Did you know about Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until his overthrow in 2003 during the Iraq war.
Notable Deaths on December 30
December 30 has 105 recorded notable deaths across history, from 274 to 2025. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
2006 — Saddam Hussein
Iraqi general and politician, fifth President of Iraq (born 1937)
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
105 source records
274 – 2025
Today in history
Major events on December 30
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1641 Reapers' War: Louis XIII of France swears the Catalan constitutions, being appointed Count of Barcelona and thus establishing the personal union of the Principality of Catalonia with the Kingdom of France. Source
- 1987 Stella Sigcau, Prime minister of the South African Bantustan of Transkei, is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by General Bantu Holomisa. Source
Did you know about Barbara Walters
Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, she appeared as a host of numerous television programs, including Today, the ABC Evening News, 20/20, and The View.
Did you know about Sonny Liston
Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, Liston is known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long reach, toughness, and is widely regarded as one of the most intimidating men in boxing history.
Did you know about Richard of York
Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, also named Richard Plantagenet, was a leading English magnate and claimant to the throne during the Wars of the Roses.
Did you know about Khaleda Zia
Khaleda Zia was the wife of the former president of Bangladesh and army chief, Ziaur Rahman and was first lady from 1977 to 1981.
More major people who died on December 30
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2022
Barbara Walters
American journalist, producer, and author (born 1929)
Barbara Jill Walters was an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, she appeared as a host of numerous television programs, including Today, the ABC Evening News, 20/20, and The View. Walters was a working journalist from 1951 until her retirement in 2014. Walters was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1989, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NATAS in 2000 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.
1970
Sonny Liston
American boxer (born 1932)
Charles L. "Sonny" Liston, nicknamed "the Big Bear", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 until his death in 1970. A dominant contender of his era, he became the undisputed world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round, repeating the knockout the following year in defense of the title; in the latter fight he also became the inaugural WBC heavyweight champion. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, Liston is known for his immense strength, formidable jab, long reach, toughness, and is widely regarded as one of the most intimidating men in boxing history.
1460
Richard of York
3rd Duke of York (born 1411)
Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, also named Richard Plantagenet, was a leading English magnate and claimant to the throne during the Wars of the Roses. He was a member of the ruling House of Plantagenet by virtue of being a direct male-line descendant of Edmund of Langley, King Edward III's fourth surviving son. However, it was through his mother, Anne Mortimer, a descendant of Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel of Antwerp, that Richard inherited his strongest claim to the throne, as the opposing House of Lancaster was descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the third surviving son of Edward III. He also inherited vast estates and served in various offices of state in Ireland, France and England, a country he ultimately governed as Lord Protector due to the mental instability of King Henry VI.
2025
Khaleda Zia
Bangladeshi politician, Former prime minister of Bangladesh
Begum Khaleda Zia was a Bangladeshi politician who twice served as prime minister of Bangladesh, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second female prime minister in the Muslim world after Benazir Bhutto. She was the wife of the former president of Bangladesh and army chief, Ziaur Rahman and was first lady from 1977 to 1981. She was the longest serving chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) from 1984 until her death in 2025.
1525
Jakob Fugger
German banker and businessman (born 1459)
Jakob Fugger of the Lily, also known as Jakob Fugger the Rich or Jakob II, was a major German merchant, mining entrepreneur, and banker. He was a descendant of the Fugger merchant family located in the Free Imperial City of Augsburg. He was born there and later was elevated through marriage to Grand Burgher of Augsburg. Within a few decades, he expanded the family firm to a business operating in all of Europe. He began his education at the age of 14 in Venice, which also remained his main residence until 1487. At the same time, he was a cleric and held several prebends. American journalist Greg Steinmetz has estimated his overall wealth to be around 2% of the GDP of Europe at that time, the equivalent of around $400 billion adjusted to 2015.
2009
Abdurrahman Wahid
Indonesian journalist and politician, fourth President of Indonesia (born 1940)
Abdurrahman Wahid, more colloquially known as Gus Dur, was an Indonesian politician and Islamic religious leader who served as the fourth president of Indonesia, from his election in 1999 until he was removed from office in 2001. A long time leader within the Nahdlatul Ulama organization, he was the founder of the National Awakening Party (PKB). He also received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his services to democratization and human rights in Indonesia. He was the son of former Minister of Religious Affairs Wahid Hasyim, and the grandson of Nahdatul Ulama founder Hasyim Asy'ari. Due to a visual impairment caused by glaucoma, he was blind in the left eye and roughly 80% blind in his right eye. He was the first president of Indonesia to have had physical disabilities.
1995
Doris Grau
American voice actor and script supervisor (born 1924)
Doris Grau was an American actress and script supervisor from Brooklyn. After moving to Hollywood in 1940, she began her career supervising film and television scripts. She continued to do this until the 1990s and worked on films such as Point Blank and King Kong and television shows such as Cheers and The Tracey Ullman Show. Grau did some acting in her later years, playing live-action and animated roles. On the sitcom The Simpsons, she worked as a script supervisor and provided the voice of Lunchlady Doris and other minor characters.
