January 30 in History

January 30 spans 51 recorded events across recorded history, from 1018 to 2020. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.

Holidays and observances on January 30

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In the United States, Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s home

1956 — In the United States, Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery bus boycott.

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Historical Events 51 events 1018 – 2020

More major events on January 30

The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.

  1. 2013 Naro-1 becomes the first carrier rocket launched by South Korea. Source
  2. 1975 The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is established as the first United States National Marine Sanctuary. Source

Did you know

In 1956, In the United States, Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery bus boycott. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.

Did you know

The civil rights movement was a social movement in the United States from 1954 to 1968 which aimed to abolish legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement in the country, which most commonly affected African Americans. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.

Did you know

The movement had origins in the Reconstruction era in the late 19th century, and modern roots in the 1940s and in Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent movement in India. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.

Did you know

After years of nonviolent protests and civil disobedience campaigns, the civil rights movement achieved many of its legislative goals in the 1960s, during which it secured new protections in federal law for the civil rights of all Americans, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.

Did you know

In 1956, In the United States, Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery bus boycott had consequences that extended beyond the first headline. The key context is the institutions involved, the policy shift, and how the public response evolved afterward.


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1018 Poland

Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.

Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, and borders Lithuania and Russia to the northeast; Belarus and Ukraine to the east; Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south; and Germany to the west. The territory has a varied landscape, diverse ecosystems, and a temperate climate. Poland is composed of sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 million people, and the fifth largest EU country by land area, covering 312,696 km2 (120,733 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Warsaw; other major cities include Kraków, Wrocław, Łódź, Poznań, and Gdańsk.
1287 Wareru

King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.

Wareru (Mon: ဝါရေဝ်ရောဝ်, Burmese: ဝါရီရူး, Burmese pronunciation: [wàɹíjú]; also known as Wagaru; 20 March 1253 – c. 14 January 1307), personal name Magadu (Mon: သၟိၚ်မဂဒူ ), was the founder of the Martaban Kingdom, located in present-day Myanmar (Burma). By using both diplomatic and military skills, he successfully carved out a Mon-speaking polity in Lower Burma, during the collapse of the Pagan Empire (Bagan Empire) in the 1280s. Wareru was assassinated in 1307 but his line ruled the kingdom until its fall in the mid-16th century. Wareru, a commoner, seized the governorship of Martaban (Mottama) in 1285, and after receiving the backing of the Sukhothai Kingdom, he went on to declare independence from Pagan in 1287. In 1295–1296, he and his ally Tarabya, the self-proclaimed king of Pegu (Bago), decisively defeated a major invasion by Pagan. Wareru eliminated Tarabya soon after, and emerged as the sole ruler of three Mon-speaking provinces of Bassein, Pegu and Martaban c. 1296. With his domain now much enlarged, Wareru sought and received recognition by Yuan China in 1298. Although he may have been of ethnic Mon or Shan background, Wareru's greatest legacy was the establishment of the only Mon-speaking polity left standing after the 1290s. The success of the kingdom helped foster the emergence of the Mon people as a coherent ethnicity in the 14th and 15th centuries. Furthermore, the legal code he commissioned—the Wareru Dhammathat—is one of the oldest extant dhammathats (legal treatises) of Myanmar, and greatly influenced the legal codes of Burma and Siam down to the 19th century.
1607 Bristol Channel

An estimated 200 square miles (51,800 ha) along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary in England are destroyed by massive flooding, resulting in an estimated 2,000 deaths.

The Bristol Channel (Welsh: Môr Hafren, lit. 'Severn Sea') is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends from the smaller Severn Estuary of the River Severn (Welsh: Afon Hafren) to the North Atlantic Ocean. It takes its name from the English city and port of Bristol. Long stretches of both sides of the coastline are designated as Heritage Coast. These include Exmoor, Bideford Bay, the Hartland Point peninsula, Lundy Island, Glamorgan, Gower Peninsula, Carmarthenshire, South Pembrokeshire and Caldey Island. Until Tudor times the Bristol Channel was known as the Severn Sea, and it is still known as this in both Welsh: Môr Hafren and Cornish: Mor Havren.
1648 Eighty Years' War

Eighty Years' War: The Treaty of Münster and Osnabrück is signed, ending the conflict between the Netherlands and Spain.

The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (c. 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Reformation, centralisation, excessive taxation, and the rights and privileges of the Dutch nobility and cities. After the initial stages, Philip II of Spain, the sovereign of the Netherlands, deployed his armies and regained control over most of the rebel-held territories. However, widespread mutinies in the Spanish army caused a general uprising. Under the leadership of the exiled William the Silent, the Catholic and Protestant-dominated provinces sought to establish religious peace while jointly opposing the king's regime with the Pacification of Ghent, but the general rebellion failed to sustain itself. Despite steady military and diplomatic successes by the Governor of Spanish Netherlands and General for Spain, the Duke of Parma, the Union of Utrecht continued their resistance, proclaiming their independence through the 1581 Act of Abjuration and establishing the Calvinist-dominated Dutch Republic in 1588. In the Ten Years thereafter, the Republic (whose heartland was no longer threatened) made conquests in the north and east and received diplomatic recognition from France and England in 1596. The Dutch colonial empire emerged, which began with Dutch attacks on Portugal's overseas territories. Facing a stalemate, the two sides agreed to a Twelve Years' Truce in 1609; when it expired in 1621, fighting resumed as part of the broader Thirty Years' War. An end was reached in 1648 with the Peace of Münster when Spain retained the Southern Netherlands and recognised the Dutch Republic as an independent country.
1649 Charles I of England

Charles I of England is executed in Whitehall, London.

Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland. After his father inherited the English throne in 1603, he moved to England, where he spent much of the rest of his life. He became heir apparent to the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1612 upon the death of his elder brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. An unsuccessful and unpopular attempt to marry him to Infanta Maria Anna of Spain culminated in an eight-month visit to Spain in 1623, which demonstrated the futility of the marriage negotiations. Two years later, shortly after his accession, he married Henrietta Maria of France. After his accession in 1625, Charles quarrelled with the English Parliament, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. He believed in the divine right of kings and was determined to govern according to his own conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying of taxes without Parliamentary consent, and perceived his actions as those of a tyrannical absolute monarch. His religious policies, coupled with his marriage to a Catholic, generated antipathy and mistrust from Reformed religious groups such as the English Puritans and Scottish Covenanters, who thought his views too Catholic. He supported high church Anglican ecclesiastics and failed to aid continental Protestant forces successfully during the Thirty Years' War. His attempts to force the Church of Scotland to adopt high Anglican practices led to the Bishops' Wars, strengthened the position of the English and Scottish parliaments, and helped precipitate his own downfall. From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War. After his defeat in 1645 at the hands of the Parliamentarian New Model Army, he fled north from his base at Oxford. Charles surrendered to a Scottish force and, after lengthy negotiations between the English and Scottish parliaments, was handed over to the Long Parliament in London. Charles refused to accept his captors' demands for a constitutional monarchy, and temporarily escaped captivity in November 1647. Re-imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, he allied with Scotland, but by the end of 1648, the New Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles was tried, convicted, and executed for high treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and the Commonwealth of England was established as a republic. The monarchy was restored in 1660, with Charles's son Charles II as king.
1661 Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed more than two years after his death, on the 12th anniversary of the execution of the monarch he himself deposed.

Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658) was an English statesman and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially as a senior commander in the Parliamentarian army and later as a politician. A leading advocate of the execution of Charles I in January 1649, which led to the establishment of the Commonwealth of England, Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector from December 1653 until his death in September 1658. Although elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon in 1628, much of Cromwell's life prior to 1640 was marked by financial and personal failure. He became a religious Independent in the 1630s, and thereafter believed his successes were the result of divine providence. In 1640, he served as MP for Cambridge in the Short and Long Parliaments. He joined the Parliamentarian army when the First English Civil War began in August 1642 and quickly demonstrated his military prowess. In 1645, he was appointed commander of the New Model Army cavalry under Thomas Fairfax, and he played a key role in winning the English Civil War. The death of Charles I and exile of his son Charles II, followed by military victories in Ireland and Scotland, firmly established the Commonwealth and Cromwell's dominance of the new regime. In December 1653, he was named Lord Protector, a position he retained for the remaining five years of his life. After his death in 1658, he was succeeded by his son Richard, whose weakness led to a power vacuum. This culminated in the 1660 Stuart Restoration, after which Cromwell's body was removed from Westminster Abbey and hanged at Tyburn on 30 January 1661 as a posthumous execution. His head was cut off and displayed on the roof of Westminster Hall. It remained there until at least 1684, then spent the next three centuries in a succession of private collections before being reburied in 1960. Cromwell's historical reputation is continually debated. He is a controversial figure due to his use of military force to acquire and retain political power, his role in the execution of Charles I, and the brutality of his 1649 conquest of Ireland. Winston Churchill described Cromwell as a military dictator, while others view him a hero of liberty. First proposed in 1856, his statue outside the Houses of Parliament was not erected until 1895, with most of the funds privately supplied by Prime Minister Archibald Primrose.
1667 Truce of Andrusovo

The Truce of Andrusovo is signed, ending the Russian-Polish War of 1654-1667.

The Truce of Andrusovo (Polish: Rozejm w Andruszowie, Russian: Андрусовское перемирие Andrusovskoye Pieriemiriye, also sometimes known as Treaty of Andrusovo) established a thirteen-and-a-half year truce, signed on 9 February [O.S. 30 January] 1667 between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which had fought the Russo-Polish War since 1654. Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin (for Russia) and Jerzy Chlebowicz (for the Commonwealth) signed the truce in the village of Andrusovo not far from Smolensk. Representatives of the Cossack Hetmanate were not allowed.
1789 Tây_Sơn_dynasty

Tây Sơn forces emerge victorious against Qing armies and liberate the capital Thăng Long.

