and author (d. 1944)
1869 - Ozutsu Man'emon, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1918)
1873 - Al Smith, American politician, Governor of New York and Presidential candidate (d. 1944)
1875 - Jean-Guy Gautier, French rugby player (d. 1938)
1878 - William Aberhart, 7th Premier of Alberta (d. 1943)
1879 - Sri Ramana Maharshi, Indian philosopher (d. 1950)
1879 - Mary Forbes, American actress (d. 1974)
1883 - Lester Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1960)
1884 - Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
1890 - Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, President of Mexico (d. 1973)
1897 - Alfredo Bracchi, Italian writer (d. 1976)
1897 - Stanislaw Saks, Polish mathematician (d. 1942)
1899 - Helge Ingstad, Norwegian explorer (d. 2001)
1901 1950
1904 - Dmitri Kabalevsky, Russian composer (d. 1987)
1905 - Daniil Kharms, Russian surrealist poet, writer and dramatist (d. 1942)
1906 - Carol Reed, English movie director (d. 1976)
1910 - Paul Bowles, American composer and writer (d. 1999)
1910 - Howard W. Jones, American physician (d. 2015)
1911 - Jeanette Nolan, American actress (d. 1998)
1913 - Lucio Agostini, Italian-Canadian conductor and composer (d. 1996)
1914 - Jo Van Fleet, American actress (d. 1996)
1917 - David Willcocks, English organist, composer and conductor (d. 2015)
1920 - Jack Lord, American actor (d. 1998)
1921 - Rashid Karami, Lebanese statesman (d. 1987)
1923 - Sara Lidman, Swedish writer (d. 2004)
1926 - Stan Tracey, British jazz musician and composer (d. 2013)
1927 - Robert Hossein, French actor and director
1928 - Bo Diddley, American rock and roll musician (d. 2008)
1930 - Tu Youyou, Chinese chemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine winner
1931 - Frank Torre, American baseball player (d. 2014)
1931 - Skeeter Davis, American singer (d. 2004)
1932 - Paolo Villaggio, Italian actor, director and writer (d. 2017)
1934 - Del Shannon, American singer (d. 1990)
1934 - John H. Bahcall, American astrophysicist (d. 2005)
1934 - Russ Tamblyn, American actor
1934 - Joseph Bologna, American actor
1935 - Omar Bongo, President of Gabon (d. 2009)
1935 - Sandy Koufax, American baseball player
1935 - Jack Riley, American actor
1937 - Gordon Banks, English footballer
1937 - Paul Stookey, American singer
1938 - Mike Auldridge, American guitarist (d. 2012)
1940 - James Burrows, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
1942 - Vladimir Bukovsky, Russian writer and dissident
1942 - Michael Nesmith, American musician and member of The Monkees
1942 - Janko Prunk, Slovenian historian
1945 - Davy Jones, English singer, actor and member of The Monkees (d. 2012)
1945 - Lloyd Kaufman, American movie director
1945 - Paola Cacchi, Italian athlete
1946 - Patti Smith, American singer and poet
1946 - Berti Vogts, German footballer
1946 - Marc Forne Molne, former Prime Minister of Andorra
1947 - Fatima Jibrell, Somali environmental activist
1947 - Jeff Lynne, English singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
1947 - Teresa Parodi, Argentine singer and composer
1948 - Randy Schekman, American cell biologist and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine winner
1949 - David Bedford, English long-distance athlete
1949 - Jim Flaherty, Canadian politician (d. 2014)
1950 - Bjarne Stroustrup, Danish computer scientist
1950 - Kazuhisa Kono, Japanese footballer
1951 1975
1953 - Meredith Vieira, American television journalist and game show host
1954 - Corrado Passera, Italian banker
1957 - Nick Skelton, British equestrian
1957 - Matt Lauer, American newscaster
1959 - Tracey Ullman, British actress and singer
1960 - Heather Wilson, American politician
1961 - Bill English, 39th Prime Minister of New Zealand
1961 - Ben Johnson, Jamaican-Canadian athlete
1961 - Seda Sayan, Turkish singer, actress and presenter
1962 - Alessandra Mussolini, Italian politician
1963 - Mike Pompeo, 70th United States Secretary of State
1964 - Sophie Ward, English actress
1965 - Essam Abd El Fatah, Egyptian football referee and pilot
1965 - Heidi Fleiss, American madam
1967 - Carl Ouellet, Canadian wrestler
1968 - Sabir Bhatia, Indian computer scientist
1968 - Meredith Monroe, American actress
1969 - Jay Kay, British musician (Jamiroquai)
1969 - David England, American snowboarder and stuntman
1969 - Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia
1969 - Shane McConkey, American skier and basejumper
1971 - Chris Vance, English actor
1973 - Ato Boldon, Trinidadian athlete
1974 - Johanna Sallstrom, Swedish actress (d. 2007)
1975 - Scott Chipperfield, Australian footballer
1975 - Tiger Woods, American golfer
From 1976
1977 - Kazuyuki Toda, Japanese footballer
1977 - Kenyon Martin, American basketball player
1978 - Phillips Idowu, British long jumper
