History of Today 30 September: Important Events, Births and Deaths

Welcome to History of Today 30 September. On this page, you can read important historical events, famous births, notable deaths and general knowledge facts related to 30 September. This information is useful for UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway, State PSC and other competitive exams.

Last updated on 30 September 2026, 01:00 AM

Important Events on 30 September in History

30 Sep 2016: Hurricane Matthew becomes a Category 5 hurricane, making it the strongest hurricane to form in the Caribbean Sea since 2007. Read more
30 Sep 2016: Two paintings with a combined value of $100 million are recovered after having been stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in 2002. Read more
30 Sep 2009: The 7.6 Mw Sumatra earthquake leaves 1,115 people dead. Read more
30 Sep 2005: Controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in a Danish newspaper. Read more
30 Sep 2000: Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Twelve-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah is shot and killed on the second day of the Second Intifada. Read more
30 Sep 1999: The Tokaimura nuclear accident causes the deaths of two technicians in Japan's second-worst nuclear accident. Read more
30 Sep 1994: Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-68. Read more
30 Sep 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. Read more
30 Sep 1980: Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation. Read more
30 Sep 1978: Finnair Flight 405 is hijacked by Aarno Lamminparras in Oulu, Finland. Read more
30 Sep 1975: Malév Flight 240 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while on approach to Beirut International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 60. Read more
30 Sep 1970: Jordan makes a deal with the PFLP for the release of the remaining hostages from the Dawson's Field hijackings. Read more
30 Sep 1968: The Boeing 747 is rolled out and shown to the public for the first time. Read more
30 Sep 1966: Bechuanaland declares its independence, and becomes the Republic of Botswana. Read more
30 Sep 1960: The Flintstones animated sitcom premieres on ABC television. Read more
30 Sep 1954: The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world's first nuclear-powered vessel. Read more
30 Sep 1949: The Berlin Airlift ends. Read more
30 Sep 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. Read more
30 Sep 1947: Pakistan joins the United Nations. Read more
30 Sep 1945: The Bourne End rail crash, in Hertfordshire, England, kills 43. Read more
30 Sep 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. Read more
30 Sep 1943: The United States Merchant Marine Academy is dedicated by President Roosevelt. Read more
30 Sep 1941: World War II: The Babi Yar massacre comes to an end. Read more
30 Sep 1939: World War II: General Władysław Sikorski becomes prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile. Read more
30 Sep 1939: NBC broadcasts the first televised American football game. Read more
30 Sep 1938: Britain, France, Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement, whereby Germany annexes the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. Read more
30 Sep 1938: The League of Nations unanimously outlaws "intentional bombings of civilian populations". Read more
30 Sep 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. Read more
30 Sep 1935: The Hoover Dam, astride the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, is dedicated. Read more
30 Sep 1919: The Elaine massacre in Arkansas commences. Read more
30 Sep 1918: Ukrainian War of Independence: Insurgent forces led by Nestor Makhno defeats the Central Powers at the battle of Dibrivka. Read more
30 Sep 1915: World War I: Radoje Ljutovac becomes the first soldier in history to shoot down an enemy aircraft with ground-to-air fire. Read more
30 Sep 1909: The Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania makes a record-breaking westbound crossing of the Atlantic, that will not be bettered for 20 years. Read more
30 Sep 1907: The McKinley National Memorial, the final resting place of assassinated U.S. President William McKinley and his family, is dedicated in Canton, Ohio. Read more
30 Sep 1906: The Royal Galician Academy, the Galician language's biggest linguistic authority, is established in La Coruña, Spain. Read more
30 Sep 1888: Jack the Ripper kills his third and fourth victims, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes. Read more
30 Sep 1882: Thomas Edison's first commercial hydroelectric power plant, the Vulcan Street Plant, begins operation. Read more
30 Sep 1863: Georges Bizet's opera Les pêcheurs de perles, premieres in Paris. Read more

Famous Births on 30 September

30 Sep 2003: Alberto Moleiro, Spanish footballer Alberto Moleiro González is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder for Villarreal CF. Read more
30 Sep 2002: Levi Miller, Australian actor and model Levi Zane Miller is an Australian actor and model. He is known for playing Peter Pan in Pan (2015), Luke in Better Watch Out (2016), and Calvin in A Wrinkle in Time (2018). Read more
30 Sep 2002: Maddie Ziegler, American dancer and actress Madison Nicole Ziegler is an American actress and dancer. She appeared in Lifetime's reality show Dance Moms from 2011 at age 8 until 2016, and starred in a series of music videos by Sia, beginning with "Chandelier" and "Elastic Heart", which have in total attracted more than 6 billion views on YouTube. Ziegler has also appeared in films, television shows, concerts, advertisements and on magazine covers. Read more
30 Sep 1998: Landon Dickerson, American football player Landon Marshall Dickerson is an American professional football guard for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football as a center for the Florida State Seminoles and the Alabama Crimson Tide, and was selected by the Eagles in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft. Read more
30 Sep 1998: Yui Imaizumi, Japanese actress, singer, model, and television personality Yui Imaizumi is a Japanese actress, singer, model, and television personality. She rose to prominence as a founding member of the girl group Keyakizaka46. Beyond her musical career, she entered the fashion industry, serving as a regular model for the fashion magazine Ar. After departing the group in 2018, she pursued acting and stage work, including lead roles in the series Million Joe (2019) and stage plays Azumi (2020) and Lady Snowblood (2021). She briefly stepped away from the spotlight in 2022 for health and personal reasons before returning to the entertainment industry in 2025. Read more
30 Sep 1998: Trevi Moran, American YouTuber and singer Trevi Michaela Moran is an American singer and YouTube personality. She rose to fame after participating in The X Factor in 2012 at the age of 13. As of April 2020, Moran's YouTube channel surpassed 1.4 million subscribers. Read more
30 Sep 1997: Yana Kudryavtseva, Russian gymnast Yana Alexeyevna Kudryavtseva is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2016 Olympic All-around silver medalist, three-time World Champion in the All-around (2013–2015), the 2015 European Games All-around champion, two-time European Championships All-around champion, the 2012 European Junior ball champion. In national level, she is a two-time Russian National All-around champion and three time Russian Junior National all-around champion. Read more
30 Sep 1997: Max Verstappen, Dutch race car driver Max Emilian Verstappen is a Dutch and Belgian racing driver who competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing. Verstappen has won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won consecutively from 2021 to 2024 with Red Bull, and has won 71 Grands Prix across 12 seasons. Read more
30 Sep 1996: Aaron Holiday, American basketball player Aaron Shawn Holiday is an American professional basketball player
for Maxima Roma of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroCup. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, where he earned All-American recognition. He was selected by the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2018 NBA draft with the 23rd overall pick. Read more
30 Sep 1994: Aliya Mustafina, Russian gymnast Aliya Farkhatovna Mustafina is a Russian former artistic gymnast. Read more
30 Sep 1992: Bria Hartley, French-American basketball player Bria Nicole Hartley is a French-American professional basketball player for the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA and Galatasaray of the Turkish Super League. She was drafted seventh overall by the Seattle Storm in the 2014 WNBA draft and was immediately traded to the Washington Mystics. Hartley played shooting guard for the UConn women's basketball team, and won back to back national championships in 2013 and 2014. Read more
30 Sep 1992: Ezra Miller, American actor and singer Ezra Matthew Miller is an American actor. Their feature film debut was in Afterschool (2008), which they followed by starring in the dramas We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012). Read more
