July 30

Events

• 762 - Baghdad is founded.
• 1419 - First Defenestration of Prague: A crowd of radical Hussites kill seven members of the Prague city council.
• 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage.
• 1609 - Beaver Wars: At Ticonderoga, Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs on behalf of his native allies.
• 1619 - In Jamestown, Virginia, the first Colonial European representative assembly in the Americas, the Virginia General Assembly, convenes for the first time.
• 1627 - An earthquake kills about 5,000 people in Gargano, Italy.
• 1635 - Eighty Years' War: The Siege of Schenkenschans begins; Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, begins the recapture of the strategically important fortress from the Spanish Army.
• 1656 - Swedish forces under the command of King Charles X Gustav defeat the forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at the Battle of Warsaw.
• 1676 - Nathaniel Bacon issues the "Declaration of the People of Virginia", beginning Bacon's Rebellion against the rule of Governor William Berkeley.
• 1729 - Founding of Baltimore, Maryland.
• 1733 - The first Masonic Grand Lodge in the future United States is constituted in Massachusetts.
• 1756 - In Saint Petersburg, Bartolomeo Rastrelli presents the newly built Catherine Palace to Empress Elizabeth and her courtiers.
• 1811 - Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leader of the Mexican insurgency, is executed by the Spanish in Chihuahua City, Mexico.
• 1859 - First ascent of Grand Combin, one of the highest summits in the Alps.
• 1863 - American Indian Wars: Representatives of the United States and tribal leaders including Chief Pocatello sign the Treaty of Box Elder.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of the Crater: Union forces attempt to break Confederate lines at Petersburg, Virginia by exploding a large bomb under their trenches.
• 1865 - The steamboat Brother Jonathan sinks off the coast of Crescent City, California, killing 225 passengers, the deadliest shipwreck on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. at the time.
• 1866 - Armed Confederate veterans in New Orleans riot against a meeting of Radical Republicans, killing 48 people and injuring another 100.
• 1871 - The Staten Island Ferry Westfield's boiler explodes, killing over 85 people.
• 1912 - Japan's Emperor Meiji dies and is succeeded by his son Yoshihito, who is now known as the Emperor Taishō.
• 1930 - In Montevideo, Uruguay wins the first FIFA World Cup.
• 1932 - Premiere of Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first Academy Award winning cartoon short.
• 1945 - World War II: sinks the, killing 883 seamen. Most die during the following four days, until an aircraft notices the survivors.
• 1956 - A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing In God We Trust as the U.S. national motto.
• 1962 - The Trans-Canada Highway, the longest national highway in the world, is officially opened.
• 1965 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.
• 1966 - England defeats West Germany to win the 1966 FIFA World Cup at Wembley Stadium after extra time.
• 1969 - Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon makes an unscheduled visit to South Vietnam and meets with President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and U.S. military commanders.
• 1971 - Apollo program: Apollo 15 Mission: David Scott and James Irwin on the Apollo Lunar Module Falcon land on the Moon with the first Lunar Rover.
• 1971 - An All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 and a Japanese Air Force F-86 collide over Morioka, Iwate, Japan killing 162.
• 1974 - Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon releases subpoenaed White House recordings after being ordered to do so by the Supreme Court of the United States.
• 1975 - Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. He is never seen or heard from again.
• 1978 - The 730: Okinawa Prefecture changes its traffic on the right-hand side of the road to the left-hand side.
• 1980 - Vanuatu gains independence.
• 1980 - Israel's Knesset passes the Jerusalem Law.
• 1981 - As many as 50,000 demonstrators, mostly women and children, took to the streets in Łódź to protest food ration shortages in Communist Poland.
• 1990 - Ian Gow, Conservative Member of Parliament, is assassinated at his home by IRA terrorists in a car bombing after he assured the group that the British government would never surrender to them.
• 2003 - In Mexico, the last 'old style' Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line.
• 2006 - The world's longest running music show Top of the Pops is broadcast for the last time on BBC Two. The show had aired for 42 years.
• 2011 - Marriage of Queen Elizabeth II's eldest granddaughter Zara Phillips to former rugby union footballer Mike Tindall.
• 2012 - A train fire kills 32 passengers and injures 27 on the Tamil Nadu Express in Andhra Pradesh, India.
