April 30

Events

• 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire eastern empire under his rule.
• 1789 - On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office becoming the first elected President of the United States.
• 1803 - Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million more than doubling the size of the young nation overnight.
• 1812 - The Territory of Orleans[?] becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana.
• 1900 - Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.
• 1900 - Casey Jones is killed attempting to save the runaway train Cannonball Express[?].
• 1939 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the first President of the United States to appear on television
• 1939 - The 1939 New York World's Fair opens.
• 1943 - World War II: Operation Mincemeat[?] - The submarine HMS Seraph[?] surfaces in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain to deposit a dead man planted with false invasion plans and dressed as a British military intelligence officer.
• 1945 - Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for one day.
• 1947 - In Nevada Boulder Dam is officially renamed Hoover Dam again.
• 1948 - In Bogota, Colombia the Organization of American States is established.
• 1973 - Watergate Scandal: President Richard Nixon announces that top White House aids HR Haldeman[?], John Ehrlichman[?], and others have resigned.
• 1975 - North Vietnamese troops occupy Saigon, ending the Vietnam War.
• 1980 - Accession of Beatrix of the Netherlands.
• 1991 - A tropical cyclone hits Bangladesh killing an estimated 125,000 people.
• 1992 - CERN announces that World Wide Web will be free to anyone, with no fees due
• 1997 - Ellen DeGeneres comes out of the closet on her sitcom Ellen[?] (which originally aired on ABC this day).
• 1998 - NATO membership expands by approving the admission of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (the nations will be formally admitted following NATO's 50th anniversary summit next April).
• 2001 - Dennis Tito[?], the first 'space tourist' in space lifts off in a Russian rocket heading for the International Space Station.
• 2001 - Chandra Levy, a former intern to California Congressman Gary Condit, is last seen in Washington, DC.
• 2002 - A referendum in Pakistan overwhelmingly approves the military government under Pervez Musharraf for another five years.

Births

• 1602 - William Lilly, astrologer (+ 1681)
• 1662 - Queen Mary II of England (+ 1694)
• 1777 - Carl Friedrich Gauss, mathematician, astronomer and physicist (+ 1855)
• 1780 - Charles Nodier[?], French writer (+ 1844)
• 1870 - Franz Lehár, composer (+ 1948)
• 1877 - Alice B. Toklas, muse (+ 1967)
• 1893 - Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi foreign minister (+ 1946)
• 1898 - Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr.[?], reporter, columnist, author, lecturer
• 1908 - Eve Arden, actress (+ 1990)
• 1909 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands
• 1911 - Luise Rinser[?], narrator (+ 2002)
• 1926 - Cloris Leachman[?], actress
• 1929 - Klausjürgen Wussow[?], actor
• 1933 - Willie Nelson, country musician, composer
• 1943 - Bobby Vee[?], singer
• 1944 - Jill Clayburgh, actress
• 1945 - Annie Dillard, poet, essayist, novelist
• 1946 - King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden
• 1946 - Don Schollander[?], Olympic gold medalist in swimming
• 1946 - Ulla Hahn[?], lyricist
• 1961 - Isiah Thomas[?], basketball player, coach, owner
• 1964 - Barrington Levy, reggae and dancehall musician
• 1982 - Kirsten Dunst, actress

Deaths

• 1875 - Jean Frederic Waldeck, French explorer, lithographer and cartographer, dies at age 109
• 1883 - Edouard Manet, impressionist painter
• 1936 - A.E. Housman[?], poet
• 1945 - Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun (suicide)
• 1956 - Alben W. Barkley, former Vice President of the United States
• 1974 - Agnes Moorehead, actress
• 1982 - Lester Bangs, music journalist, author, musician
• 1983 - George Balanchine, dancer, choreographer
• 1983 - Muddy Waters, blues musician

Holidays and observances

• Scandinavia - The arrival of spring, Walpurgis Night
• Sweden - Birthday of King Carl XVI Gustav, an official flag day
• The Netherlands - Queens day
• Roman Empire - third day of the Floralia[?] in honor of Flora

April 29 - May 1 - March 29 - May 29 -- listing of all days

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