30 Sep 1991: David Bakhtiari, American football player David Afrasiab Assad Bakhtiari is an American former professional football offensive tackle. Selected by the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL draft, Bakhtiari played for the Packers for 11 seasons. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes from 2009 to 2012. Read more
30 Sep 1991: Joffrey Lauvergne, French basketball player Joffrey Stéphane Morgan Lauvergne is a French professional basketball player for Partizan Belgrade of the Serbian SuperLeague, the ABA League, and the EuroLeague. He was drafted 55th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2013 NBA draft, who then traded his rights to the Denver Nuggets. Read more
30 Sep 1991: Thomas Röhler, German javelin thrower Thomas Röhler is a German track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is the 2016 Olympic Champion and 2018 European Champion. His personal best of 93.90 m for the event ranks him third on the overall list. Read more
30 Sep 1989: Jasmine Thomas, American basketball player Jasmine Thomas is an American former professional basketball player. She last played for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Read more
30 Sep 1988: Natalie Eggermont, Belgian politician Natalie Eggermont is a Belgian physician, politician and member of the Chamber of Representatives. A member of the Workers' Party of Belgium, she has represented West Flanders since June 2024. Read more
30 Sep 1987: Aida Garifullina, Russian operatic soprano Aida Emilevna Garifullina is a Russian lyric soprano of Tatar descent. She was the winner of the 2013 Operalia competition and has featured in a number of productions staged at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg and the Vienna State Opera. She has a recording contract with Decca Records. Read more
30 Sep 1987: Kenley Jansen, Curaçaoan baseball player Kenley Geronimo Jansen is a Curaçaoan professional baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Angels. He has represented the Netherlands national baseball team in international competition. Read more
30 Sep 1986: Jarron Gilbert, American footballer Jarron Kendrick Gilbert is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 2009 NFL draft. He played college football at San Jose State. Gilbert was also a member of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills. Read more
30 Sep 1986: Olivier Giroud, French footballer Olivier Jonathan Giroud is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club Lille. Read more
30 Sep 1986: Martin Guptill, New Zealand cricketer Martin James Guptill is a New Zealand cricketer who played for New Zealand as an opening batsman in all formats of the game. Guptill is the first cricketer from New Zealand and the fifth overall to have scored a double century in a One Day International match and holds the current record for the highest individual score in a Cricket World Cup match and the second highest score in One Day Internationals of 237 not out. In March 2021, Guptill played in his 100th Twenty20 International match. He was part of the New Zealand squads to finish as runners-up in two Cricket World Cup finals in 2015 and 2019. Read more
30 Sep 1986: Ben Lovett, Welsh musician and songwriter Benjamin Walter David Lovett is a British musician and producer, best known for being a member of the British folk rock band Mumford & Sons. Read more
30 Sep 1986: Cristián Zapata, Colombian footballer Cristián Eduardo Zapata Valencia is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. A quick and physically powerful defender, known for his hard marking of opponents and strength in the air, he usually played as a centre back. Although naturally right footed, he can also play as a full-back on either side of the pitch, as he is comfortable with both feet. Read more
30 Sep 1985: Adam Cooney, Australian footballer Adam Cooney is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Western Bulldogs and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He won the Brownlow Medal in 2008, with 24 votes becoming the tenth Western Bulldogs player to win the award. Read more
30 Sep 1985: Téa Obreht, Serbian-American author Téa Obreht is an American novelist. She won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2011 for The Tiger's Wife, her debut novel. Read more
30 Sep 1985: Cristian Rodríguez, Uruguayan footballer Cristian Gabriel Rodríguez Barrotti is a Uruguayan former professional footballer who played as a winger. Read more
30 Sep 1984: T-Pain, American rapper, producer, and actor Faheem Rashad Najm, known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for pioneering the creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electronic-styled vocal performances. Blending its use with R&B and hip-hop sensibilities, T-Pain played a key role in defining rap-singing throughout the 2000s. Read more
30 Sep 1983: Adam Jones, American football player and analyst Adam Bernard Jones is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. Nicknamed "Pacman", he played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers and was selected by the Tennessee Titans with the sixth overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft. Read more
30 Sep 1983: Andreea Răducan, Romanian gymnast Andreea Mădălina Răducan is a Romanian sports announcer, journalist, and retired gymnast. Read more
30 Sep 1982: Lacey Chabert, American actress Lacey Nicole Chabert is an American actress. One of her first roles as a child actress was the part of Bianca Montgomery, the daughter of Erica Kane, on All My Children from 1992 to 1993. She gained further prominence for her portrayal of Claudia Salinger in the Fox television drama Party of Five (1994–2000). Read more
30 Sep 1982: Ryane Clowe, Canadian ice hockey player Ryane Clowe is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the San Jose Sharks, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. He was drafted into the NHL by the San Jose Sharks in the sixth round, 175th overall, at the 2001 NHL entry draft. In 2018, he was named the head coach of the ECHL's Newfoundland Growlers, a position he resigned from in January 2019.
He was a hockey advisor for the New York Rangers from 2021-22 to the 2023-24 season. On July 3, 2024 Clowe was named assistant general manager of the San Jose Sharks.Ryane Clowe resigned as San Jose Sharks assistant general manager on September 7, 2025, after just one season, citing family reasons. The 42-year-old immediately rejoined the New York Rangers as an assistant general manager on September 8, 2025, returning to the East Coast. Read more
30 Sep 1982: Kieran Culkin, American actor Kieran Kyle Culkin is an American actor. Known for portraying distasteful yet sympathetic characters across stage and screen, his accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. Read more
30 Sep 1982: Andrew Hastie, Australian politician Andrew William Hastie is an Australian politician and former military officer who has served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Representatives since 2026. He has been the member of parliament (MP) for the Western Australian division of Canning since 2015. Read more
30 Sep 1982: Seth Smith, American baseball player Garry Seth Smith is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles. He was the Rockies' 2nd round pick in the 2004 MLB draft. Read more
30 Sep 1981: Cecelia Ahern, Irish author Cecelia Ahern is an Irish novelist, known for her works like Where Rainbows End, If You Could See Me Now, and PS, I Love You. Born in Dublin, Ahern is published in nearly fifty countries, and has sold over 25 million copies of her novels worldwide. Two of her books have been adapted as motion films. The short story collection Roar has been adapted as a series for Apple TV+. Read more
30 Sep 1981: Dominique Moceanu, American gymnast Dominique Helena Moceanu is an American former artistic gymnast. She was a member of the gold medal-winning United States women's gymnastics team, the "Magnificent Seven", at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. She won two medals at the 1995 World Championships and the all-around title at the 1998 Goodwill Games. Read more
30 Sep 1980: Martina Hingis, Swiss tennis player Martina Hingis is a Swiss former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 209 weeks and as the world No. 1 in women's doubles for 90 weeks, holding both No. 1 rankings simultaneously for 29 weeks. Hingis won 43 WTA Tour-level singles titles and 64 doubles titles, including a total of 25 major titles: five in singles, 13 in women's doubles, and seven in mixed doubles. In addition, she won the season-ending Tour Finals two times in singles and three in doubles, an Olympic silver medal in doubles, and a record 17 Tier I singles titles. Read more
30 Sep 1980: Milagros Sequera, Venezuelan tennis player Milagros Sequera Huss is a Venezuelan former professional tennis player. Read more
30 Sep 1980: Toni Trucks, American actress Toni Trucks is an American actress, best known as Lieutenant Lisa Davis on SEAL Team (2017–2024). Read more
30 Sep 1979: Cameron Bruce, Australian footballer and coach Cameron Bruce is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently serving as an assistant coach for the Brisbane Lions. During his AFL career, he was known for his aerobic capacity and neat kicking skills. Read more
30 Sep 1979: Andy van der Meyde, Dutch footballer Andy van der Meijde, anglicised to van der Meyde, is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger. Read more
30 Sep 1978: Małgorzata Glinka-Mogentale, Polish volleyball player Małgorzata Glinka-Mogentale is a Polish retired volleyball player. She was a member of Poland women's national volleyball team in 1997–2014, a participant of the Olympic Games Beijing 2008, double European Champion, and a gold medalist of Polish, French, Spanish and Turkish national championships. Read more
30 Sep 1978: Candice Michelle, American wrestler Candice Michelle Beckman, better known as Candice Michelle, is an American model, actress and retired professional wrestler. She is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as a producer. She is best known for her tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Read more
30 Sep 1977: Roy Carroll, Northern Irish goalkeeper and manager Roy Eric Carroll is a Northern Irish professional football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He is best known for his spells at English clubs Wigan Athletic and Manchester United as well as in Greece with OFI and Olympiacos. Carroll also represented Northern Ireland 45 times at full international level between 1997 and 2017, and was a part of their squad for UEFA Euro 2016. Read more
30 Sep 1977: Nick Curran, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2012) Nick Curran was an American blues/rock and roll singer and guitarist. He has been likened to T-Bone Walker, Little Richard, The Sonics, Doug Sahm, Misfits Eddie Cochran. Read more
30 Sep 1975: Jay Asher, American author Jay Asher is an American writer and novelist. He is best known for writing the bestselling 2007 book Thirteen Reasons Why, which later became a very popular Netflix series. Read more
30 Sep 1975: Ta-Nehisi Coates, American author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates is an American author, journalist, and activist. He gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at The Atlantic, where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, particularly regarding African Americans and white supremacy. He is politically progressive. Read more
30 Sep 1975: Marion Cotillard, French actress and singer Marion Cotillard is a French actress who has appeared in both mainstream and independent European and Hollywood productions. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two César Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. She became a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2010 and was promoted to Officer in 2016, the same year she was named a Knight of the Legion of Honour. Read more
30 Sep 1975: Carlos Guillén, Venezuelan baseball player Carlos Alfonso Guillén is a Venezuelan former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers. Read more
30 Sep 1975: Laure Pequegnot, French skier Laure Pequegnot is a French former Alpine skier. Read more
30 Sep 1975: Christopher Jackson, American actor, singer, musician, and composer Christopher Neal Jackson is an American actor and singer. He began his career in 1995 starring in the Off-Broadway musical Time and the Wind by composer Galt MacDermot at the age of 20. He made his Broadway debut in 1997 as an ensemble member in the original Broadway cast of Disney's The Lion King. He remained with the show for several years, ultimately taking over the role of Simba. He went on to perform leading roles in several more Broadway musicals and plays, including After Midnight, Bronx Bombers, Holler If Ya Hear Me, and Memphis. He drew critical acclaim in several projects with Lin-Manuel Miranda: originating the roles of Benny in In the Heights and George Washington in the smash hit Hamilton. For the latter role he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He also collaborated with Miranda on the Disney film Moana in which he provides the singing voice of Chief Tui. His other film work includes secondary roles in After.Life and Tracers. Read more
30 Sep 1974: Jeremy Giambi, American baseball player (died 2022) Jeremy Dean Giambi was an American outfielder and first baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for six seasons from 1998 to 2003. Giambi was a member of four teams, most notably the Oakland Athletics. He also played for the Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Red Sox. Read more
30 Sep 1974: Tom Greatrex, English politician Thomas James Greatrex is a British Labour Co-op politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rutherglen and Hamilton West between 2010 and 2015 and the Shadow Energy Minister from 2011 to 2015. Read more
30 Sep 1974: Daniel Wu, American–born Hong Kong actor, director, and producer Daniel Neh-Tsu Wu is a Hong Kong-American actor. He is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese-language film industry. Since his film debut in 1998, he has been featured in over 60 films. A three-time Golden Horse Award nominee, he also starred in the AMC martial arts drama series Into the Badlands and the Disney+ wuxia action comedy American Born Chinese. Read more
30 Sep 1973: Rubén Wolkowyski, Argentine basketball player Rubén Oscar Wolkowyski is an Argentine former professional basketball player, who also holds Polish citizenship. At a height of 2.08 m tall, he played at the power forward and center positions. Read more
30 Sep 1972: Jamal Anderson, American football player and sportscaster Jamal Sharif Anderson is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Falcons in the seventh round of the 1994 NFL draft. He played high school football at El Camino Real High School, where he was named to the CIF Los Angeles City Section 4-A All-City first-team in 1989. He went on to play college football at Moorpark College for the Moorpark College Raiders before playing for the Utah Utes. Read more
30 Sep 1972: Ari Behn, Danish-Norwegian author and playwright (died 2019) Ari Mikael Behn was a Norwegian author, playwright, and visual artist, best known for his marriage to Princess Märtha Louise of Norway from 2002 to 2017. He held no title or special status, and he remained a private citizen during the marriage. Read more
30 Sep 1972: Mayumi Kojima, Japanese singer-songwriter Mayumi Kojima is a Japanese Shibuya-kei musician. As of 2015, she has released 10 studio albums, 3 extended plays and several singles. Her music has been featured in multiple movies and television commercials. In the west, she is best known for her songs "Hatsukoi" (はつ恋), which was featured in a North American Nintendo commercial for the Game Boy Advance and the video game Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, and "Poltergeist" , which was used as the opening theme song of the anime Ghost Hound. Read more
30 Sep 1972: José Lima, Dominican baseball player (died 2010) José Desiderio Rodriguez Lima was a Dominican right-handed pitcher who spent 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros (1997–2001), Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers (2004) and New York Mets (2006). His best year in the majors was 1999, when he won 21 games for the Astros and pitched in his only All-Star Game. Read more
30 Sep 1971: Jenna Elfman, American actress and producer Jenna Elfman is an American actress. She is best known for her leading role as Dharma on the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg (1997–2002), for which she received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy in 1999, and three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. After making her film debut in Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), she appeared in Krippendorf's Tribe (1998), Dr. Dolittle (1998), EDtv (1999), Keeping the Faith (2000), Town & Country (2001), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), Clifford's Really Big Movie (2004), and Big Stone Gap (2014). Read more
30 Sep 1970: Tony Hale, American actor and producer Tony Hale is an American actor and comedian. He had a leading role in the Fox series Arrested Development as Buster Bluth from 2003 to 2019, and portrayed Gary Walsh on the HBO series Veep from 2012 to 2019. For the latter, Hale won the 2013 and 2015 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Read more
30 Sep 1970: Damian Mori, Australian footballer and manager Damian Mori is an Australian former soccer player who is an assistant coach for Adelaide United. He won two Johnny Warren Medals, awarded to the best player in the Australian league and was top scorer on 5 occasions. He established a reputation as a pacy, poaching goalscorer, which is notable for a player who started his career as a defender. Read more
30 Sep 1970: Eric Piatkowski, American basketball player Eric Todd Piatkowski is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He is the son of former ABA player Walt Piatkowski. Read more
30 Sep 1969: Gintaras Einikis, Lithuanian basketball player Gintaras Einikis is a Lithuanian retired professional basketball player and current coach. He stands at 6 ft 10 in (208 cm), and is a former center for the senior Lithuanian national team. Einikis is the only player from the Lithuanian national team to have won all three consecutive bronze medals at the Summer Olympics, in Barcelona, Atlanta, and Sydney. Read more
30 Sep 1969: Amy Landecker, American actress Amy Lauren Landecker is an American actress. She is known for her role as Sarah Pfefferman on the Amazon comedy-drama series Transparent (2014–2019), as well as her supporting roles in the films Dan in Real Life (2007), A Serious Man (2009), All Is Bright (2013), Project Almanac (2015), and Beatriz at Dinner (2017), and the TV series Your Honor (2020–2023). Read more
30 Sep 1969: Silas Weir Mitchell, American actor Silas Weir Mitchell is an American character actor. He is known for starring as Charles "Haywire" Patoshik in the Fox television series Prison Break (2005–2007), for the recurring role of Donny Jones in My Name Is Earl (2005–2009), and as Monroe in the NBC television series Grimm (2011–2017). Read more
30 Sep 1969: Chris von Erich, American wrestler (died 1991) Christopher Barton Adkisson was an American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Chris Von Erich of the Von Erich family. Read more
30 Sep 1967: Emmanuelle Houdart, Swiss-French author and illustrator Emmanuelle Houdart is a Swiss artist and illustrator. Read more
30 Sep 1967: Gibby Haynes, American musician, radio personality and painter Gibson Jerome Haynes is an American musician, radio personality, painter, author and the lead singer of the band Butthole Surfers. Read more
30 Sep 1967: Andrea Roth, Canadian actress Andrea Roth is a Canadian former actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Janet Gavin, the wife of main character Tommy Gavin, on the FX television series Rescue Me (2004–2011), as Victoria Chase in The Collector (2009), and before that, as Diana Powers / NeuroBrain on RoboCop: The Series (1994). As of 2026, her last role was a June 2020 episode of the series 13 Reasons Why. Read more
30 Sep 1966: Gary Armstrong, Scottish rugby player Gary Armstrong is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He played scrum-half for Jed-Forest RFC, Newcastle Falcons and the Border Reivers. Read more
30 Sep 1966: Markus Burger, German pianist, composer, and educator Markus Burger is a German pianist, composer, and music educator. Since 2001, he has lived in California, where he works at Fullerton College and San Diego University. Read more
30 Sep 1966: Club Chalamet, American social media personality Club Chalamet is a fan account on both Twitter and Instagram for the American and French actor Timothée Chalamet run by Simone Cromer. She created the Twitter account in 2018 after Chalamet's success in Call Me by Your Name (2017), as a space for older fans. She became viral in 2023 after several controversial comments she made about Chalamet's girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, which sparked discussions regarding parasocial relationships and Stan Twitter. Since then, her reaction to content involving the couple has become an internet meme. Read more
30 Sep 1966: Angus Taylor, Australian politician Angus James Taylor is an Australian politician who has served as the leader of the Opposition since 2026, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party. He has been the member of Parliament (MP) for the New South Wales division of Hume since 2013, and previously served as a minister in the Turnbull and Morrison governments. Read more
30 Sep 1965: Omid Djalili, English comedian, actor, and producer Omid Djalili is a British comedian, actor, and writer of Iranian descent. He began his career at the 1995 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has gone on to become a touring comedian with a substantial list of film and television appearances. Read more
30 Sep 1964: Trey Anastasio, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and composer Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III is an American guitarist, composer, and singer-songwriter best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 Phish original songs, 141 of them as a solo credit, in addition to 41 credits attributed to the band as a whole. Read more
30 Sep 1964: Monica Bellucci, Italian actress and fashion model Monica Anna Maria Bellucci is an Italian actress who began her career as a fashion model before working in Italian, American, British, and French films. She has filmography in a range of genres and languages, and her accolades include the David di Donatello, Globo d'oro, Nastro d'Argento and nominations at Saturn Awards and César Awards. In 2018, Forbes Italy included her in their list of the 100 most successful Italian women. Read more
30 Sep 1963: David Barbe, American bass player and producer David Barbe is an American musician and producer/engineer from Athens, Georgia, and director of the Music Business Certificate Program at the University of Georgia. He is chief of Chase Park Transduction studio in Athens. Barbe is known for his work as a songwriter, singer, guitarist, and bass guitarist in Sugar, Mercyland, and Buzz Hungry, as well as solo performances. He has produced nearly every album by the popular country rock band Drive-By Truckers, and has worked as producer and engineer with Son Volt. He has an all-star solo band in Athens called the Quick Hooks. Read more
30 Sep 1962: Marley Marl, American record producer and rapper Marlon Lu'Ree Williams, better known by his stage name Marley Marl, is an American DJ, record producer, rapper and record label founder, primarily operating in hip-hop music. Marlon grew up in Queensbridge housing projects located in Queens, New York. He performed in local talent shows during the early days of rap music, further fueling his interest. Read more
30 Sep 1961: Crystal Bernard, American actress and singer-songwriter Crystal Lynn Bernard is a retired American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for her roles as Helen Chappel-Hackett on the sitcom Wings (1990–1997), Amy on It's a Living (1985–1989), and K.C. Cunningham on Happy Days (1983–1984). Read more
30 Sep 1961: Gary Coyne, Australian rugby league player Gary Coyne is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. An Australia international and Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he played club football in the Brisbane Rugby League for the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls and in the New South Wales Rugby League for the Canberra Raiders. Read more
30 Sep 1961: Eric Stoltz, American actor, director, and producer Eric Cameron Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He played Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask (1985), which earned him the nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. He was also nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in Pulp Fiction (1994). Read more
30 Sep 1961: Mel Stride, English politician Sir Melvyn John Stride is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in Kemi Badenoch's Shadow Cabinet from November 2024 to August 2026. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Devon since 2010. Read more
30 Sep 1961: Eric van de Poele, Belgian race car driver Eric Francis Edouard Ghislain Thérèse van de Poele is a Belgian racing driver and former Formula One driver. He participated in 29 Grands Prix, in 1991 and 1992. He is a three-times class winner at 24 Hours of Le Mans, and won three Formula 3000 races in 1990. Before his Formula One career, he won the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft. Read more
30 Sep 1960: Julia Adamson, Canadian-English keyboard player, composer, and producer Julia Adamson is a Canadian composer, musician and current label manager of Invisiblegirl Records. She came to prominence as a recording engineer, and was a member of the Fall between 1995 and 2001. Read more
30 Sep 1960: Nicola Griffith, English-American author Nicola Griffith is a British American novelist, essayist, and teacher. She has won the Washington State Book Award (twice), Nebula Award, James Tiptree, Jr. Award, World Fantasy Award, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and six Lambda Literary Awards. In 2024 she was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. In 2025, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association named her the 41st Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master in recognition of her significant contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy. In addition to her fiction, Griffith is known for her contributions to feminist and queer literature, her disability advocacy, and her role in founding the Literary Prize Database Project and the #CripLit community for disabled writers. Read more
30 Sep 1960: Miki Howard, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress Alicia Michelle "Miki" Howard is an American R&B singer who had top 10 hit songs in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, including "Baby, Be Mine" (1987), "Come Share My Love" (1986) and "Love Under New Management" (1990). "Ain't Nobody Like You" (1992) and "Ain't Nuthin' in the World" (1989) both peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B Singles chart. Read more
30 Sep 1960: Blanche Lincoln, American politician Blanche Lambert Lincoln is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Arkansas from 1999 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, she was first elected to the Senate in 1998; she was the first woman elected to the Senate from Arkansas since Hattie Caraway in 1932 and youngest woman ever elected to the Senate at age 38. She previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Arkansas's 1st congressional district from 1993 to 1997. Read more
30 Sep 1959: Ettore Messina, Italian basketball player and coach Ettore Messina is an Italian professional basketball coach who last coached Olimpia Milano of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He has won four EuroLeague championships as a head coach. Messina is regarded as one of the best European basketball coaches of all time, having been named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors in 2008. Read more
30 Sep 1958: Marty Stuart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist John Marty Stuart is an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before beginning work as a solo artist in the early 1980s. He is known for his combination of rockabilly, country rock, and bluegrass music influences, his frequent collaborations and cover songs, and his distinctive stage dress. Read more
30 Sep 1957: Fran Drescher, American actress, producer, and screenwriter Francine Joy Drescher is an American actress, writer, comedian, producer, and former trade union leader. She played Fran Fine in the television sitcom The Nanny (1993–1999), which she created and produced with her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson. Read more
30 Sep 1956: Trevor Morgan, English footballer and manager Trevor James Morgan is an English football coach and former player. Read more
30 Sep 1955: Andy Bechtolsheim, German engineer, co-founded Sun Microsystems Andreas Maria Maximilian Freiherr von Mauchenheim genannt Bechtolsheim is a German electrical engineer, entrepreneur and investor. He co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982 and was its chief hardware designer. As of 2025, he's 68th wealthiest according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes with an estimated net worth of US$28.9 billion. Read more
30 Sep 1955: Frankie Kennedy, Northern Irish flute player (died 1994) Frankie Kennedy was a flute and tin whistle player born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was also the co-founder of the band Altan, formed with his wife Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh. The popular Frankie Kennedy Winter Music School was founded in 1994 in his honour. Read more
30 Sep 1954: Basia, Polish singer-songwriter and record producer Barbara Stanisława "Basia" Trzetrzelewska, better known mononymously as Basia, is a Polish singer-songwriter and recording artist noted for her Latin-inspired jazz-pop music. Read more
30 Sep 1954: John Drew, American basketball player (died 2022) John Edward Drew was an American professional basketball player. A small forward from Gardner–Webb University, he played eleven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Drew was a two-time NBA All-Star, and was the first player banned under the substance abuse policy instituted by league commissioner David Stern. Read more
30 Sep 1954: Scott Fields, American guitarist and composer Scott Fields is a guitarist, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for blending music that is composed with music that is written and for his modular pieces. He works primarily in avant-garde jazz, experimental music, and contemporary classical music. Read more
30 Sep 1954: Patrice Rushen, American singer-songwriter and producer Patrice Louise Rushen is an American jazz pianist, R&B singer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director. Read more
30 Sep 1954: Barry Williams, American actor Barry William Blenkhorn, better known by his stage name Barry Williams, is an American actor. He is known for his role as the eldest of the Brady sons, Greg Brady, on the ABC television series The Brady Bunch (1969–1974), a role he reprised in several sequels and spin-offs including the animated series The Brady Kids (1972–1973), the variety series The Brady Bunch Hour (1976–1977) and the television films The Brady Girls Get Married (1981) and A Very Brady Christmas (1988) and the reality television series A Very Brady Renovation (2019). Read more
30 Sep 1953: Matt Abts, American drummer Matt Abts is an American drummer, best known as one of the founding members of the rock band Gov't Mule. Read more
30 Sep 1953: Deborah Allen, American country music singer-songwriter, author, and actress Deborah Allen is an American country music singer and songwriter. Since 1976, she has released 12 albums and charted 14 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. She recorded the 1983 crossover hit "Baby I Lied", which reached No. 4 on the country chart and No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. Allen has also written No. 1 singles for herself, Janie Fricke, and John Conlee; top 5 hits for Patty Loveless and Tanya Tucker; and a top 10 hit for the Whites. Read more
30 Sep 1952: John Finn, American actor John Joseph Finn is an American character actor known as one of the leads of the television programs Cold Case and EZ Streets. Finn has also had supporting roles in the films The Hunted (2003), Analyze That (2002), Catch Me If You Can (2002), True Crime (1999), Turbulence (1997), Blown Away (1994), The Pelican Brief (1993), and Glory (1989). Read more
30 Sep 1952: John Lombardo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist John Lombardo is one of the founding members of the American alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs and one of the band's most influential members, writing much of its early material, also being its oldest member in age. He is also a member of folk rock duo John & Mary. Read more
30 Sep 1951: John Lloyd, English screenwriter and producer John Hardress Wilfred Lloyd is an English producer and writer of television and radio comedy. His television work includes Not the Nine O'Clock News, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Blackadder, Spitting Image and QI. He presents BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity. Read more
30 Sep 1951: Barry Marshall, Australian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Barry James Marshall is an Australian physician, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, Professor of Clinical Microbiology and Co-Director of the Marshall Centre at the University of Western Australia. Marshall and Robin Warren showed that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori plays a major role in causing many peptic ulcers, challenging decades of medical doctrine holding that ulcers were caused primarily by stress, spicy foods, and too much acid. This discovery has allowed for a breakthrough in understanding a causative link between Helicobacter pylori infection and stomach cancer. Read more
30 Sep 1951: Simon White, English astrophysicist and academic Simon David Manton White, FRS, is a British-German astrophysicist. He was one of directors at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics before his retirement in late 2019. The Navarro–Frenk–White profile to describe dark matter is named after him. Read more
30 Sep 1950: Laura Esquivel, Mexican author and screenwriter Laura Beatriz Esquivel Valdés is a Mexican novelist, screenwriter and former politician. Her first novel Como agua para chocolate became a bestseller in Mexico and the United States, and was later developed into an award-winning film. Read more
30 Sep 1950: Victoria Tennant, English actress and dancer Victoria Tennant is a British actress. She is known for her roles in the TV miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, in which she appeared as actor Robert Mitchum's on-screen love interest, Pamela Tudsbury, as well as her supporting roles in All of Me (1984), The Holcroft Covenant (1985), Flowers in the Attic (1987), The Handmaid's Tale (1990), and L.A. Story (1991). Read more
30 Sep 1949: Michel Tognini, French pilot, engineer, military officer and astronaut Michel Ange-Charles Tognini is a French test pilot, engineer, brigadier general in the French Air Force, and a former CNES and ESA astronaut who served from 1 January 2005 to 1 November 2011 as head of the European Astronaut Centre of the European Space Agency. A veteran of two space flights, Tognini has logged a total of 19 days in space. Tognini has 4000 flight hours on 80 types of aircraft. He is fluent in English and Russian. Read more
30 Sep 1948: Craig Kusick, American baseball player and coach (died 2006) Craig Robert Kusick was an American professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter. He played in Major League Baseball for the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays. Read more
30 Sep 1947: Marc Bolan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1977) Marc Bolan was an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and poet. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan is an influence on artists in the genres of glam rock, punk, post-punk, new wave, indie rock, Britpop and alternative rock. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of T. Rex. Read more
30 Sep 1947: Rula Lenska, English actress Rula Lenska is a British actress. She mainly appears in British stage and television productions, but appeared in a series of television advertisements in the 1970s and 1980s in the United States. In the United Kingdom, she played Luce Habit in Queen Kong (1976) and Claudia Colby in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. Read more