• 2012 - A power grid failure in Delhi leaves more than 300 million people without power in northern India.
• 2014 - Twenty killed and 150 are trapped after a landslide in Maharashtra, India.

  Births

• 1470 - Hongzhi, emperor of the Ming dynasty
• 1511 - Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter, historian, and architect
• 1549 - Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
• 1641 - Regnier de Graaf, Dutch physician and anatomist
• 1751 - Maria Anna Mozart, Austrian pianist
• 1763 - Samuel Rogers, English poet and art collector
• 1809 - Charles Chiniquy, Canadian-American priest and theologian
• 1818 - Emily Brontë, English novelist and poet
• 1818 - Jan Heemskerk, Dutch lawyer and politician, 16th and 19th Prime Minister of the Netherlands
• 1825 - Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian engineer and author
• 1832 - George Lemuel Woods, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 3rd Governor of Oregon
• 1855 - Georg Wilhelm von Siemens, German-Swiss businessman
• 1857 - Thorstein Veblen, American economist and sociologist
• 1859 - Henry Simpson Lunn, English minister and humanitarian, founded Lunn Poly
• 1862 - Nikolai Yudenich, Russian general
• 1863 - Henry Ford, American engineer and businessman, founded the Ford Motor Company
• 1872 - Princess Clémentine of Belgium
• 1881 - Smedley Butler, American general, Medal of Honor recipient
• 1890 - Casey Stengel, American baseball player and manager
• 1893 - Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani dentist and politician
• 1898 - Henry Moore, English sculptor and illustrator
• 1899 - Gerald Moore, English pianist
• 1901 - Alfred Lépine, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1904 - Salvador Novo, Mexican poet and playwright
• 1909 - C. Northcote Parkinson, English historian and author
• 1910 - Edgar de Evia, Mexican-American photographer
• 1913 - Lou Darvas, American soldier and cartoonist
• 1914 - Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, Irish journalist and author, 6th President of the International Olympic Committee
• 1920 - Walter Schuck, German lieutenant and pilot
• 1921 - Grant Johannesen, American pianist and educator
• 1922 - Henry W. Bloch, American banker and businessman, co-founded H&R Block
• 1925 - Stan Stennett, Welsh actor and trumpet player
• 1925 - Alexander Trocchi, Scottish author and poet
• 1926 - Betye Saar, American artist
• 1927 - Richard Johnson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1927 - Pete Schoening, American mountaineer
• 1927 - Victor Wong, American actor
• 1928 - Joe Nuxhall, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1929 - Sid Krofft, Canadian-American puppeteer and producer
• 1931 - Dominique Lapierre, French historian and author
• 1934 - Bud Selig, 9th Major League Baseball Commissioner
• 1936 - Buddy Guy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1936 - Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz
• 1938 - Hervé de Charette, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1938 - Terry O'Neill, English photographer
• 1939 - Peter Bogdanovich, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1939 - Eleanor Smeal, American activist, founded the Feminist Majority Foundation
• 1940 - Patricia Schroeder, American lawyer and politician
• 1940 - Clive Sinclair, English businessman, founded Sinclair Radionics and Sinclair Research
• 1941 - Paul Anka, Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
• 1942 - Pollyanna Pickering, English environmentalist and painter
• 1943 - Henri-François Gautrin, Canadian physicist and politician
• 1944 - Gerry Birrell, Scottish race car driver
• 1944 - Peter Bottomley, English politician
• 1944 - Frances de la Tour, English actress
• 1945 - Patrick Modiano, French novelist and screenwriter, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1945 - David Sanborn, American saxophonist and composer
• 1946 - Neil Bonnett, American race car driver and sportscaster
• 1946 - Jeffrey Hammond, English bass player
• 1947 - William Atherton, American actor and producer
• 1947 - Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, French virologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1947 - Jonathan Mann, American physician and author
• 1947 - Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, and politician, 38th Governor of California
• 1948 - Billy Paultz, American basketball player
• 1948 - Jean Reno, Moroccan-French actor
• 1948 - Otis Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1948 - Julia Tsenova, Bulgarian pianist and composer
• 1949 - Duck Baker, American guitarist
• 1949 - Sonia Proudman, English lawyer and judge
• 1950 - Harriet Harman, English lawyer and politician
• 1950 - Frank Stallone, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1951 - Alan Kourie, South African cricketer
• 1951 - Gerry Judah, Indian-English painter and sculptor
• 1952 - Stephen Blackmore, English botanist and author
• 1954 - Ken Olin, American actor, director, and producer
• 1955 - Rat Scabies, English drummer and producer
• 1955 - Christopher Warren-Green, English violinist and conductor
• 1956 - Delta Burke, American actress
• 1956 - Réal Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1956 - Anita Hill, American lawyer and academic
• 1956 - Soraida Martinez, American painter and educator
• 1957 - Antonio Adamo, Italian director and cinematographer
• 1957 - Bill Cartwright, American basketball player and coach
• 1957 - Clint Hurdle, American baseball player and manager
• 1957 - Nery Pumpido, Argentinian footballer, coach, and manager
• 1958 - Kate Bush, English singer-songwriter and producer
• 1958 - Liz Kershaw, English radio broadcaster
• 1958 - Daley Thompson, English decathlete and trainer
• 1960 - Jennifer Barnes, American-English musicologist and academic
• 1960 - Richard Linklater, American director and screenwriter
• 1960 - Brillante Mendoza, Filipino independent film director
• 1961 - Laurence Fishburne, American actor and producer
• 1962 - Alton Brown, American chef, author, and producer
• 1962 - Jay Feaster, American ice hockey player and manager
• 1962 - Yakub Memon, Indian accountant and terrorist
• 1963 - Peter Bowler, English-Australian cricketer
• 1963 - Lisa Kudrow, American actress and producer
• 1963 - Antoni Martí, Andorran architect and politician
• 1963 - Chris Mullin, American basketball player, coach, and executive
• 1964 - Ron Block, American singer-songwriter and banjo player
• 1964 - Vivica A. Fox, American actress
• 1964 - Alek Keshishian, Lebanese-American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1964 - Jürgen Klinsmann, German footballer and manager
• 1964 - Laine Randjärv, Estonian lawyer and politician, 6th Estonian Minister of Culture
• 1965 - Tim Munton, English cricketer
• 1966 - Kerry Fox, New Zealand actress and screenwriter
• 1966 - Craig Gannon, English guitarist and songwriter
• 1966 - Allan Langer, Australian rugby league player and coach
• 1966 - Louise Wener, English author and singer-songwriter
• 1968 - Terry Crews, American football player and actor
• 1968 - Robert Korzeniowski, Polish race walker and coach
• 1968 - Sean Moore, Welsh drummer and songwriter
• 1969 - Simon Baker, Australian actor, director, and producer
• 1969 - Errol Stewart, South African cricketer and lawyer
• 1970 - Alun Cairns, Welsh businessman and politician
• 1970 - Dean Edwards, American comedian, actor, and singer
• 1970 - Christopher Nolan, English-American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1971 - Elvis Crespo, American-Puerto Rican singer
• 1971 - Tom Green, Canadian comedian and actor
• 1972 - Jim McIlvaine, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1973 - Kenton Cool, English mountaineer
• 1973 - Ümit Davala, Turkish footballer and manager
• 1973 - Anastasios Katsabis, Greek footballer
• 1973 - Markus Näslund, Swedish ice hockey player and manager
• 1973 - Sonu Nigam, Indian playback singer and actor
• 1973 - Clementa C. Pinckney, American minister and politician
• 1974 - Radostin Kishishev, Bulgarian footballer and manager
• 1974 - Jason Robinson, English rugby league footballer, and rugby union footballer and coach
• 1974 - Hilary Swank, American actress and producer
• 1975 - Graham Nicholls, English author and activist
• 1975 - Kate Starbird, American basketball player and computer scientist
• 1977 - Diana Bolocco, Chilean model and journalist;
• 1977 - Misty May-Treanor, American volleyball player and coach