The Tây Sơn dynasty, officially Đại Việt (大越), was an imperial dynasty of Vietnam. It originated in a revolt led by three peasant brothers with the surname Nguyễn, rebelling against the Lê dynasty, Trịnh lords and Nguyễn lords. The Tây Sơn would later be succeeded by the Nguyễn dynasty.
1806 Lower Trenton Bridge

The original Lower Trenton Bridge (also called the Trenton Makes the World Takes Bridge), which spans the Delaware River between Morrisville, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey, is opened.

The Lower Trenton Toll Supported Bridge, commonly called the Lower Free Bridge, Warren Street Bridge or Trenton Makes Bridge, is a two-lane Pennsylvania (Petit) through truss bridge that crosses over the Delaware River between Trenton, New Jersey and Morrisville, Pennsylvania. Owned and operated by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC), it is known as the Trenton Makes Bridge because of large lettering of its motto that was installed on the south side of the structure in 1935 that states, "TRENTON MAKES - THE WORLD TAKES". In addition to being an important bridge from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, this structure is a major landmark in the city of Trenton. It is signed as US 1 Business, though it does not officially carry that route. This bridge is the southernmost free road crossing of the Delaware; no toll is collected. All road crossings downstream are tolled in the westbound direction (leaving New Jersey).
1820

Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica.

Edward Bransfield (c. 1785 – 31 October 1852) was a Royal Navy officer who served as a master on several ships, after being impressed into service in Ireland at the age of 18. He is noted for his participation in several explorations of parts of Antarctica, including a sighting of the Trinity Peninsula in January 1820.
1826 Menai Suspension Bridge

The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the northwest coast of Wales, is opened.

The Menai Suspension Bridge (Welsh: Pont y Borth or Pont Grog y Borth) is a suspension bridge spanning the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. Designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826, it was one of the world's first major suspension bridges, and second such bridge designed to carry vehicular traffic, after the Union Chain Bridge (1820) across the River Tweed. The bridge still carries road traffic and is a Grade I listed structure.
1835 Richard Lawrence (failed assassin)

In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson, but fails and is subdued by a crowd, including several congressmen as well as Jackson himself.

Richard Lawrence (c. 1800 – June 13, 1861) was a British-born American unemployed house painter who was the first known person to attempt the assassination of a sitting president of the United States. Lawrence attempted to shoot President Andrew Jackson outside the United States Capitol on January 30, 1835, however both of his pistols misfired and he was taken into custody. At trial, Lawrence was found not guilty by reason of insanity and spent the remainder of his life in insane asylums.
1847 Yerba_Buena,_California

Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco, California.

Yerba Buena was an anchorage spot and later a settlement that grew into the city of San Francisco, California. The settlement, built in an area known earlier as El Paraje de Yerba Buena and named for a herb that grew abundantly there, was founded in 1834 and was located near the northeastern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, on the shores of Yerba Buena Cove. Yerba Buena was the first Spanish colonial or Mexican civilian settlement in San Francisco, which had previously only had indigenous, missionary, and military settlements, and was originally intended as a trading post for ships visiting San Francisco Bay. The settlement was arranged in the Spanish style around a plaza that remains as the present day Portsmouth Square. The area that was the Yerba Buena settlement is now in the Financial District and Chinatown neighborhoods of San Francisco.
1858 Manchester

The first Hallé concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of The Hallé orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra.

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in North West England, at the centre of the eponymous county of Greater Manchester. It had a population of over 589,000 in 2024. It borders the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the city of Salford to the west. The two cities and the surrounding towns form one of the United Kingdom's most populous conurbations, the Greater Manchester Built-up Area, which has a population of 2.87 million.
1862 American_Civil_War

American Civil War: The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States. The South saw slavery as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.
1889 Archduke

Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in the Mayerling.

Archduke (Latin: Archidux; German: Erzherzog), or in feminine form Archduchess (Latin: Archiducissa; German: Erzherzogin) was a title of nobility in the Holy Roman Empire, and later in the Austrian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. It denoted a rank above the duke, but below the king or emperor, and was roughly equal to that of a grand duke. The title was initially devised by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (d. 1365) from the House of Habsburg, who claimed the archducal rank and title since 1358-1359, and the same aspiration was later reaffirmed by Ernest, Duke of Austria (d. 1424), but both failed to secure imperial confirmation of their claims. The title was officially established by Emperor Frederick III in 1453, who awarded the archducal title to the Austrian ruling House of Habsburg, thus elevating the Duchy of Austria to the Archduchy of Austria. By further dynastic provisions, the title Archduke of Austria, (in feminine form: Archduchess of Austria), was awarded to all members of the Habsburg dynasty, and the same use of the title was later continued by the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
1902 Anglo-Japanese Alliance

The first Anglo-Japanese Alliance is signed in London.

