On This Day — 30 January

2020

The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

World Health Organization

2013

Naro-1 becomes the first carrier rocket launched by South Korea.

Naro-1

2007

Microsoft Corporation releases Windows Vista, a major release of the operating system Microsoft Windows and the NT based kernel.

Microsoft

2006

The Goleta postal facility shootings occur, killing seven people before the perpetrator took her own life.

2006 Goleta postal facility shooting

2000

Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ivory Coast, killing 169.

Kenya Airways Flight 431

1995

Hydroxycarbamide becomes the first approved preventive treatment for sickle cell disease.

Hydroxycarbamide

1989

The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is closed.

Embassy of the United States, Kabul

1982

Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called "Elk Cloner".

Rich Skrenta

1979

A Varig Boeing 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.

Varig

1975

The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is established as the first United States National Marine Sanctuary.

Monitor National Marine Sanctuary

1975

Turkish Airlines Flight 345 crashes into the Sea of Marmara near Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport, killing 42.

Turkish Airlines Flight 345

1974

Pan Am Flight 806 crashes near Pago Pago International Airport in American Samoa, killing 97.

Pan Am Flight 806

1972

The Troubles: Bloody Sunday: British paratroopers open fire on anti-internment marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing 13 people; another person later dies of injuries sustained.

The Troubles

1972

Pakistan leaves the Commonwealth of Nations in protest of its recognition of breakaway Bangladesh.

Pakistan

1969

The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.

The Beatles

1968

Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies.

Vietnam War

1964

In a bloodless coup, General Nguyễn Khánh overthrows General Dương Văn Minh's military junta in South Vietnam.

Nguyễn Khánh

1960

The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties.

African National Party

1959

The forces of the Sultanate of Muscat occupy the last strongholds of the Imamate of Oman, Saiq and Shuraijah, marking the end of Jebel Akhdar War in Oman.

Saiq

1959

MS Hans Hedtoft, specifically designed to operate in icebound seas, strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks, killing all 95 aboard.

MS Hans Hedtoft

1956

In the United States, Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery bus boycott.

Civil rights movement

1948

British South American Airways' Tudor IV Star Tiger disappears over the Bermuda Triangle.

British South American Airways

1948

Following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in his home compound, India's prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, broadcasts to the nation, saying "The light has gone out of our lives". The date of the assassination becomes observed as "Martyrs' Day" in India.

Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

1945

World War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with German refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing approximately 9,500 people.

MV Wilhelm Gustloff

1945

World War II: Raid at Cabanatuan: One hundred and twenty-six American Rangers and Filipino resistance fighters liberate over 500 Allied prisoners from the Japanese-controlled Cabanatuan POW camp.

Raid at Cabanatuan

1944

World War II: The Battle of Cisterna, part of Operation Shingle, begins in central Italy.

Battle of Cisterna

1942

World War II: Japanese forces invade the island of Ambon in the Dutch East Indies. Some 300 captured Allied troops are killed after the surrender. One-quarter of the remaining POWs remain alive at the end of the war.

World War II

1939

During a speech in the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler makes a prediction about the end of the Jewish race in Europe if another world war were to occur.

30 January 1939 Reichstag speech

1933

Adolf Hitler's rise to power: Hitler takes office as the Chancellor of Germany.

Adolf Hitler's rise to power

1930

The Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union orders the confiscation of lands belonging to the Kulaks in a campaign of Dekulakization, resulting in the executions and forced deportations of millions.

Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

1925

The Government of Turkey expels Patriarch Constantine VI from Istanbul.

Turkey

1920

Japanese carmaker Mazda is founded, initially as a cork-producing company.

Mazda

1911

The destroyer USS Terry makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of Douglas McCurdy 16 kilometres (10 miles) from Havana, Cuba.

USS Terry (DD-25)

1908

Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is released from prison by Jan C. Smuts after being tried and sentenced to two months in jail earlier in the month.

Mahatma Gandhi

1902

The first Anglo-Japanese Alliance is signed in London.

Anglo-Japanese Alliance

1889

Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in the Mayerling.

Archduke

1862

American Civil War: The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.

American Civil War

1858

The first Hallé concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of The Hallé orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra.

Manchester

1847

Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco, California.

Yerba Buena, California

1835

In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson, but fails and is subdued by a crowd, including several congressmen as well as Jackson himself.

Richard Lawrence (failed assassin)

1826

The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the northwest coast of Wales, is opened.

Menai Suspension Bridge

1820

Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica.

Edward Bransfield

1806

The original Lower Trenton Bridge (also called the Trenton Makes the World Takes Bridge), which spans the Delaware River between Morrisville, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey, is opened.

Lower Trenton Bridge

1789

Tây Sơn forces emerge victorious against Qing armies and liberate the capital Thăng Long.

Tây Sơn dynasty

1667

The Truce of Andrusovo is signed, ending the Russian-Polish War of 1654-1667.

Truce of Andrusovo

1661

Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed more than two years after his death, on the 12th anniversary of the execution of the monarch he himself deposed.

Oliver Cromwell

1649

Charles I of England is executed in Whitehall, London.

Charles I of England

1648

Eighty Years' War: The Treaty of Münster and Osnabrück is signed, ending the conflict between the Netherlands and Spain.

Eighty Years' War

1607

An estimated 200 square miles (51,800 ha) along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary in England are destroyed by massive flooding, resulting in an estimated 2,000 deaths.

Bristol Channel

1287

King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.

Wareru

1018

Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.

Poland