December 30 is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 1 day remaining.

Events

• 1460 - Wars of the Roses: The Duke of York is defeated at the Battle of Wakefield
• 1853 - Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest
• 1853 - 20-strong dinner party held inside life-size model of Iguanodon created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London.
• 1862 - USS Monitor sinks off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
• 1879 - The Pirates of Penzance is first performed (Paignton, Devon, England)
• 1880 - The Transvaal becomes a republic and Paul Kruger, its first president
• 1896 - José Rizal was executed by firing squad in Manila.
• 1897 - Natal annexes Zululand.
• 1903 - A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago kills 600.
• 1919 - Lincoln's Inn in London admits its first female bar student.
• 1922 - The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is formed.
• 1924 - Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies.
• 1927 - The Ginza Line, the oldest subway line in Asia, opened in Tokyo.
• 1936 - The United Auto Workers union stages its first sit-down strike.
• 1940 - California opens its first freeway: the Arroyo Seco Parkway.
• 1943 - Chandra Bose raises the flag of Indian independence at Port Blair.
• 1944 - King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving his throne vacant
• 1947 - King Michael of Romania abdicates
• 1948 - The play Kiss Me, Kate opens for the first of 1,077 performances.
• 1953 - The first color television sets go on sale for about USD $1,175.
• 1965 - Ferdinand Marcos becomes President of the Philippines
• 1972 - Vietnam War: The US halts heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
• 1976 - The Smothers Brothers play their last show (Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas).
• 1980 - After 25 years, the longest-running prime-time TV series The Wonderful World of Disney is cancelled by NBC.
• 1981 - Wayne Gretzky scores his 50th goal in 39 games, an NHL record to this day.
• 1993 - Israel and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations.
• 1996 - In the Indian state of Assam, a passenger train is bombed by Bodo separatists, killing 26.
• 1996 - Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers who shut down services across Israel.
• 1997 - In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, 400 people are killed from four villages.
• 2000 - Rizal Day Bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines within a span of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.

Births

• 39 - Titus, Roman Emperor (d. 81)
• 1819 - Theodor Fontane, poet (d. 1898)
• 1865 - Rudyard Kipling, writer and recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature 1907 (d. 1936)
• 1873 - Al Smith, U.S. politician (d. 1944)
• 1884 - Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
• 1897 - Alfredo Bracchi, Italian author (d. 1976)
• 1899 - Helge Ingstad, Norwegian explorer, discoverer of the only confirmed Viking settlement in America (d. 2001)
• 1906 - Johann Adolf Graf von Kielmannsegg, general
• 1906 - Carol Reed, film director (d. 1976)
• 1910 - Paul Bowles, composer, author (d. 1999)
• 1911 - Jeanette Nolan, actress (d. 1998)
• 1914 - Bert Parks, television host (d. 1992)
• 1917 - Seymour Melman, industrial engineer (d. 2004)
• 1920 - Jack Lord, actor (d. 1998)
• 1923 - Sara Lidman, Swedish writer (d. 2004)
• 1928 - Bo Diddley, singer, musician
• 1931 - Skeeter Davis, singer (d. 2004)
• 1934 - Del Shannon, singer (d. 1990)
• 1934 - Russ Tamblyn, actor, dancer, singer
• 1934 - Joseph P. Hoar, former commander of U.S. Central Command
• 1935 - Sandy Koufax, Baseball Hall of Famer
• 1937 - John Hartford, musician (d. 2001)
• 1937 - Jim Marshall, American football player
• 1937 - Paul Stookey, folk music singer
• 1938 - Joseph Bologna, actor
• 1941 - Mel Renfro, Pro Football Hall of Famer
• 1942 - Vladimir Bukovsky, author and civil rights activist
• 1942 - Michael Nesmith, singer, musician (The Monkees)
• 1942 - Fred Ward, actor
• 1945 - Davy Jones, singer (The Monkees)
• 1946 - Patti Smith, singer
• 1947 - Jeff Lynne, rock singer-musician (ELO)
• 1956 - Suzy Bogguss, country singer
• 1957 - Matt Lauer, newscaster
• 1959 - Tracey Ullman, actress, singer
• 1961 - Douglas Coupland, author
• 1961 - Sean Hannity, talk radio host, political commentator
• 1961 - Ben Johnson, Canadian athlete
• 1965 - Heidi Fleiss, celebrity prostitute
• 1969 - Dave England, cast member on MTV show Jackass
• 1969 - Jay Kay, musician, singer (Jamiroquai)
• 1972 - Kerry Collins, American football quarterback
• 1973 - Jason Behr, actor
• 1973 - Ato Boldon, Trinidad and Tobago athlete
• 1975 - Tiger Woods, golfer
• 1976 - Meredith Monroe, actress
• 1977 - Laili Ali, boxer
• 1978 - Tyrese, singer
• 1980 - Eliza Dushku, actress
• 1982 - Kristin Kreuk, actress
• 1984 - LeBron James, basketball player
• 1986 - Michael Mackowski, Wendy's High school Heisman Nominee

Deaths

• 1460 - Richard, Duke of York (b. 1411)
• 1591 - Pope Innocent IX (b. 1519)
• 1662 - Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria, Regent of the Tyrol and Further Austria
• 1691 - Robert Boyle (b. 1627), Irish philosopher, physicist, and chemist (discovered Boyle's law)
• 1896 - José Rizal, national hero, Philippines (b. 1861)
• 1967 - Vincent Massey, Governor General of Canada
• 1968 - Trygve Lie, the first United Nations Secretary General (b. 1896)
• 1970 - Sonny Liston, boxing champion (b. 1932)
• 1971 - Melba Rae, American soap opera actress (b. 1922)
• 1979 - Richard Rodgers, composer (b. 1902)
• 1982 - John Main, Benedictine monk, meditation teacher
• 1995 - Doris Grau, actress, script supivisor and voice actress
• 1996 - Lew Ayres, actor (b. 1908)
• 1998 - Joan Brossa, Catalan poet
• 2001 - Eileen Heckart, American actress
• 2002 - Mary Wesley, novelist (b. 1912)
• 2003 - John Gregory Dunne, American novelist and screenwriter
• 2003 - Anita Mui, singer, actress (b. 1963)
• 2004 - Artie Shaw (Arthur Jacob Arshawsky) American jazz clarinetist, composer and bandleader (b. 1910)

Holidays and observances

• The fifth day of Christmas in Western Philippines - Rizal Day

December 29 - December 31 - November 30 - January 30 -- listing of all days