What happened on May 30? There are more than 295 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About May 30
May 30 is the 151st day of the year 2024. There are 215 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Thursday. This day falls under the 22nd week of the year 2024.
On this day in Charleston, West Virginia 25335 sunrise will occur at 06:03 AM and sunset will occur at 08:44 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Gemini. The modern birthstone for this month is Emerald while the mystical birthstone is Sapphire.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 244 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 21 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For May 30
- 70Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. The Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall. The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within fifteen kilometers.
- 1416The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII, burns Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy.
- 1431Hundred Years’ War: in Rouen, France, 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal. Because of this the Catholic Church remember this day as the celebration of Saint Joan of Arc.
- 1434Hussite Wars (Bohemian Wars): Battle of Lipany – effectively ending the war, Utraquist forces led by Diviš Bořek of Miletínek defeat and almost annihilate Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great.
- 1536King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.
- 1539In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.
- 1574Henry III becomes King of France.
- 1588The last ship of the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.
- 1631Publication of La Gazette, first French newspaper.
- 1635Thirty Years’ War: the Peace of Prague (1635) is signed.
- 1642From this date all honors granted by Charles I are retrospectively annulled by Parliament.
- 1806Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel after Dickinson had accused Jackson’s wife of bigamy.
- 1814Napoleonic Wars: War of the Sixth Coalition – the Treaty of Paris (1814) is signed returning French borders to their 1792 extent. Napoleon Bonaparte is exiled to Elba.
- 1815The East Indiaman ship Arniston is wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas, present-day South Africa, with the loss of 372 lives.
- 1832End of the Hambach Festival in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
- 1832The Rideau Canal in eastern Ontario is opened.
- 1834Joaquim António de Aguiar issue a law extinguishing “all convents, monasteries, colleges, hospices and any other houses of the regular religious orders”, earning him the nickname of “The Friar-Killer”.
- 1842John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill, London with Prince Albert.
- 1854The Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes law establishing the US territories of Nebraska and Kansas.
- 1859Westminster’s Big Ben rang for the first time in London.
- 1868Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern “Memorial Day”) is observed in the United States for the first time (By “Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic” John A. Logan’s proclamation on May 5).
- 1871The Paris Commune falls.
- 1876Ottoman sultan Abd-ul-Aziz is deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murat V.
- 1879New York, New York’s Gilmores Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
- 1883In New York City, a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge is going to collapse causes a stampede that crushes twelve people.
- 1899Female Old West outlaw Pearl Hart robs a stage coach 30 miles southeast of Globe, Arizona.
- 1911At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ends with Ray Harroun in his Marmon Wasp becoming the first winner of the 500-mile auto race.
- 1913First Balkan War: the Treaty of London, 1913 is signed ending the war. Albania becomes an independent nation.
- 1914The new and then largest Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, sets sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City.
- 1917Alexander I becomes king of Greece.
- 1922In Washington, D.C. the Lincoln Memorial is dedicated.
- 1925May 30 Movement: Shanghai Municipal Police Force shot 13 protesting workers to death.
- 1941World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb on the Athenian Acropolis, tear down the Nazi swastika.
- 1942World War II: 1000 British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.
- 1948A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.
- 1958Memorial Day: the remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, are buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
- 1959The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened by Governor-General Lord Cobham.
- 1961Long time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
- 1963A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination during the Buddhist crisis is held outside South Vietnam’s National Assembly, the first open demonstration during the eight-year rule of Ngo Dinh Diem.
- 1966Former Congolese Prime Minister Evariste Kimba and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu.
- 1966Launch of Surveyor 1 the first US spacecraft to achieve landing on an extraterrestrial body.
- 1967The Nigerian Eastern Region declares independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war.
- 1968Charles de Gaulle reappears publicly after his flight to Baden-Baden, Germany, and dissolves the French National Assembly by a radio appeal. Immediately after, less than one million of his supporters march on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. This is the turning point of May 1968 in France.
- 1971Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars.
- 1972In Tel Aviv, Israel members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport Massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.
- 1972The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout the United Kingdom.
- 1989Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: the 33-foot high “Goddess of Democracy” statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.
- 1998A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits northern Afghanistan, killing up to 5,000.
- 1998Nuclear Testing: Pakistan conducts an underground test in the Kharan Desert. It is reported to be a plutonium device with yield of 20kt.
- 2003Depayin massacre: at least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy are killed by government-sponsored mob in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi fled the scene, but is arrested soon afterwards.
Who Were Born On May 30?