30 Sep 1946: Fran Brill, American actress, singer, and puppeteer Fran Brill is an American actress and puppeteer, best known for her roles on Sesame Street, as well as playing Sally Hayes in the Hal Ashby film Being There (1979), Dana Mardukas in the Martin Brest film Midnight Run (1988) and Lily Marvin in the Frank Oz film What About Bob? (1991). Read more
30 Sep 1946: Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, English academic and politician, Leader of the House of Lords Robert Michael James Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, Baron Gascoyne-Cecil is a British Conservative politician. From 1979 to 1987 he represented South Dorset in the House of Commons, and in the 1990s he was Leader of the House of Lords under his courtesy title of Viscount Cranborne. Lord Salisbury lives in one of England's largest historic houses, the 17th-century Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, and formerly served as Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire. Read more
30 Sep 1946: Héctor Lavoe, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter (died 1993) Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez, better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican salsa singer. Widely regarded as one of salsa's most important and influential vocalists, Lavoe played a pivotal role in popularizing the genre throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. His charismatic persona and artistic vision propelled him to become one of the most successful Latin music artists of all time. Read more
30 Sep 1946: Jochen Mass, German race car driver (died 2025) Jochen Richard Mass was a German racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from 1973 to 1982. Mass won the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix with McLaren. In endurance racing, Mass won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1989 with Sauber. Read more
30 Sep 1946: Paul Sheahan, Australian cricketer and educator Andrew Paul Sheahan is a former Australian international cricketer who played 31 Test matches and three One Day Internationals as an opening and middle order batsman between 1967 and 1973. Read more
30 Sep 1946: Claude Vorilhon, French journalist, founded Raëlism Raël is a French journalist and religious leader who founded and leads the Raëlian Movement, an international UFO religion. Read more
30 Sep 1945: Richard Edwin Hills, English astronomer and academic (died 2022) Richard Edwin Hills was a British astronomer who was emeritus professor of Radio Astronomy at the University of Cambridge. Read more
30 Sep 1945: Ehud Olmert, Israeli lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009. Read more
30 Sep 1944: Diane Dufresne, Canadian singer and painter Diane Dufresne, is a French Canadian singer and painter, and is known for singing a large repertoire of popular Quebec songs. Read more
30 Sep 1944: Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (died 2006) James Connolly Johnstone was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. Known as "Jinky" for his elusive dribbling style, Johnstone played for Celtic for 13 years and was one of the Lisbon Lions, the team that won the 1967 European Cup Final. Johnstone also won nine consecutive Scottish championships. He scored 129 goals for Celtic in 515 appearances and was voted the club's greatest-ever player by fans in 2002. Read more
30 Sep 1944: Red Robbins, American basketball player (died 2009) Austin "Red" Robbins was an American basketball player. Read more
30 Sep 1943: Johann Deisenhofer, German-American biochemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate Johann Deisenhofer is a German biochemist who, along with Hartmut Michel and Robert Huber, received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1988 for their determination of the first crystal structure of an integral membrane protein, a membrane-bound complex of proteins and co-factors that is essential to photosynthesis. Read more
30 Sep 1943: Marilyn McCoo, American singer Marilyn McCoo is an American singer, actress, and television presenter, who is best known for being the lead female vocalist in the group the 5th Dimension as well as hosting the 1980s music television show Solid Gold. Read more
30 Sep 1943: Philip Moore, English organist and composer Philip John Moore is an English composer and organist. Read more
30 Sep 1943: Ian Ogilvy, English-American actor, playwright, and author Ian Raymond Ogilvy is an English actor, playwright and novelist. Read more
30 Sep 1942: Gus Dudgeon, English record producer (died 2002) Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, "Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US No. 1 albums, and established John as one of the most successful singles artists of the 1970s. Read more
30 Sep 1942: Frankie Lymon, American singer-songwriter (died 1968) Franklin Joseph Lymon was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, dancer and composer best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group the Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid-teens. The original lineup of the Teenagers, an integrated group, included three African-American members, Lymon, Jimmy Merchant, and Sherman Garnes; and two Puerto Rican members, Joe Negroni and Herman Santiago. The Teenagers' first single, 1956's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", was also their biggest hit. After Lymon went solo in mid-1957, both his career and that of the Teenagers fell into decline. In 1968, Lymon was found dead at age 25 from a heroin overdose. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of the Teenagers. Lymon's life was dramatized in the 1998 film Why Do Fools Fall in Love. Read more
30 Sep 1941: Samuel F. Pickering Jr., American author and educator Samuel F. "Sam" Pickering Jr. is a writer and professor emeritus of English at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. His unconventional teaching style was an inspiration for the character of Mr. Keating, played by Robin Williams in the film Dead Poets Society. Pickering specializes in the familiar essay, children's literature, nature writers, and 18th and 19th century English literature. Pickering has published many collections of non-fiction personal essays as well as over 200 articles. Read more
30 Sep 1941: Kamalesh Sharma, Indian academic and diplomat, 5th Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, GCVO is a retired Indian diplomat who served as the fifth secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he was the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom from 2004 to 2008. In addition, he is the Chancellor Emeritus of Queen's University Belfast. Read more
30 Sep 1941: Reine Wisell, Swedish race car driver (died 2022) Reine Tore Leif Wisell was a Swedish racing driver. He participated in 23 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 4 October 1970. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 13 championship points. Read more
30 Sep 1940: Claudia Card, American philosopher and academic (died 2015) Claudia Falconer Card was an American philosopher who was the Emma Goldman (WARF) Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with teaching affiliations in Women's Studies, Jewish Studies, Environmental Studies, and LGBT Studies. Read more
30 Sep 1940: Harry Jerome, Canadian sprinter (died 1982) Harry Winston Jerome was a Canadian track and field sprinter and physical education teacher. He won a bronze medal at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo and set a total of seven world records over the course of his career. Read more
30 Sep 1940: Dewey Martin, Canadian-American drummer (died 2009) Dewey Martin was a Canadian rock drummer, best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Read more
30 Sep 1939: Len Cariou, Canadian actor Leonard Joseph Cariou is a Canadian actor, singer, and theatre director. He gained prominence for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Stephen Sondheim's musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979) alongside Angela Lansbury for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He also received Tony nominations for his roles in the Betty Comden and Adolph Green musical Applause (1970) and the Sondheim musical A Little Night Music (1973). Read more
30 Sep 1939: Anthony Green, English painter and academic (died 2023) Anthony Green was an English realist painter and printmaker best known for his paintings of his own middle-class domestic life. His works sometimes used compound perspectives and polygonal forms—particularly with large, irregularly shaped canvasses. As well as producing oil paintings, he also produced a number of works designed from the start as limited edition prints, which were typically giclée works. Read more
30 Sep 1939: Jean-Marie Lehn, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Jean-Marie Pierre Lehn is a French chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with Donald Cram and Charles Pedersen in 1987 for his synthesis of cryptands. Lehn was an early innovator in the field of supramolecular chemistry, i.e., the chemistry of host–guest molecular assemblies created by intermolecular interactions, and continues to innovate in this field. He described the process by which molecules recognize each other. Drugs, for example, "know" which cell to destroy and which to let live. According to information provided by Lehn to the Nobel Foundation in January 2006, his group had published 790 peer-reviewed articles in chemistry literature by then. Read more
30 Sep 1938: Alan Hacker, English clarinet player and educator (died 2012) Alan Ray Hacker was an English clarinettist, conductor, and music professor. Read more
30 Sep 1937: Jurek Becker, Polish-German author (died 1997) Jurek Becker was a Polish-born German writer, screenwriter and East German dissident. His most famous novel is Jacob the Liar, which has been made into two films. He lived in Łódź during World War II for about two years and survived the Holocaust. Read more
30 Sep 1937: Valentyn Sylvestrov, Ukrainian pianist and composer Valentin Vasylyovych Silvestrov is a Ukrainian composer and pianist who plays and writes contemporary classical music. He is a laureate of the Shevchenko National Prize. Read more
30 Sep 1937: Gary Hocking, Rhodesian motorcycle racer (died 1962) Gary Stuart Hocking MBE
was a Rhodesian professional motorcycle road and car racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1958 to 1962, most prominently as a member of the MV Agusta factory racing team where he won the 1961 350cc and 500cc world championships. Read more
30 Sep 1936: Jim Sasser, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Ambassador to China (died 2024) James Ralph Sasser was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served three terms as a member of the United States Senate from 1977 to 1995, and was Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on the Budget. From 1996 to 1999, during the Clinton administration, he was the United States Ambassador to China. To date, he is the most recent Democratic U.S. senator from Tennessee. Read more
30 Sep 1936: Sevgi Soysal, Turkish author (died 1976) Sevgi Soysal was a Turkish writer. Read more
30 Sep 1935: Johnny Mathis, American singer and actor John Royce Mathis is an American singer. Starting his career with singles of standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century. He became highly popular as an album artist, with several of his albums achieving gold or platinum status and 73 making the Billboard charts. Read more
30 Sep 1934: Alan A'Court, English footballer and manager (died 2009) Alan A'Court was an English professional footballer who mostly played for Liverpool. He gained five caps for England and represented the nation at the 1958 FIFA World Cup. Read more
30 Sep 1934: Udo Jürgens, Austrian-Swiss singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2014) Udo Jürgens was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, composed close to 1,000 songs, and sold over 104 million records. In 2007, he additionally obtained Swiss citizenship. Read more
30 Sep 1934: Anna Kashfi, Indian-American actress (died 2015) Anna Kashfi was an Anglo-Indian actress who had a brief Hollywood career in the 1950s but was better known for her tumultuous marriage to film star Marlon Brando and the controversies surrounding their son. Read more
30 Sep 1933: Cissy Houston, American singer (died 2024) Emily "Cissy" Houston was an American soul and gospel singer and choir director. Nicknamed The Duchess of Gospel, she is best known as the mother of American singer and actress Whitney Houston and the aunt of American singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. Read more
30 Sep 1932: Shintaro Ishihara, Japanese author, playwright, and politician, Governor of Tokyo (died 2022) Shintaro Ishihara was a Japanese politician and writer, who served as the Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the radical right Sunrise Party, later merged with Toru Hashimoto's Japan Restoration Party out of which he split his faction into the Party for Japanese Kokoro, he was one of the most prominent ultranationalists in modern Japanese politics. Ishihara was criticized for his misogynistic comments, his xenophobic views and his racist remarks against Chinese and Koreans in Japan, including his use of the antiquated pejorative term "sangokujin". Read more
30 Sep 1932: Johnny Podres, American baseball player and coach (died 2008) John Joseph Podres was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in the majors from 1953 to 1969, spending most of his career with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers. Podres won four World Series titles with the Dodgers. He is best known for pitching a shutout in game 7 of the 1955 World Series to give the Dodgers their first championship. Read more
30 Sep 1931: Angie Dickinson, American actress Angeline Dickinson is an American retired actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in Gun the Man Down (1956) with James Arness and the Western film Rio Bravo (1959) with John Wayne and Dean Martin, for which she received the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year. Read more
30 Sep 1931: Teresa Gorman, English educator and politician (died 2015) Teresa Ellen Gorman was a British politician. She was Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Billericay, in the county of Essex, from 1987 to 2001 when she stood down. She was a leading figure in the rebellions over the Maastricht Treaty that nearly brought down John Major's government. She worked in both education and business. Read more
30 Sep 1929: Carol Fenner, American author and illustrator (died 2002) Carol Elizabeth Fenner was an American children's writer. Read more
30 Sep 1929: Vassilis Papazachos, Greek seismologist and academic (died 2022) Vassilis Papazachos was a Greek seismologist and author of Earthquakes of Greece. Read more
30 Sep 1929: Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Filipino politician, diplomat and writer (died 2017) Leticia Valdez Ramos-Shahani was a Filipino senator, diplomat, and writer. Read more
30 Sep 1929: Dorothee Sölle, German theologian and author (died 2003) Dorothee Steffensky-Sölle, known as Dorothee Sölle, was a German Lutheran liberation theologian who coined the term "Christofascism". Read more
30 Sep 1928: Elie Wiesel, Romanian-American author, academic, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2016) Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, which is based on his experiences as a Jewish prisoner at Auschwitz and Buchenwald during the Holocaust. Read more
30 Sep 1928: Ray Willsey, Canadian-American football player and coach (died 2013) Ray Willsey was an American gridiron football player and coach. He was the head football coach at the University of California, Berkeley from 1964 to 1971. During his tenure he compiled a 40–42–1 record. He was inducted into the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. Read more
30 Sep 1927: W. S. Merwin, American poet and translator (died 2019) William Stanley Merwin was an American poet who wrote more than fifty books of poetry and prose and produced many works in translation. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was thematically characterized by indirect, unpunctuated narration. In the 1980s and 1990s, his writing influence derived from an interest in Buddhist philosophy and deep ecology. Residing in a rural part of Maui, Hawaii, he wrote prolifically and was dedicated to the restoration of the island's rainforests. Read more
30 Sep 1926: Heino Kruus, Estonian basketball player and coach (died 2012) Heino Kruus was an Estonian basketball player (186 cm) who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1952 Summer Olympics. He trained at VSS Kalev in Tallinn Read more
30 Sep 1926: Robin Roberts, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2010) Robin Evan Roberts was an American Major League Baseball starting pitcher who pitched primarily for the Philadelphia Phillies (1948–1961). He spent the latter part of his career with the Baltimore Orioles (1962–1965), Houston Astros (1965–1966), and Chicago Cubs (1966). A workhorse pitcher, Roberts won over 15 games in seven of his first eight years in the league, which saw him lead the National League in wins in four straight seasons (1952–1955) along with games and innings pitched multiple times; he topped out in wins with 28 in 1952, where he finished second in the MVP voting. In the "Whiz Kids" year of 1950, he went 20–11 with a league-leading five shutouts while pitching ten innings in the final game of the season to clinch the pennant for the Phillies, which was their first since 1915. Roberts subsequently started Game 2 of the World Series in his only postseason appearance for his career as the team was swept. A seven-time All-Star from 1950 to 1956, he departed the Phillies in 1961 with franchise records of 234 wins, 1,871 strikeouts, 529 games played and 3739+1⁄3 innings pitched and had his jersey retired the following year as the first Phillie to receive the honor; he still holds the franchise record for innings pitched and games played. He signed with the Orioles in 1962 and pitched the better part of four years with the team before spending the 1956 and 1966 seasons with two different teams. He retired in 1966 with 286 victories, tenth most in MLB history at the time. He was also the leader in home runs given up by a pitcher (505) until he was passed by Jamie Moyer decades later. Read more
