On This Day — 30 September

2016

Hurricane Matthew becomes a Category 5 hurricane, making it the strongest hurricane to form in the Caribbean Sea since 2007.

Hurricane Matthew

2016

Two paintings with a combined value of $100 million are recovered after having been stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in 2002.

Van Gogh Museum

2009

The 7.6 Mw  Sumatra earthquake leaves 1,115 people dead.

2009 Sumatra earthquakes

2005

Controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in a Danish newspaper.

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy

2000

Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Twelve-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah is shot and killed on the second day of the Second Intifada.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

1999

The Tokaimura nuclear accident causes the deaths of two technicians in Japan's second-worst nuclear accident.

Tokaimura nuclear accidents

1994

Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-68.

Space Shuttle Endeavour

1993

The 6.2 Mw  Latur earthquake shakes Maharashtra, India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) killing 9,748 and injuring 30,000.

1993 Latur earthquake

1980

Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation.

Ethernet

1978

Finnair Flight 405 is hijacked by Aarno Lamminparras in Oulu, Finland.

Finnair Flight 405

1975

Malév Flight 240 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while on approach to Beirut International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 60.

Malév Flight 240

1970

Jordan makes a deal with the PFLP for the release of the remaining hostages from the Dawson's Field hijackings.

Dawson's Field hijackings

1968

The Boeing 747 is rolled out and shown to the public for the first time.

Boeing 747

1966

Bechuanaland declares its independence, and becomes the Republic of Botswana.

Botswana

1960

The Flintstones animated sitcom premieres on ABC television.

The Flintstones

1954

The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world's first nuclear-powered vessel.

USS Nautilus (SSN-571)

1947

The 1947 World Series begins. It is the first to be televised, to include an African-American player, to exceed $2 million in receipts, to see a pinch-hit home run, and to have six umpires on the field.

1947 World Series

1947

Pakistan joins the United Nations.

Pakistan

1945

The Bourne End rail crash, in Hertfordshire, England, kills 43.

Bourne End rail crash

1944

World War II: the Germans commence a counter offensive to retake the Nijmegen salient, this having been captured by the allies during Operation Market Garden.

Battle of the Nijmegen salient

1943

The United States Merchant Marine Academy is dedicated by President Roosevelt.

United States Merchant Marine Academy

1941

World War II: The Babi Yar massacre comes to an end.

Babi Yar

1939

World War II: General Władysław Sikorski becomes prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile.

World War II

1939

NBC broadcasts the first televised American football game.

1939 Waynesburg vs. Fordham football game

1938

Britain, France, Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement, whereby Germany annexes the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.

Munich Agreement

1938

The League of Nations unanimously outlaws "intentional bombings of civilian populations".

League of Nations

1936

American journalists Herbert R. Ekins, reporter for the New York World-Telegram, Dorothy Kilgallen of the New York Journal and Leo Kieran of The New York Times start the race to travel around the world on commercial airline flights. The race takes 18 ½ days.

New York World-Telegram

1935

The Hoover Dam, astride the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, is dedicated.

Hoover Dam

1918

Ukrainian War of Independence: Insurgent forces led by Nestor Makhno defeats the Central Powers at the battle of Dibrivka.

Ukrainian War of Independence

1915

World War I: Radoje Ljutovac becomes the first soldier in history to shoot down an enemy aircraft with ground-to-air fire.

World War I

1909

The Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania makes a record-breaking westbound crossing of the Atlantic, that will not be bettered for 20 years.

RMS Mauretania (1906)

1907

The McKinley National Memorial, the final resting place of assassinated U.S. President William McKinley and his family, is dedicated in Canton, Ohio.

McKinley National Memorial

1906

The Royal Galician Academy, the Galician language's biggest linguistic authority, is established in La Coruña, Spain.

Royal Galician Academy

1888

Jack the Ripper kills his third and fourth victims, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes.

Jack the Ripper

1882

Thomas Edison's first commercial hydroelectric power plant, the Vulcan Street Plant, begins operation.

Thomas Edison

1863

Georges Bizet's opera Les pêcheurs de perles, premieres in Paris.

Georges Bizet

1791

The first performance of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute takes place two months before his death.

The Magic Flute

1791

France's National Constituent Assembly is dissolved, to be replaced the next day by the National Legislative Assembly.

National Constituent Assembly (France)

1744

War of the Austrian Succession: France and Spain defeat Sardinia at the Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo, but soon have to withdraw from Sardinia.

War of the Austrian Succession

1736

The Lebanese Council of 1736 begins, a major turning point in the reform of the Maronite Church. In the following three days, the assembled Maronite and Latin clergy presided by Yusuf ibn Siman as-Simani discuss various reforms and elaborate rules and canons.

Lebanese Council of 1736

1551

A coup by the military establishment of Japan's Ōuchi clan forces their lord to commit suicide, and their city is burned.

Tainei-ji incident

1520

Suleiman the Magnificent becomes sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Suleiman the Magnificent

1399

Henry IV is proclaimed king of England.

Henry IV of England

1342

Battle of Morlaix is fought in the Hundred Years' War.

Battle of Morlaix

1139

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes the Caucasus mountains in the Seljuk Empire, causing mass destruction and killing up to 300,000 people.

1139 Ganja earthquake

737

The Turgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their baggage train.

AD 737

489

The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time.

Ostrogoths