- 1010Emperor Renzong of China (d. 1063)
- 1423Georg Purbach, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1461)
- 1623John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, English politician (d. 1686)
- 1653Claudia Felicitas of Austria, Empress consort of Germany (d. 1676)
- 1713Princess Caroline Elizabeth of Great Britain (d. 1757)
- 1718Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, English politician (d. 1793)
- 1719Roger Newdigate, English politician (d. 1806)
- 1757Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, British statesman (d. 1844)
- 1768Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty, French cavalry commander (d. 1815)
- 1768Karl Friedrich Naumann, German mineralogist and geologist (d. 1873)
- 1800Henri-Marie-Gaston Boisnormand de Bonnechose French archbishop of Rouen and senator (d. 1883)
- 1814Eugène Charles Catalan, Belgian mathematician (d. 1894)
- 1814Mikhail Bakunin, Russian anarchist (d. 1876)
- 1819William McMurdo, British army officer (d. 1894)
- 1820Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, French Canadian politician (d. 1890)
- 1844Félix Arnaudin, French poet and folklorist (d. 1921)
- 1845King Amadeo I of Spain (d. 1890)
- 1846Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian goldsmith and jeweler (d. 1920)
- 1858Siegfried Alkan, German composer (d. 1941)
- 1871Olga Engl, Austrian actress (d. 1946)
- 1874Ernest Duchesne, French physician (d. 1912)
- 1875Giovanni Gentile, Italian philosopher (d. 1944)
- 1878Mike Donlin, American baseball player (d. 1933)
- 1879Colin Blythe, English cricketer (d. 1917)
- 1881Georg von Küchler, German field marshal (d. 1968)
- 1882Wyndham Halswelle, Scottish runner (d. 1915)
- 1886Randolph Bourne, American writer (d. 1918)
- 1887Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian artist (d. 1964)
- 1890Roger Salengro, French politician (d. 1936)
- 1892Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter (d. 1972)
- 1894Hubertus van Mook, Acting Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1942 to 1948 (d. 1965)
- 1895Maurice Tate, English cricketer (d. 1956)
- 1896Howard Hawks, American film director (d. 1977)
- 1899Irving Thalberg, American film producer (d. 1936)
- 1901Cornelia Otis Skinner, American writer and actress (d. 1979)
- 1902Stepin Fetchit, American dancer and actor (d. 1985)
- 1906Bruno Gröning, German mystic (d. 1959)
- 1907Elly Beinhorn, German pilot (d. 2007)
- 1907Germaine Tillion, French anthropologist, member of French Resistance (d. 2008)
- 1908Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
- 1908Mel Blanc, American voice actor (d. 1989)
- 1909Benny Goodman, American clarinetist and bandleader (d. 1986)
- 1909Jacques Canetti, French talent-spotter (d. 1997)
- 1910Harry Bernstein, British-born American writer
- 1910Inge Meysel, German actress (d. 2004)
- 1910Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete (d. 1978)
- 1912Erich Bagge, German physicist (d. 1996)
- 1912Hugh Griffith, Welsh actor (d. 1980)
- 1912Joseph Stein, American playwright (d. 2010)
- 1912Julius Axelrod, American biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
- 1914Akinoumi Setsuo, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 37th Yokozuna (d. 1979)
- 1916Justin Catayée, French politician (d. 1962)
- 1918Bob Evans, American restaurateur (d. 2007)
- 1918Guadalupe “Pita” Amor, Mexican poet (d. 2000)
- 1919René Barrientos, President of Bolivia (d. 1969)
- 1920Franklin Schaffner, American film director (d. 1989)
- 1922Hal Clement, American writer (d. 2003)
- 1926Christine Jorgensen, American transsexual activist (d. 1989)
- 1927Clint Walker, American actor
- 1928Agnès Varda, French director
- 1928Kevin Charles “Pro” Hart, Australian artist (d. 2006)
- 1929Georges Gilson, French Catholic bishop
- 1930Mark Birley, British nightclub owner (d. 2007)
- 1930Robert Ryman, American painter
- 1932Pauline Oliveros, American composer and accordionist
- 1934Aleksei Leonov, Russian cosmonaut
- 1934Alketas Panagoulias, Greek footballer and coach
- 1935Lee Gunther, American television producer and editor (d. 1998)
- 1936Keir Dullea, American actor
- 1936Ruta Lee, Canadian actress
- 1937Harry Statham, American basketball coach
- 1939Dieter Quester, Austrian racing driver
- 1939Michael J. Pollard, American actor
