April 30th in History

311 - The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.


1492 - Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.

1513 - Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the orders of Henry VIII.

1789 - On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become 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.

1812 - The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th US state under the name Louisiana.

1838 - Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation.


1871 - The Camp Grant Massacre takes place in Arizona Territory.

1900 - Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States

1920 - Peru becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

1927 - Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

1945 - World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for one day. Soviet soldiers raise the Victory Banner over the Reichstag building.

1956 - Former Vice President and Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia. He collapses after proclaiming "I would rather be a servant in the house of the lord than sit in the seats of the mighty."

1963 - The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.

1980 - Accession of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.


1995 - US President Bill Clinton became the first President to visit Northern Ireland.

1999 - Cambodia joins the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bringing the number of members to 10.

2008 - Two skeletal remains found near Ekaterinburg, Russia are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and one of his sisters.

2009 - Seven people are killed and 17 injured at a Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands in an attempted assassination on Queen Beatrix.

2013 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands signs an instrument of abdication - Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange becomes King.

Famous Birthdays


1245 - Philip III of France

1331 - Gaston III, Count of Foix


1651 - St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, saint

1662 - Mary II of England

1803 - Albrecht von Roon, soldier and 10th Prime Minister of Prussia

1880 - Charles Exeter Devereux Crombie, cartoonist

1909 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands

1933 - Willie Nelson, American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and activist

1943 - Frederick Chiluba, 2nd President of Zambia

1946 - His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden

1949 - António Guterres, Prime Minister of Portugal

1953 - Merrill Osmond, actor and singer

1959 - Stephen Harper, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada

1965 - Adrian Pasdar, actor

1977 - Alexandra Holden, actress

1982 - Kirsten Dunst, actress

1986 - Dianna Agron, actress, singer, and dancer

2002 - Don Miguel de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón, the third son of the Duke and Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, Infanta Cristina of Spain and Iñaki Urdangarín.