The Anglo-Japanese Alliance (日英同盟, Nichi-Ei Dōmei) was an alliance between the United Kingdom and the Empire of Japan which was effective from 1902 to 1923. The treaty creating the alliance was signed at Lansdowne House in London on 30 January 1902 by British foreign secretary Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne and Japanese diplomat Hayashi Tadasu. After the preceding era of unequal treaties enforced on Asian countries including Japan, the alliance was a military pact concluded on more equal terms between a Western power and non-Western nation. It reflected the success of Meiji era reforms that modernized and industrialized Japan's economy, society and military, which enabled Japan to extract itself from the inferior position it had previously shared with other Asian countries like China, which had been subordinated to Western empires either through formal colonial acquisition or unequal treaties. One shared motivation for the agreement was that a diplomatic alliance might deter other world powers that might otherwise encroach on British and Japanese imperial interests in Asia. For the British, the alliance marked the end of a period of "splendid isolation" while allowing for greater focus on protecting its rule over India and competing in the Anglo-German naval arms race, as part of a larger strategy to reduce imperial overcommitment and recall the Royal Navy to defend Britain. By contrast, it came at a time of Japan's ascendancy; Japan had not only successfully abrogated the unequal treaties it was previously subject to by the Western powers, but was now a fledging empire in its own right: Japan had imposed its own unequal treaty on Korea in 1876 and now controlled Formosa (Taiwan) as a colony, as Taiwan been ceded by Qing China to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, after the First Sino-Japanese War. Consequently, Japan was now developing its own imperial sphere of influence, and felt that a conflict with Russia was imminent over rival ambitions in Manchuria and Korea, especially after the Triple Intervention in 1895, in which Russia, France, and Germany coerced Japan into relinquishing its claim on the Liaodong Peninsula. Article 3 of the alliance promised support if either signatory became involved in war with more than one power, and thus deterred France from assisting its ally Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Instead, France concluded the Entente Cordiale with Britain and limited its support of Russia to providing loans. Japan also gained international prestige from the alliance and used it as a foundation for their diplomacy for two decades, although the alliance angered the United States and some British dominions, whose opinion of Japan worsened and gradually became hostile. After Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese war and the resulting treaty that granted the Japanese control over Korea, the alliance was renewed in 1905 and 1911. In 1914, it enabled Japan's entry into World War I and capture of German-held territories in Asia. Britain grew increasingly distrustful of Japan over its Asian ambitions, and the alliance was ended with the signing of the Four-Power Treaty in 1921 and terminated upon its ratification in 1923.
1908 Mahatma Gandhi

Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is released from prison by Jan C.

Smuts after being tried and sentenced to two months in jail earlier in the month.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule, which would later inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā (Sanskrit: "great-souled", "venerable"), first applied to him in 1914 in South Africa, is now used throughout the world. Born and raised in a Hindu family in coastal Gujarat, Gandhi was trained in the law at the Inner Temple in London and was called to the bar at the age of 22. After two uncertain years in India, where he was unable to start a successful law practice, Gandhi moved to South Africa in 1893 to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. He went on to live in South Africa for the next 21 years. Here, Gandhi raised a family and first employed nonviolent resistance in a campaign for civil rights. In 1915, aged 45, he returned to India and soon set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against discrimination and excessive land tax. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and, above all, achieving swaraj or self-rule. Gandhi adopted the short dhoti woven with hand-spun yarn as a mark of identification with India's rural poor. He began to live in a self-sufficient residential community, to eat simple food, and undertake long fasts as a means of both introspection and political protest. Bringing anti-colonial nationalism to the common Indians, Gandhi led them in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930 and in calling for the British to quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned many times and for many years in both South Africa and India. Gandhi's vision of an independent India based on religious pluralism was challenged in the early 1940s by a Muslim nationalism which demanded a separate homeland for Muslims within British India. In August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan. As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out, especially in Punjab and Bengal. Abstaining from the official celebration of independence, Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting to alleviate distress. In the months following, he undertook several hunger strikes to stop the religious violence. The last of these was begun in Delhi on 12 January 1948, when Gandhi was 78. The belief that Gandhi had been too resolute in his defence of both Pakistan and Indian Muslims spread among some Hindus in India. Among these was Nathuram Godse, a militant Hindu nationalist from Pune, western India, who assassinated Gandhi by firing three bullets into his chest at an interfaith prayer meeting in Delhi on 30 January 1948. Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Nonviolence. Gandhi is considered to be the Father of the Nation in post-colonial India. During India's nationalist movement and in several decades immediately after, he was also commonly called Bapu, an endearment roughly meaning "father".
1911 USS_Terry_(DD-25)

The destroyer USS Terry makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of Douglas McCurdy 16 kilometres (10 miles) from Havana, Cuba.

USS Terry was a modified Paulding-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I, and later in the United States Coast Guard, designated CG-19. She was the first ship named for Edward A. Terry, and the first ship commanded by future Fleet Admiral and Chief of Naval Operations Ernest J. King.
1920 Mazda

Japanese carmaker Mazda is founded, initially as a cork-producing company.