274
Pope Felix I
Pope Felix I was the bishop of Rome from 5 January 269 to his death on 30 December 274. Born in Rome, he succeeded Pope Dionysius and is noted for his theological contributions, particularly a significant dogmatic letter addressing the unity of Christ’s person. During his papacy, Felix I confronted the heresy of Paul of Samosata, who denied the divinity of Christ. The intervention of Emperor Aurelian, prompted by Felix, led to Paul’s deposition from the bishopric of Antioch, reinforcing orthodox Christological doctrine.
2013
Eiichi Ohtaki
Japanese singer-songwriter and producer (born 1948)
Eiichi Ohtaki was a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He first became known as a member of the rock band Happy End, but was better known for his solo work which began in 1972. In 2003, Ohtaki was ranked by HMV at number 9 on their list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts. Patrick Macias referred to Ohtaki as Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, George Martin and Joe Meek "synthesized into a single human being," and called his work "an encyclopedia of everything that was great about pop music in the 20th century."
2012
Beate Sirota Gordon
Austrian-American director and producer (born 1923)
Beate Sirota Gordon was an Austrian and American performing arts presenter and women's rights advocate. Born in Vienna, Austria, she moved to the Empire of Japan in 1929 with her father, the pianist Leo Sirota. After graduating from the American School in Japan, she moved to Oakland, California, where she enrolled at Mills College. Being one of the few people not of Japanese descent who was fluent in Japanese, she obtained work at the Office of War Information in the Foreign Broadcast Information Service of the Federal Communications Commission.
2005
Eddie Barlow
South African cricketer and coach (born 1940)
Edgar John Barlow was a South African cricketer. Barlow was born in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa, and played first-class cricket for Transvaal and Eastern Province from 1959–60 to 1967–68 before moving to Western Province for the seasons from 1968–69 to 1980–81. During this time he also played three seasons with Derbyshire in the English County Championship from 1976 – 1978. He completed his first-class career in Boland in 1982–83. Barlow was named as one of the six South African Cricket Annual players of the year in 1962.
2015
Doug Atkins
American football player (born 1930)
Douglas Leon Atkins was an American professional football defensive end who played for the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, and New Orleans Saints in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers under head coach Robert Neyland. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Atkins was also drafted to the NBA in the 17th round by the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1953 NBA draft.
2015
Howard Davis
Jr., American boxer and trainer (born 1956)
Howard Edward Davis Jr. was an American professional boxer. Growing up on Long Island as the eldest of 10 children, Davis first learned boxing from his father. After being inspired by a movie about Muhammad Ali, Davis embarked on his amateur career. He won the 1976 Olympic gold medal one week after his mother died. He was also awarded the Val Barker Trophy at the Olympics, beating out such boxers as Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Spinks and Leon Spinks.
1998
Sam Muchnick
American wrestling promoter, co-founded the National Wrestling Alliance (born 1905)
Samuel Muchnick was an American professional wrestling promoter, long based in St. Louis, Missouri. He is often regarded as wrestling's equivalent of Pete Rozelle, and he was instrumental in establishing the National Wrestling Alliance, which became the industry's top governing body, in 1948. Muchnick served as the NWA's president from 1950 to 1960 and again from 1963 to 1975. He operated the St. Louis Wrestling Club, one of the primary members of the NWA, based in St. Louis.
1662
Ferdinand Charles
Archduke of Austria (born 1628)
Ferdinand Charles was the Archduke of Further Austria, including Tyrol, from 1632 to 1662. He was the firstborn son of Archduke Leopold V of Further Austria and Claudia de' Medici. Until 1646, his mother Claudia served as regent and de facto ruler. Ferdinand Charles was a patron of the arts with Italian opera performed at his court. Despite this, he was a poor ruler and lived an extravagant lifestyle, drained the treasury, and held illegal executions.
1788
Francesco Zuccarelli
Italian painter and academic (born 1702)
Giacomo Francesco Zuccarelli was an Italian artist of the late Baroque or Rococo period. He is considered to be the most important landscape painter to have emerged from his adopted city of Venice during the mid-eighteenth century, and his Arcadian views became popular throughout Europe and especially in England where he resided for two extended periods. His patronage extended to the nobility, and he often collaborated with other artists such as Antonio Visentini and Bernardo Bellotto.
1988
Isamu Noguchi
American sculptor and landscaper (born 1904)
Isamu Noguchi was an American artist, furniture designer and landscape architect whose career spanned six decades from the 1920s. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, Akari light sculptures, and furniture pieces, many of which are still manufactured and sold. His work is displayed at the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum in New York City as well as many other museums.
2002
Eleanor J. Gibson
American psychologist and academic (born 1910)
Eleanor Jack Gibson was an American psychologist who focused on reading development and perceptual learning in infants. Gibson began her career at Smith College as an instructor in 1932, publishing her first works on research conducted as an undergraduate student. Gibson was able to circumvent the many obstacles she faced due to the Great Depression and gender discrimination, by finding research opportunities that she could meld with her own interests.
1885
Martha Darley Mutrie
British painter (born 1824)
Martha Darley Mutrie was a British painter. Her paintings consisted mostly of fruit and flowers. She grew up in Manchester, England, and studied at the Manchester School of Design. Mutrie's works were shown at the Royal Academy of Arts, Royal Manchester Institution and other national and international exhibitions. Her works are among the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum.