April 30


April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in
leap years). There are 245 days remaining.

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 Leh‡r, 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 - KlausjŸrgen 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