1978 - Tyrese, American singer and actor
1978 - Rob Scuderi, American ice hockey player
1979 - Flavio, Angolan footballer
1979 - Timothy Clufetos, American drummer
1980 - Cedric Carrasso, French footballer
1980 - Eliza Dushku, American actress
1981 - Ali Al-Habsi, Omani footballer
1981 - K.Will, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor
1982 - Kristin Kreuk, Canadian actress
1983 - Kevin Systrom, American businessman, co-founder of Instagram
1984 - LeBron James, American basketball player
1986 - Gianni Zuiverloon, Dutch footballer
1986 - Ellie Goulding, English singer-songwriter
1986 - Domenico Criscito, Italian footballer
1987 - Jake Cuenca, American-Filipino actor and footballer
1987 - Jeanette Ottesen, Danish swimmer
1988 - Leon Jackson, Scottish singer
1989 - Ryan Sheckler, American skateboarder
1990 - Joe Root, English cricketer
Deaths
Up to 1900
274 - Pope Felix I
1066 - Joseph ibn Naghrela, Jewish vizier (b. 1035)
1460 - Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, claimant to the English throne (b. 1411)
1460 - Edmund, Earl of Rutland, second son of Richard of York (b. 1443)
1525 - Jakob Fugger, German banker (b. 1459)
1572 - Galeazzo Alessi, Italian architect (b. 1512)
1573 - Giovanni Battista Giraldi, Italian writer (b. 1504)
1591 - Pope Innocent IX (b. 1519)
1662 - Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria (b. 1628)
1691 - Robert Boyle, Irish scientist (b. 1627)
1777 - Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1727)
1803 - Francis Lewis, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1713)
1867 - Sarah Booth, English actress (b. 1793)
1870 - Juan Prim, Spanish general and statesman (b. 1814)
1896 - Jose Rizal, Filipino national hero (b. 1861)
1901 2000
1905 - Frank Steunenberg, 4th Governor of Idaho (b. 1861)
1916 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk and mystic (b. 1869)
1928 - Jean Collas, French rugby player and tug of war competitor (b. 1874)
1938 - Aleksander Kakowski, Archbishop of Warsaw (b. 1862)
1941 - El Lissitzky, Russian architect and artist (b. 1890)
1944 - Romain Rolland, French writer (b. 1866)
1945 - Song Jin-woo, Korean politician, educator and journalist (b. 1889)
1947 - Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher (b. 1861)
1950 - Arthur Davidson, American businessman (b. 1881)
1954 - Archduke Eugen of Austria (b. 1863)
1964 - Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt, German neurologist (b. 1885)
1966 - Pietro Ciriaci, Italian cardinal (b. 1885)
1967 - Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada (b. 1887)
1968 - Trygve Lie, Norwegian diplomat, UN Secretary-General (b. 1896)
1970 - Sonny Liston, American boxer (b. 1932)
1971 - Jo Cals, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1914)
1971 - Melba Rae, American actress (b. 1922)
1979 - Richard Rodgers, American composer (b. 1902)
1982 - Alberto Vargas, Peruvian painter (b. 1896)
1988 - Yuli Daniel, Russian poet (b. 1925)
1993 - Giuseppe Occhialini, Italian physicist (b. 1907)
1995 - Doris Grau, American actress (b. 1924)
1996 - Lew Ayres, American actor (b. 1908)
1996 - Jack Nance, American actor (b. 1943)
1998 - Johnny Moore, American singer (b. 1934)
1998 - George Webb, British actor (b. 1911)
1999 - Sarah Knauss, American supercentenarian, second-oldest woman on record (b. 1880)
From 2001
2002 - Mary Wesley, English novelist (b. 1912)
2004 - Artie Shaw, American jazz musician (b. 1910)
2006 - Saddam Hussein, Iraqi dictator (b. 1937)
2009 - Abdurrahman Wahid, President of Indonesia, from 1999 2001 (b. 1940)
2010 - Bobby Farrell, Aruban dancer, DJ and performer (b. 1949)
2010 - Ellis Clarke, 1st President of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1917)
2011 - Ronald Searle, British cartoonist (b. 1920)
2012 - Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian Nobel Prize-winning neurologist (b. 1909)
2012 - Carl Woese, American microbiologist and biophysicist (b. 1928)
2013 - Eero Mantyranta, Finnish skier (b. 1937)
2014 - Luise Rainer, German-born actress (b. 1910)
2014 - Antonio Brack Egg, Peruvian ecologist and politician (b. 1940)
2014 - Marian Jurczyk, Polish politician (b. 1935)
2014 - Walter Roque, Uruguayan-Venezuelan footballer (b. 1937)
2015 - Mangesh Padgaonkar, Indian poet (b. 1929)
2015 - Howard Pawley, Canadian politician, 18th Premier of Manitoba (b. 1934)
2015 - Doug Atkins, American football player (b. 1930)
2015 - Howard Davis, Jr., American boxer (b. 1956)
2016 - Tyrus Wong, Chinese-American artist (b. 1910)
2017 - Erica Garner, American civil rights activist (b. 1990)
2017 - Khalid Shameem Wynne, Pakistani military officer (b. 1953)
2017 - Cheryll Sotheran, New Zealand museum executive (b. 1945)
Observances
Rizal Day (Philippines)
Days of the year