Mazda Motor Corporation (マツダ株式会社, Matsuda Kabushiki gaisha) is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. The company was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., a cork-making factory, by Jujiro Matsuda. The company then acquired Abemaki Tree Cork Company. It changed its name to Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. in 1927 and started producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is known for its innovative technologies, such as the Wankel engine, the SkyActiv platform, and the Kodo Design language. It also has a long history of motorsport involvement, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991 with the rotary-powered Mazda 787B. In the past and present, Mazda has been engaged in alliances with other automakers. From 1974 until the late 2000s, Ford was a major shareholder of Mazda. Other partnerships include Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu, Suzuki and Kia. In 2023, it produced 1.1 million vehicles globally.
1925 Turkey

The Government of Turkey expels Patriarch Constantine VI from Istanbul.

Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a smaller part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq, Syria, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; and the Aegean Sea, Greece, and Bulgaria to the west. Turkey is home to over 86 million people; most are ethnic Turks, while Kurds are the largest ethnic minority. Officially a secular state, Turkey has a Muslim-majority population. Ankara is Turkey's capital and second-largest city. Istanbul is its largest city and economic center. Other major cities include İzmir, Bursa, and Antalya.
1930 Politburo_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union

The Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union orders the confiscation of lands belonging to the Kulaks in a campaign of Dekulakization, resulting in the executions and forced deportations of millions.

The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, abbreviated as Politburo, was the de facto highest executive authority in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). While elected by and formally accountable to the Central Committee, in practice the Politburo operated as the ruling body of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union from its creation in 1919 until the party's dissolution in 1991. Full members and candidate (non-voting) members held among the most powerful positions in the Soviet hierarchy, often overlapping with top state roles. Its duties, typically carried out at weekly meetings, included formulating state policy, issuing directives, and ratifying appointments.
1933 Adolf Hitler's rise to power

Adolf Hitler's rise to power: Hitler takes office as the Chancellor of Germany.

The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany during the Nazi era from 1933 until his suicide in 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose to a place of prominence and became one of its most popular speakers. In an attempt to more broadly appeal to larger segments of the population and win over German workers, the party name was changed to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP; National Socialist German Workers' Party), commonly known as the Nazi Party, and a new platform was adopted. Hitler was made the party leader in 1921 after he threatened to otherwise leave. By 1922, his control over the party was unchallenged. The Nazis were a right-wing party, but in the early years they also had anti-bourgeois elements. Hitler later initiated a purge of these elements and reaffirmed the Nazi Party's support for collaboration with German businesses. This included killings of Hitler's critics within the party during the Night of the Long Knives, which also served as a tool to secure power. In 1923, Hitler attempted a coup in Bavaria, known as the Beer Hall Putsch. He was arrested and put on trial, which garnered him national fame. He was sentenced to five years in fortress confinement, but served only nine months. During this time, he wrote Mein Kampf, which became the handbook of his ideology of Nazism. Once released, Hitler switched tactics, opting to instead seize power through legal and democratic means. During the 1920s, he and the Nazis ran on a platform of anti-communism, antisemitism, and ultranationalism. Party leaders vociferously criticized the ruling democratic government and the Treaty of Versailles, while promising to turn Germany into a world power. Most Germans were indifferent to Hitler's rhetoric as the German economy began to recover, in large part due to loans from the United States under the Dawes Plan. The German political landscape was dramatically affected by the Wall Street crash of 1929. The Great Depression severely weakened the German economy and further polarized German politics. During this tumultuous time, the German Communist Party also began campaigning and called for a revolution. Some business leaders, fearful of a communist takeover, began supporting the Nazi Party. Hitler ran for the presidency in 1932 and was defeated by the incumbent Paul von Hindenburg, but achieved a strong showing of second place in both rounds. In July 1932, the Nazis became the largest party in the Reichstag, albeit short of an absolute majority. Traditionally, the leader of the party who held the most seats in the Reichstag was appointed Chancellor. However, President von Hindenburg was hesitant to appoint Hitler. Following several backroom negotiations, which included industrialists, Hindenburg's son Oskar, former chancellor Franz von Papen, and Hitler, Hindenburg acquiesced and on 30 January 1933, he formally appointed Hitler as Germany's new chancellor. The groundwork for Hitler's dictatorship was laid when the Reichstag was set on fire in February 1933. Communists were blamed for the arson and Hitler convinced Hindenburg to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree, which severely curtailed the liberties and rights of German citizens. Subsequently, he began arguing for more drastic means to curtail political opposition, and proposed the Enabling Act of 1933. This law gave the German government the power to override individual rights prescribed by the constitution, and vested the chancellor with emergency powers to pass and enforce laws without parliamentary oversight. The law came into force in March, and by April, Hitler held de facto dictatorial powers and ordered the construction of the first concentration camp in Germany at Dachau for communists and other political opponents. Hitler's rise to power was completed in August 1934 when, after Hindenburg's death, Hitler merged the chancellery with the presidency into the title of Führer ("leader"). Hitler's rise to power was aided by his willingness to use violence in advancing his political objectives and to recruit party members willing to do the same. In addition to electoral battles in which Hitler participated as a speaker and organizer, violent street battles took place between the Communists' Rotfrontkämpferbund and the Nazis' Sturmabteilung (SA). Once the dictatorship was firmly established, the Nazis themselves created a mythology surrounding their rise to power. German propaganda described this time period as either the Kampfzeit (the time of struggle) or the Kampfjahre (years of struggle).
1939 30 January 1939 Reichstag speech

During a speech in the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler makes a prediction about the end of the Jewish race in Europe if another world war were to occur.