• 1977 - Jaime Pressly, American actress
• 1977 - Bootsy Thornton, American basketball player
• 1977 - Ian Watkins, Welsh singer-songwriter and child abuse convict
• 1979 - Carlos Arroyo, Puerto Rican basketball player and singer
• 1979 - Chad Keegan, South African cricketer and coach
• 1979 - Graeme McDowell, Northern Irish golfer
• 1979 - Maya Nasser, Syrian journalist
• 1980 - Seth Avett, American folk-rock singer-songwriter and musician
• 1980 - Justin Rose, South African-English golfer
• 1981 - Nicky Hayden, American motorcycle racer
• 1981 - Juan Smith, South African rugby union footballer
• 1981 - Hope Solo, American soccer player
• 1981 - Indrek Turi, Estonian decathlete
• 1982 - Jehad Al-Hussain, Syrian footballer
• 1982 - James Anderson, English cricketer
• 1982 - Yvonne Strahovski, Australian actress
• 1983 - Seán Dillon, Irish footballer
• 1984 - Marko Asmer, Estonian race car driver
• 1984 - Gabrielle Christian, American actress and singer
• 1984 - Trudy McIntosh, Australian artistic gymnast
• 1984 - Kevin Pittsnogle, American basketball player
• 1985 - Chris Guccione, Australian tennis player
• 1985 - Daniel Fredheim Holm, Norwegian footballer
• 1985 - Luca Lanotte, Italian ice dancer
• 1985 - Matthew Scott, Australian rugby league player
• 1986 - Tiago Alencar, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 - William Zillman, Australian rugby league player
• 1987 - Anton Fink, German footballer
• 1987 - Sam Saunders, American golfer
• 1988 - Wen Chean Lim, Malaysian rhythmic gymnast
• 1989 - Aleix Espargaró, Spanish motorcycle racer
• 1989 - Wayne Parnell, South African cricketer
• 1990 - Chris Maxwell, Welsh footballer
• 1991 - Diana Vickers, English singer-songwriter
• 1992 - Hannah Cockroft, English wheelchair racer
• 1993 - Jacob Faria, American baseball player
• 1993 - André Gomes, Portuguese footballer
• 1993 - Margarida Moura, Portuguese tennis player
• 1994 - Nelydia Senrose, Malaysian actress
• 1996 - Nina Stojanović, Serbian tennis player

  Deaths

• 578 - Jacob Baradaeus, Greek bishop
• 579 - Pope Benedict I
• 734 - Tatwine, English archbishop
• 829 - Shi Xiancheng, general of the Tang Dynasty
• 1286 - Bar Hebraeus, Syrian scholar and historian
• 1393 - Alberto d'Este, Lord of Ferrara and Modena
• 1516 - Johann V of Nassau-Vianden-Dietz
• 1540 - Thomas Abel, English priest and martyr
• 1540 - Robert Barnes, English martyr and reformer
• 1550 - Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, English politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom
• 1566 - Guillaume Rondelet, French doctor
• 1608 - Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, last King of Tyrconnell
• 1624 - Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox, British nobleman
• 1652 - Charles Amadeus, Duke of Nemours
• 1680 - Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory, Irish admiral and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
• 1683 - Maria Theresa of Spain
• 1691 - Daniel Georg Morhof, German scholar and academic
• 1700 - Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, English royal
• 1718 - William Penn, English businessman and philosopher, founded the Province of Pennsylvania
• 1771 - Thomas Gray, English poet
• 1811 - Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Mexican priest and soldier
• 1832 - Lê Văn Duyệt, Vietnamese general, mandarin
• 1870 - Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, Norwegian poet and journalist
• 1875 - George Pickett, American general
• 1889 - Charlie Absolom, England cricketer
• 1898 - Otto von Bismarck, German lawyer and politician, 1st Chancellor of Germany
• 1900 - Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
• 1912 - Emperor Meiji of Japan
• 1918 - Joyce Kilmer, American soldier, journalist, and poet
• 1920 - Albert Gustaf Dahlman, Swedish executioner
• 1930 - Joan Gamper, Swiss-Spanish footballer and businessman, founded FC Barcelona
• 1938 - John Derbyshire, English swimmer and water polo player
• 1941 - Hugo Celmiņš, Latvian politician, former Prime Minister of Latvia
• 1947 - Joseph Cook, English-Australian miner and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Australia
• 1965 - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Japanese author and playwright
• 1970 - Walter Murdoch, Scottish-Australian academic
• 1970 - George Szell, Hungarian-American conductor and composer
• 1971 - Thomas Hollway, Australian politician, 36th Premier of Victoria
• 1975 - James Blish, American author and critic
• 1977 - Emory Holloway, American scholar, author, and educator
• 1983 - Howard Dietz, American songwriter and publicist
• 1983 - Lynn Fontanne, English actress
• 1985 - Julia Robinson, American mathematician and theorist
• 1989 - Lane Frost, American professional bull rider
• 1990 - Ian Gow, British Member of Parliament who was assassinated by the IRA
• 1992 - Brenda Marshall, Filipino-American actress and singer
• 1992 - Joe Shuster, Canadian-American illustrator, co-created Superman
• 1996 - Claudette Colbert, French-American actress
• 1997 - Bảo Đại, Vietnamese emperor
• 1998 - Buffalo Bob Smith, American television host
• 2001 - Anton Schwarzkopf, German engineer
• 2003 - Steve Hislop, Scottish motorcycle racer
• 2003 - Sam Phillips, American record producer, founded Sun Records
• 2005 - Ray Cunningham, American baseball player
• 2005 - John Garang, Sudanese colonel and politician, 6th President of South Sudan
• 2006 - Duygu Asena, Turkish journalist and author
• 2006 - Al Balding, Canadian golfer
• 2006 - Murray Bookchin, American philosopher and author
• 2006 - Anthony Galla-Rini, American accordion player and composer
• 2006 - Akbar Mohammadi, Iranian activist
• 2007 - Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian director and screenwriter
• 2007 - Teoctist Arăpașu, Romanian patriarch
• 2007 - Ingmar Bergman, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter
• 2007 - Bill Walsh, American football player and coach
• 2008 - Anne Armstrong, American businesswoman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
• 2009 - Mohammed Yusuf, Nigerian militant leader, founded Boko Haram
• 2009 - Peter Zadek, German director and screenwriter
• 2011 - Bob Peterson, American basketball player
• 2012 - Maeve Binchy, Irish author, playwright, and journalist
• 2012 - Bill Doss, American singer and guitarist
• 2012 - Stig Ossian Ericson, Swedish actor, director, and screenwriter
• 2012 - Les Green, English footballer and manager
• 2012 - Jonathan Hardy, New Zealand-Australian actor and screenwriter
• 2012 - Bill Kitchen, Canadian ice hockey player
• 2012 - Mary Louise Rasmuson, American colonel
• 2013 - Cecil Alexander, American architect, designed the State of Georgia Building
• 2013 - Berthold Beitz, German businessman
• 2013 - Robert Neelly Bellah, American sociologist and author
• 2013 - Harry F. Byrd Jr., American lieutenant, publisher, and politician
• 2013 - Antoni Ramallets, Spanish footballer and manager
• 2013 - Ossie Schectman, American basketball player
• 2013 - Benjamin Walker, Indian-English author, poet, and playwright
• 2014 - Robert Drew, American director and producer
• 2014 - Harun Farocki, German director, producer, and screenwriter
• 2014 - Julio Grondona, Argentinian businessman
• 2014 - Peter Hall, English geographer, author, and academic
• 2014 - Dick Smith, American make-up artist
• 2014 - Dick Wagner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 2015 - Lynn Anderson, American singer
• 2015 - Endel Lippmaa, Estonian physicist
• 2015 - Francis Paul Prucha, American historian and academic
• 2015 - Alena Vrzáňová, Czech figure skater
• 2016 - Gloria DeHaven, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 2018 - Michael A. Sheehan, American author, former government official and military officer
• 2020 - Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese politician, President, Vice President and mayor of Taipei
• 2020 - Herman Cain, American businessman and political activist

  Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
• *Abdon and Sennen
• *Hatebrand
• *Maxima, Donatilla, and Secunda
• *Peter Chrysologus
• *Robert Barnes
• *Rufinus of Assisi
• *Tatwine
• *Ursus of Auxerre
• *Solanus Casey
• *July 30
• Feast of the Throne
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Vanuatu from the United Kingdom and France in 1980.
• International Day of Friendship, and its related observances:
• *Día del Amigo
• Martyrs Day