30th May is the 150th day of the year (151st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. 215 days remain until the end of the year. Find out some important events that occurred on this day, 30th May, in history.

 

Historical events

1416 — Jerome of Prague burned at the stake for heresy by church Council of Constance.

1431 — Hundred Years’ War: 19-year-old French soldier and national heroine Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal in Rouen, France.

1445 — Coronation as Margaret of Anjou as Queen Consort of England at Westminster Abbey.

1498 — Explorer of the New World Christopher Columbus departs with 6 ships for 3rd trip to America.

1510 — Portuguese forces under Afonso de Albuquerque abandon Goa after its former ruler Yusuf Adil Shah, the Muslim King of Bijapur reconquers the city.

1527 — University of Marburg (Germany) founded.

1539 — Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto discovers Florida.

1626 — An explosion at the Wanggongchang Gunpowder Factory in Beijing destroys part of the city and kills 20,000 people.

1635 — The Peace of Prague signed between the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II and the Electorate of Saxony (representing Protestant states of the Holy Roman Empire). It effectively ended the civil war aspect of the Thirty Years’ War.

1646 — Spain and the Netherlands sign a temporary cease-fire.

1778 — Voltaire: Writer, Wit, Philosopher and Rebel. They burned his books, sent him to the Bastille and into exile, but Voltaire, who died on this day, remained rich, successful – and defiant.

1783 — Benjamin Tower of Philadelphia publishes the first daily newspaper in the US.

 

30th May in the 19th Century

1806 — Future US President Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel after Dickinson accused Jackson’s wife of bigamy.

1821 — James Boyd patents Rubber Fire Hose.

1822 — House slave betrays Denmark Vesey conspiracy (37 blacks hanged).

1832 — Evariste Galois give his theory on free assembly (dies in duel May 31).

1832 — The Rideau Canal in eastern Ontario is opened.

1842 — John Francis attempts to assassinate Queen Victoria.

1848 — William G Young patents ice cream freezer.

1868 — “Decoration Day”, later called Memorial Day is first observed in Northern US states.

1896 — The first car accident occurs, Henry Wells hits a cyclist in NYC.

 

30th May in the 20th Century

1908 — The first federal workmen’s compensation law approved.

1908 — Paris advocate E Archdeacon is the first passenger in an aeroplane.

1923 — Composer and conductor Howard Hanson’s first Symphony “Nordic” premieres.

1925 — Peter DePaolo becomes the first man to average over 100 mph at Indy.

1933 — Patent on invisible glass installation.

1937 — 61,756, second largest crowd in Polo Grounds history, sees Dodgers ends Carl Hubbell’s consecutive-game winning streak at 24

1941 — The first antisemitic measures in Serbia

1948 — A dyke along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.

1949 — East German constitution approved.

1951 — Ezzard Charles beats Joey Maxim in 15 for heavyweight boxing title.

1954 — Dutch bishops forbid membership to non-catholic sporting clubs.

1954 — Emile Zatopek runs world record 5K (13:57.2).

1955 — Said el-Mufti forms Jordan government.

1955 — Tunisia begins domestic self-governing.

1964 — The Beatles’ “Love Me Do” single goes #1 in the United States.

1965 — Vivian Malone is the first black to graduate from the University of Alabama.

1966 — 300 US aeroplanes bomb North Vietnam.

1967 — Robert “Evel” Knievel’s motorcycle jumps 16 automobiles in Gardena, California.

1967 — The Republic of Biafra, a predominantly Igbo secessionist state in eastern Nigeria founded by Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu, proclaims its independence from Nigeria. But war breaks out in July. Nigerian forces take control of oil fields, leaving the country no form of revenue which causes mass starvation of over 1,000,000 people. In January 1970, Biafra surrenders to Nigerian forces and becomes part of Nigeria, once again losing its independence.

 

More 30th May dates

1967 — Argentinian author Gabriel García Márquez’s most important work “One Hundred Years of Solitude” publishes in Buenos Aires.

1969 — Derek Clayton runs world record marathon (2:08:33.6) at Antwerp.

1969 — Gibraltar adopts a constitution.

1970 — Tigers Al Kaline collides with another player and swallows his tongue.

1971 — 36 hospitalised during Grateful Dead concert; drunk LSD apple juice.

1972 — The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout Britain.

1975 — European Space Agency (ESA) forms.

1975 — Wings release “Venus and Mars” album.

1976 — Bobby Unser sets world record for the fastest pit stop (4 seconds).

1978 — 31st Cannes Film Festival: “The Tree of Wooden Clogs” directed by Ermanno Olmi wins the Palme d’Or.

1980 — The first papal visit to France since 1814.

1980 — Turner’s painting “Juliet & Her Nurse” sells for $6.4 million.

1982 — “Do Black Patent Leather Shoes…” closes at Alvin NYC after five performances.

1982 — Spain becomes the 16th member of NATO.

1987 — Mike Tyson TKOs Pinklon Thomas in 6 for heavyweight boxing title.

1987 — North American Philips Company unveils compact disc video.

1989 — Margaret Ray pleads guilty to breaking into David Letterman’s house.

1991 — Arturo Barrios runs world record one-hour distance (21,096 km).

1991 — Supreme Court rules prosecutors can be sued for legal advice they give police and can be held accountable.

1997 — Civil rights activist Betty Shabazz, widow of Malcolm X, set on fire by her 12-year old grandson.

1998 — A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits northern Afghanistan, killing up to 5,000.

2000 — 35th Academy of Country Music Awards: Shania Twain, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw win.

 

30th May in the 21st Century

2003 — “Finding Nemo”, directed by Andrew Stanton and starring Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres is released in the US and Canada

2012 — A number of nations including Germany, Turkey and Canada, expel Syrian diplomats following the Houla massacre.

2012 — Vishwanathan Anand wins his fifth World Chess Championship.

2014 — Actor Seth MacFarlane’s “A Million Ways to Die in the West” is released to theatres, MacFarlane’s first live-action role on the big screen.

2014 — Former military chief al-Sisi wins 93 per cent of the vote in Egypt’s presidential election.

2015 — Namibia defeats Mozambique 2-0 to win the 2015 COSAFA Cup.

2016 — Former Chad dictator Hissène Habré convicted of crimes against humanity by the Extraordinary African chambers, the first ex-head of state convicted of the charge.

2017 — A car bomb outside an ice cream shop in Baghdad kills 17. Islamic State claims responsibility.

2017 — Bomb outside government pension office in Baghdad kills 14, injures 34. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

2017 — Singer and actress Olivia Newton-John reveals her b****t cancer has returned after 25 years.

2017 — Large suicide bomb in the diplomatic quarter of Kabul, Afghanistan kills more than 150 and injures 400.