On 30 January 1939, Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany, gave a speech in the Kroll Opera House to the Reichstag delegates, which is best known for the prediction he made that "the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe" would ensue if another world war were to occur. Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels helped write the speech, which was delivered on the sixth anniversary of Hitler's seizure of power in 1933. The speech lasted two or two-and-a-half hours. It dealt with both the foreign and domestic policies of the Nazi government.
1942 World_War_II

World War II: Japanese forces invade the island of Ambon in the Dutch East Indies.

Some 300 captured Allied troops are killed after the surrender. One-quarter of the remaining POWs remain alive at the end of the war.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many engaging in total war on an unprecedented scale. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the deaths of 60 to 75 million people, a majority of whom were civilians. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.
1944

World War II: The Battle of Cisterna, part of Operation Shingle, begins in central Italy.

The Battle of Cisterna took place during World War II, on 30 January–2 February 1944, near Cisterna, Italy, as part of the Battle of Anzio, part of the Italian Campaign. The battle was a clear German victory, which also had repercussions on the employment of U.S. Army Rangers that went beyond the immediate tactical and strategic results of the battle. During this battle, the 1st, 3rd, and 4th U.S. Army Ranger battalions, the 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion, and the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, which had been brigaded as the 6615th Ranger Force (Provisional) commanded by Colonel William O. Darby, were assigned to support the renewal of an attack by Major General Lucian Truscott's 3rd Infantry Division, which had previously failed to take Cisterna from 25 to 27 January. The 3rd Division's attack was part of a large offensive by Major General John Lucas's U.S. VI Corps to break out of the Anzio beachhead before German reinforcements could arrive and concentrate for a counterattack.
1945 MV Wilhelm Gustloff

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.

MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a German military transport ship, which was taking part in Operation Hannibal, when it was sunk by Soviet submarine S-13 in the Baltic Sea on 30 January 1945. At the time, it was evacuating civilians and German military personnel from East Prussia and the occupied Baltic states, and German military personnel from Gotenhafen (Gdynia). By one estimate, 9,343 people died, making its sinking the deadliest maritime disaster in modern history. Originally constructed as a cruise ship for the Nazi Strength Through Joy (Kraft durch Freude) organization in 1937, Wilhelm Gustloff was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine (German navy) in 1939. She served as a hospital ship from 1939 to 1940, and then as a floating barracks for naval personnel in Gotenhafen until 1945, when she was fitted with anti-aircraft guns and used to transport evacuees.
1945 Raid at Cabanatuan

World War II: Raid at Cabanatuan: One hundred and twenty-six American Rangers and Filipino resistance fighters liberate over 500 Allied prisoners from the Japanese-controlled Cabanatuan POW camp.

The Raid at Cabanatuan (Filipino: Pagsalakay sa Cabanatuan), also known as the Great Raid (Filipino: Ang Dakilang Pagsalakay), was a rescue of Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians from a Japanese camp near Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. On January 30, 1945, during World War II, United States Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts and Filipino guerrillas attacked the camp and liberated more than 500 prisoners. After the surrender of tens of thousands of American troops during the Battle of Bataan, many were sent to the Cabanatuan prison camp after the Bataan Death March. The Japanese shifted most of the prisoners to other areas, leaving just over 500 American and other Allied POWs and civilians in the prison. Facing brutal conditions including disease, torture, and malnourishment, the prisoners feared they would be executed by their captors before the arrival of General Douglas MacArthur and his American forces returning to Luzon. In late January 1945, a plan was developed by Sixth Army leaders and Filipino guerrillas to send a small force to rescue the prisoners. A group of over 100 Rangers and Scouts and 200 guerrillas traveled 30 miles (48 km) behind Japanese lines to reach the camp. In a nighttime raid, under the cover of darkness and with distraction by a P-61 Black Widow night fighter, the group surprised the Japanese forces in and around the camp. Hundreds of Japanese troops were killed in the 30-minute coordinated attack; the Americans suffered minimal casualties. The Rangers, Scouts, and guerrillas escorted the POWs back to American lines. The rescue allowed the prisoners to tell of the death march and prison camp atrocities, which sparked a rush of resolve for the war against Japan. The rescuers were awarded commendations by MacArthur, and were also recognized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A memorial now sits on the site of the former camp, and the events of the raid have been depicted in several films.
1948

British South American Airways' Tudor IV Star Tiger disappears over the Bermuda Triangle.