- 1940Gilles Villemure, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1943Gale Sayers, American football player
- 1943James Chaney, American civil rights activist (d. 1964)
- 1944Meredith MacRae, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1944Stav Prodromou, American technology executive
- 1945Norman Eshley, English actor
- 1946Allan Chapman, English historian of science
- 1947Jocelyne Bourassa, French Canadian golfer
- 1948Michael Piller, American screenwriter (d. 2005)
- 1949Klaüs Flouride (né Geoffrey Lyall), American musician (Dead Kennedys)
- 1949P.J. Carlesimo, American basketball coach
- 1950Bertrand Delanoë, French politician
- 1950Dann Glenn, American Guitarist and Composer
- 1950Paresh Rawal, Indian actor
- 1951Fernando Lugo, Paraguayan politician
- 1951Stephen Tobolowsky, American actor
- 1951Zdravko Čolić, Yugoslav-Bosnian singer
- 1952Scott Holmes, American actor
- 1953Colm Meaney, Irish actor
- 1955Jake “The Snake” Roberts, American wrestler
- 1955Topper Headon, British musician (The Clash)
- 1958Marie Fredriksson, Swedish singer and songwriter (Roxette)
- 1958Michael Lopez-Alegria, Spanish American astronaut
- 1958Steve Israel, American politician
- 1958Ted McGinley, American actor
- 1959Frank Vanhecke, Belgian politician
- 1959Phil Brown, English football manager (Hull City)
- 1961Bob Yari, Iranian-born American film producer
- 1961Harry Enfield, British comedian
- 1961Ralph Carter, American actor
- 1962Kevin Eastman, American comic book creator (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
- 1962Tonya Pinkins, American actress
- 1963Élise Lucet, French journalist and television host
- 1963Helen Sharman, British chemist, the first Briton in space
- 1964Andrea Montermini, Italian racing driver
- 1964Tom Morello, American guitarist (Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine)
- 1964Wynonna Judd, American country singer
- 1965Billy Donovan, American college basketball coach
- 1966Stephen Malkmus, American musician (Pavement)
- 1967Tim Burgess, English singer (The Charlatans)
- 1968Kelley Armstrong, Canadian author
- 1968Zacarias Moussaoui, French convicted terrorist
- 1969Naomi Kawase, Japanese film director
- 1969Ryuhei Kitamura, Japanese filmmaker
- 1970Flora Chan, Hong Kong television actress
- 1970Ness Wadia, Indian industrialist
- 1971Duncan Jones, English film director, son of David Bowie
- 1971Idina Menzel, American actress and singer
- 1972Manny Ramírez, Dominican Republic baseball player
- 1972Soichiro Hoshi, Japanese voice actor
- 1973Leigh Francis, British comedian
- 1974Big L, American rapper (d. 1999)
- 1974Cee-Lo Green, American musician
- 1974David Wilkie, American ice hockey player
- 1974Konstantinos Chalkias, Greek footballer
- 1974Shin Ha-kyun, South Korean actor
- 1975Andrew Farrell, English rugby league and union footballer
- 1975Brian Fair, American singer
- 1975Evan Eschmeyer, American basketball player
- 1976Magnus Norman, Swedish tennis player
- 1976Margaret Okayo, Kenyan athlete
- 1976Rasho Nesterovič, Slovenian basketball player
- 1977Akwá, Angolan footballer
- 1977Rachael Stirling, British actress
- 1978Cyrus King, American actor
- 1978Eric Searle American Musician
- 1978Lyoto Machida, Brazilian mixed martial artist
- 1979Clint Bowyer, American NASCAR driver
- 1979Kugimiya Rie, Japanese voice actress
- 1979Mike Bishai, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980Steven Gerrard, English footballer
- 1981Ahmad Elrich, Australian footballer
- 1981Blake Bashoff, American actor
- 1981Devendra Banhart, American singer and songwriter
- 1981Gianmaria Bruni, Italian racing driver
- 1981Hisanori Takada, Japanese footballer
- 1981Lars Møller Madsen, Danish handball player
- 1981Remy Ma, American rapper
- 1982Eddie Griffin, American basketball player (d. 2007)
- 1982James Simpson-Daniel, English rugby player
- 1983Jennifer Ellison, English actress, model, singer
- 1984Jordan Palmer, American football player
- 1984Matt Maguire, Australian rules footballer
- 1984Sham Kwok Fai, Hong Kong footballer
- 1987Joyce Cheng, Hong Kong musician, writer, actress and performer
- 1988Antonio Winterstein, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1988Kelvin Etuhu, Nigerian footballer
- 1989Kevin Covais, American singer
- 1990Dean Collins, American actor
- 1990Yoona (Im Yoon-a), South Korean singer (Girls’ Generation)
Who Died On May 30?
- 1159Wladislaus II the Exile of Poland (b. 1105)
- 1252King Ferdinand III of Castile (b. 1199)
- 1416Jerome of Prague, Czech theologian (b. 1379)
- 1431Joan of Arc, French military figure and Catholic saint (b. 1412)
- 1434Prokop the Great, Hussite general
- 1469Lope de Barrientos, Spanish bishop (b. 1382)
- 1574King Charles IX of France (b. 1550)
- 1576Harada Naomasa, Japanese retainer and samurai
- 1593Christopher Marlowe, English playwright (b. 1564)
- 1640Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish painter (b. 1577)
- 1696Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell, First Lord of the British Admiralty (b. 1638)
- 1712Andrea Lanzani, Italian painter of the Baroque period (b. c. 1645)
- 1718Arnold Joost van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle, Dutch noble (b. 1670)
- 1730Arabella Churchill, English mistress of James II of England (b. 1648)
- 1744Alexander Pope, English writer (b. 1688)
- 1770François Boucher, French painter (b. 1703)
- 1778Voltaire, French philosopher and author (b. 1694)
- 1829Philibert Jean-Baptiste Curial, French military figure (b. 1774)
- 1832James Mackintosh, Scottish jurist, politician and historian (b. 1765)
- 1865John Catron, American jurist (b. 1786)
- 1868Okita Sōji, Japanese law enforcement figure (b. 1823)
- 1901Victor D'Hondt, Belgian mathematician (b. 1841)
- 1911Milton Bradley, American game pioneer (b. 1836)
- 1912Wilbur Wright, American aviatior (b. 1867)
- 1918Georgi Plekhanov, Russian Marxist theoretician (b. 1856)
- 1925Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian (b. 1876)
- 1926Vladimir Steklov, Russian physicist (b. 1864)
- 1934Togo Heihachiro, Japanese admiral (b. 1848)
- 1939Floyd Roberts, American race car driver (b. 1904)
- 1941King Prajadhipok of Thailand (b. 1893)
- 1946Louis Slotin, Canadian scientist (b. 1910)
- 1947Georg Ludwig von Trapp, Austrian submarine commander (b. 1880)
- 1948József Klekl, Slovene politician (b. 1874)
- 1949Emmanuel Célestin Suhard, French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church (b. 1874)
- 1951Hermann Broch, Austrian author (b. 1886)
- 1953Dooley Wilson, American musician and actor (b. 1886)
- 1955Bill Vukovich, American race car driver (b. 1918)
- 1960Boris Pasternak, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)
- 1961Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, Dominican Republic dictator (b. 1891)
- 1964Dave MacDonald, American auto racer (b. 1936)
- 1964Eddie Sachs, American auto racer (b. 1927)
- 1964Leó Szilárd, Hungarian nuclear physicist (b. 1898)
- 1965Louis Hjelmslev, Danish linguist (b. 1899)
- 1967Claude Rains, English actor (b. 1889)
- 1967Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Austrian film director (b.1885)
- 1971Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (b. 1886)
- 1975Michel Simon, French actor (b. 1895)
- 1975Steve Prefontaine, American distance runner (b. 1951)
- 1975Tatsuo Shimabuku, Japanese martial artist (b. 1908)
- 1976Max Carey, American baseball player (b. 1890)
- 1980Carl Radle, American bass guitarist (b. 1942)
- 1981Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1955)
- 1981Ziaur Rahman, Bangladeshi statesman (b. 1936)
- 1986Perry Ellis, American fashion designer (b. 1940)
- 1988Robert O'Reilly, Australian singer (b. 1940)
- 1993Sun Ra, American musician (b. 1914)
- 1994Agostino Di Bartolomei, Italian footballer (b. 1955)
- 1994Ezra Taft Benson, American religious figure (b. 1899)
- 1994Marcel Bich, French industrialist (b. 1914)
- 1995Bobby Stokes, English footballer (b. 1951)
- 1995Lofty England, English automotive engineer (b. 1911)
- 1995Ted Drake, English footballer (b. 1912)
- 1996Léon-Etienne Duval, French Roman Catholic Cardinal (b. 1903)
- 2000Doris Hare, Welsh actress (b. 1905)
- 2000Tex Beneke, American bandleader and musician (b. 1914)
- 2003Mickie Most, English record producer (b. 1938)
- 2005Alma Ziegler, American baseball player (b. 1918)
- 2005Fazal Mahmood, Pakistani cricketer (b. 1927)
- 2005Tomasz Pacyński, Polish writer (b. 1958)
- 2006David Lloyd, New Zealand biologist (b. 1938)
- 2006Robert Sterling, American actor (b. 1917)
- 2006Shohei Imamura, Japanese film director (b. 1926)
- 2007Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, Indian poet (b.1927)
- 2007Jean-Claude Brialy, French actor and author (b. 1933)
- 2008Auguste Legros, French politician (b.1922)
- 2008Lorenzo Odone, American medical figure (b. 1978)
- 2008Noel Moore, British civil servant (b. 1928)
- 2009Torsten Andersson, Swedish painter (b. 1926)
- 2010Duff Roblin, Canadian politician (b. 1917)
- 2010Joan Rhodes, British performer and stuntwoman (b. 1921)
- 2010Peter Orlovsky, American poet (b. 1933)
- 2011Clarice Taylor, American actress (b. 1917)
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