British South American Airways (BSAA) was a state-run airline of the United Kingdom in the mid-to-late 1940s responsible for services to the Caribbean and South America. Originally named British Latin American Air Lines, it was renamed before services started in 1946. BSAA operated mostly Avro aircraft: Yorks, Lancastrians and Tudors and flew to Bermuda, the West Indies, Mexico and the western coast of South America. After two high-profile aircraft disappearances it was merged into the British Overseas Airways Corporation at the end of 1949.
1948 Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

Following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in his home compound, India's prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, broadcasts to the nation, saying "The light has gone out of our lives".

The date of the assassination becomes observed as "Martyrs' Day" in India.
Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948 at the age of 78 in the compound of The Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti), a large mansion in central New Delhi. His assassin was Nathuram Godse, from Pune, Maharastra a right-wing Hindu nationalist, with a history of association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu paramilitary organization, and with membership in the Hindu Mahasabha. Sometime after 5 PM, according to witnesses, Gandhi had reached the top of the stairs leading to the raised lawn behind Birla House where he had been conducting multi-faith prayer meetings every evening. As Gandhi began to walk toward the dais, Godse stepped out of the crowd flanking Gandhi's path, and fired three bullets into Gandhi's chest and stomach at point-blank range. Gandhi fell to the ground. He was carried back to his room in Birla House from which a representative emerged sometime later to announce his death. Godse was captured by members of the crowd—the most widely reported of whom was Herbert Reiner Jr., a vice-consul at the American embassy in Delhi—and handed over to the police. The Gandhi murder trial opened in May 1948 in Delhi's historic Red Fort, with Godse the main defendant, and his collaborator Narayan Apte, and six more, deemed co-defendants. The trial was rushed through, the haste sometimes attributed to the Minister of Home Vallabhbhai Patel's desire "to avoid scrutiny for the failure to prevent the assassination." Godse and Apte were sentenced to death on 8 November 1949. Although pleas for commutation were made by Gandhi's two sons, Manilal Gandhi and Ramdas Gandhi, they were turned down by Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, deputy prime minister Vallabhbhai Patel, and Governor-General C. Rajagopalachari. Godse and Apte were hanged in the Ambala jail on 15 November 1949.
1959 Saiq

The forces of the Sultanate of Muscat occupy the last strongholds of the Imamate of Oman, Saiq and Shuraijah, marking the end of Jebel Akhdar War in Oman.

Saiq is a town in the region Ad Dakhiliyah, in northeastern Oman. It has its own airport, Saiq Airport.
1959 MS_Hans_Hedtoft

MS Hans Hedtoft, specifically designed to operate in icebound seas, strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks, killing all 95 aboard.

MS Hans Hedtoft was a Danish cargo passenger liner that struck an iceberg and sank on 30 January 1959 on her maiden voyage off the coast of Western Greenland. The only piece of the wreckage found was a lifebelt.
1960

The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties.

The African National Party was a political party in Chad. PNA was founded on January 30, 1960, through the merger of remnants of four parties based in the Muslim-dominated northern Chad; African Socialist Movement, Chadian Social Action, Independent Democratic Union of Chad and Grouping of Rural and Independent Chadians. Initially, PNA held 25 seats in the National Assembly, but the party suffered from defections to the Chadian Progressive Party, first the number of MPs went down to 17 and then to ten. In April 1961, PNA merged with the Chadian Progressive Party at a Unity Congress in Abéché, forming the Union for the Progress of Chad (UPT).
1964 Nguyễn_Khánh

In a bloodless coup, General Nguyễn Khánh overthrows General Dương Văn Minh's military junta in South Vietnam.

Nguyễn Khánh was a Vietnamese military officer and politician. A general of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, he was the leader of South Vietnam from January 1964 until February 1965 while at the head of a military junta, serving during that time in various capacities, alternatively as head of state and as prime minister. He was involved in or against many coup attempts, failed and successful, from 1960 until his defeat and exile from South Vietnam in 1965. Khánh lived out his later years with his family in exile in the United States. He died in 2013 in San Jose, California, at age 85.
1968 Vietnam_War

Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies.

The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 until US forces were withdrawn in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian and Cambodian civil wars, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.
1969 The_Beatles

The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London.

The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band in popular music and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. They also explored styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the era's youth and sociocultural movements.
1972 The_Troubles

The Troubles: Bloody Sunday: British paratroopers open fire on anti-internment marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing 13 people; another person later dies of injuries sustained.

The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although centred in Northern Ireland, violence at times spilled into the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe. The conflict arose from political and nationalistic disputes with a strong ethnic and sectarian dimension. Unionists and loyalists, mostly Ulster Protestants, wanted Northern Ireland to remain in the United Kingdom, while Irish nationalists and republicans, mostly Irish Catholics, wanted it to join a united Ireland. Despite the division between Protestants and Catholics, it was not a religious war.
1972 Pakistan

Pakistan leaves the Commonwealth of Nations in protest of its recognition of breakaway Bangladesh.

Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population in the world as of 2023. Islamabad is the nation's capital, while Karachi is its largest city and financial centre. Pakistan is the 33rd-largest country by area. Bounded by the Arabian Sea on the south, the Gulf of Oman on the southwest, and the Sir Creek on the southeast, it shares land borders with India to the east; Afghanistan to the west; Iran to the southwest; and China to the northeast. It shares a maritime border with Oman in the Gulf of Oman, and is separated from Tajikistan in the northwest by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor.
1974 Pan_Am_Flight_806

Pan Am Flight 806 crashes near Pago Pago International Airport in American Samoa, killing 97.

Pan Am Flight 806 was an international scheduled flight from Auckland, New Zealand, to Los Angeles, California, with intermediate stops at Pago Pago, American Samoa and Honolulu, Hawaii. On January 30, 1974, the Boeing 707 Clipper Radiant crashed on approach to Pago Pago International Airport, killing 87 passengers and ten crew members, making it the deadliest aviation incident in American Samoan history.
1975 Monitor_National_Marine_Sanctuary

The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is established as the first United States National Marine Sanctuary.

Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is the site of the wreck of the USS Monitor, one of the most famous shipwrecks in U.S. history. It was designated as the country's first National Marine Sanctuary on February 5, 1975, and is one of only two of the seventeen national marine sanctuaries created to protect a cultural resource rather than a natural resource. The sanctuary comprises a column of water 1 nautical mile in diameter extending from the ocean's surface to the seabed around the wreck of the American Civil War ironclad warship, which lies 16 nautical miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Average water depth in the sanctuary is 230 feet (70 m). Since it sank in 1862, Monitor has become an artificial reef attracting numerous fish species, including amberjack, black sea bass, oyster toadfish, and great barracuda.
1975 Turkish_Airlines_Flight_345

Turkish Airlines Flight 345 crashes into the Sea of Marmara near Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport, killing 42.

Turkish Airlines Flight 345 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by a Fokker F28-1000 Fellowship from İzmir Cumaovası Airport to Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport that crashed into the Sea of Marmara on 30 January 1975 during approach. It was the second worst accident involving a Fokker F28 and third deadliest aviation accident in Turkey at that time.
1979 Varig

A Varig Boeing 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.

Varig was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline and virtually its only international one. In 2005, Varig went into judicial restructuring, and in 2006 it was split into two companies: Flex Linhas Aéreas, informally known as "old" Varig, heir to the original airline, now defunct; and "new" Varig, a new company, fully integrated into Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes.
1982 Rich_Skrenta

Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called "Elk Cloner".

Richard J. Skrenta Jr. is an American computer programmer and Silicon Valley entrepreneur who created the web search engine Blekko. He is currently the executive director of Common Crawl.
1989 Embassy_of_the_United_States,_Kabul

The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is closed.

The Embassy of the United States of America in Kabul was the official diplomatic mission of the United States of America to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Its chancery on Great Massoud Road in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood of the Afghan capital of Kabul was built at a cost of nearly $800 million.
1995 Hydroxycarbamide

Hydroxycarbamide becomes the first approved preventive treatment for sickle cell disease.

Hydroxycarbamide, also known as hydroxyurea, is an antimetabolite medication used in sickle-cell disease, essential thrombocythemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, polycythemia vera, and cervical cancer. In sickle-cells disease it increases fetal hemoglobin and decreases the number of attacks. It is taken by mouth.
2000 Kenya_Airways_Flight_431

Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ivory Coast, killing 169.

Kenya Airways Flight 431 was an international scheduled Abidjan–Lagos–Nairobi passenger service, operated by Kenyan national airline Kenya Airways. On 30 January 2000, the Airbus A310 serving the flight crashed into the sea off the Ivory Coast, shortly after takeoff at night from Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport, Abidjan. There were 179 people on board, of whom 169 were passengers. Only ten people survived.
2006 2006_Goleta_postal_facility_shooting

The Goleta postal facility shootings occur, killing seven people before the perpetrator took her own life.

On January 30, 2006, a mass shooting took place at a United States Postal Service facility in Goleta, California. Six people were killed before the perpetrator, former employee Jennifer San Marco, committed suicide. Prior to the Goleta shooting, San Marco shot and killed her former neighbor in Santa Barbara.
2007 Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation releases Windows Vista, a major release of the operating system Microsoft Windows and the NT based kernel.

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. The company became influential in the rise of personal computers through software like Windows and has since expanded into areas such as Internet services, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, video gaming, and more. A Big Tech company, Microsoft is the largest software company by revenue, one of the most valuable public companies, and one of the most valuable brands globally.
2013 Naro-1

Naro-1 becomes the first carrier rocket launched by South Korea.

Naro-1, previously designated the Korea Space Launch Vehicle or KSLV, was South Korea's first carrier rocket, and the first South Korean launch vehicle to achieve Earth orbit. On 30 January 2013, the third Naro-1 vehicle built successfully placed STSAT-2C into low Earth orbit.
2020 World_Health_Organization

The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has six regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide. Only sovereign states are eligible to join, and it is the largest intergovernmental health organization at the international level.

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