30 Sep 1925: Arkady Ostashev, Russian engineer and scientist in the former Soviet space program (died 1998) Arkady Ilyich Ostashev was a Soviet and Russian scientist, engineer – mechanic in the former Soviet space program, working on as a designer many of rocket propulsion and control system of Soviet satellites. He was a participant in the launch of the first artificial satellite of the Earth and the first cosmonaut, candidate of technical sciences, docent, laureate of the Lenin (1960) and State (1979) prizes, one of the leading managers of work in the field of experimental development of rocket technology OKB-1, personal pensioner of republican significance, student and interpersonal relationship of Sergei Korolev. Read more
30 Sep 1924: Truman Capote, American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter (died 1984) Truman Garcia Capote was an American novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, and he is regarded as one of the founders of New Journalism, along with Gay Talese, Hunter S. Thompson, Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe. His work and his life story have been adapted into and have been the subject of more than 20 films and television productions. Read more
30 Sep 1923: Donald Swann, Welsh-English pianist and composer (died 1994) Donald Ibrahim Swann was a British composer, musician, singer and entertainer. He was one half of Flanders and Swann, writing and performing comic songs with Michael Flanders. Read more
30 Sep 1922: Lamont Johnson, American actor, director, and producer (died 2010) Ernest Lamont Johnson Jr. was an American actor and film director who appeared in and directed many television shows and movies. He won two Emmy Awards. Read more
30 Sep 1922: Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2006) Hrishikesh Mukherjee was an Indian film director, editor and writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of Indian cinema. Popularly known as Hrishi-da, he directed 42 films during his career spanning over four decades, and is named the pioneer of the 'middle cinema' of India. Renowned for his social films that reflected the changing middle-class ethos, Mukherjee "carved a middle path between the extravagance of mainstream cinema and the stark realism of art cinema". Read more
30 Sep 1921: Deborah Kerr, Scottish-English actress (died 2007) Deborah Jane Trimmer, known professionally as Deborah Kerr, was a British actress. Kerr rose to fame for her portrayals of proper, ladylike women, who often navigated societal expectations and stereotypes. Kerr attracted wide praise for her work, earning six Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. She was regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation. From the 1940s to the 1960s, she was one of the most popular actresses in the world. Read more
30 Sep 1921: Aldo Parisot, Brazilian-American cellist and educator (died 2018) Aldo Simoes Parisot was a Brazilian-born American cellist and cello teacher. He was first a member of the Juilliard School faculty, and then went on to serve as a music professor at the Yale School of Music for sixty years, the longest-serving member of that school's faculty ever. Read more
30 Sep 1919: Roberto Bonomi, Argentinian race car driver (died 1992) Roberto Wenceslao Bonomi Oliva was a racing driver who took part in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix driving a Cooper for the Scuderia Centro Sud team. Before he participated in Formula One he was a sports car champion in 1952 and 1953, as well as a member of the Argentine team to race in Europe. Bonomi worked as a local politician and landowner. Read more
30 Sep 1919: Elizabeth Gilels, Ukrainian-Russian violinist and educator (died 2008) Elizabeth Gilels was a Soviet and Russian violinist and professor. Read more
30 Sep 1919: William L. Guy, American lieutenant and politician, 26th Governor of North Dakota (died 2013) William Lewis Guy was an American politician who was the 26th governor of North Dakota from 1961 to 1973. Guy was North Dakota's longest-serving governor in state history, serving two consecutive two-year terms and two four-year terms in office. Read more
30 Sep 1919: Patricia Neway, American soprano and actress (died 2012) Patricia Neway was an American operatic soprano and musical theatre actress who had an active international career during the mid-1940s through the 1970s. One of the few performers of her day to enjoy equal success on both the opera and musical theatre stages, she was a regular performer on both Broadway and at the New York City Opera during the 1950s and 1960s. Read more
30 Sep 1918: Lewis Nixon, U.S. Army captain (died 1995) Lewis Nixon III was a United States Army officer who, during World War II, served at the company, battalion, and regimental level with the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Nixon was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Ron Livingston. Read more
30 Sep 1918: René Rémond, French historian and economist (died 2007) René Rémond was a French historian, political scientist and political economist. Read more
30 Sep 1917: Yuri Lyubimov, Russian actor and director (died 2014) Yuri Petrovich Lyubimov was a Soviet and Russian stage actor and director associated with the internationally renowned Taganka Theatre, which he founded in 1964. He was one of the leading names in the Russian theatre world. Read more
30 Sep 1917: Buddy Rich, American drummer, bandleader, and actor (died 1987) Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Read more
30 Sep 1915: Lester Maddox, American businessman and politician, 75th Governor of Georgia (died 2003) Lester Garfield Maddox Sr. was an American politician who served as the 75th governor of Georgia from 1967 to 1971. Read more
30 Sep 1913: Bill Walsh, American screenwriter and producer (died 1975) William Crozier Walsh was a film producer, screenwriter and comics writer who primarily worked on live-action films for Walt Disney Productions. Read more
30 Sep 1912: Kenny Baker, American singer and actor (died 1985) Kenneth Laurence Baker was an American singer and actor who first gained notice as the featured singer on radio's The Jack Benny Program during the 1930s. Read more
30 Sep 1911: Gustave Gilbert, American psychologist (died 1977) Gustave Mark Gilbert was an American psychologist best known for his writings containing observations of high-ranking Nazi leaders during the Nuremberg trials. His 1950 book The Psychology of Dictatorship was an attempt to profile the Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler using as reference the testimonials of Hitler's closest generals and commanders. Gilbert's published work is still a subject of study in many universities and colleges, especially in the field of psychology. Read more
30 Sep 1910: Jussi Kekkonen, Finnish captain (died 1962) Uuno Johannes (Jussi) Kekkonen was a Finnish major, CEO and the younger brother of President of Finland Urho Kekkonen. Jussi Kekkonen fought successfully in the Winter War in the direction of Kuhmo but lost his sight when he was wounded in the early stages of the Continuation War. Read more
30 Sep 1908: David Oistrakh, Ukrainian-Russian violinist and educator (died 1974) David Fyodorovich Oistrakh was a Soviet Russian violinist, violist, and conductor. He was also Professor at the Moscow Conservatory, People's Artist of the USSR (1953), and Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1960). Read more
30 Sep 1906: Mireille Hartuch, French singer-songwriter and actress (died 1996) Mireille Hartuch was a French singer, composer, and actress. She was generally known by the stage name "Mireille," it being a common practice of the time to use a single name for the stage. Read more
30 Sep 1905: Nevill Francis Mott, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1996) Sir Nevill Francis Mott was a British theoretical physicist who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1977 for his work on the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems, especially amorphous semiconductors. The Prize was shared with Philip W. Anderson and John Van Vleck. The three had conducted loosely related research. Mott and Anderson clarified the reasons why magnetic or amorphous materials can sometimes be metallic and sometimes insulating. Read more
30 Sep 1905: Michael Powell, English director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1990) Michael Latham Powell was an English filmmaker. He is celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger and through their production company, The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a series of classic British films, notably The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Canterbury Tale (1944), I Know Where I'm Going! (1945), A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948), and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951). Read more
30 Sep 1904: Waldo Williams, Welsh poet and academic (died 1971) Waldo Goronwy Williams was one of the leading Welsh-language poets of the 20th century. He was also a notable Christian pacifist, anti-war campaigner, and Welsh nationalist. He is often referred to by his first name only. Read more
30 Sep 1901: Thelma Terry, American bassist and bandleader (died 1966) Thelma Terry was an American bandleader and bassist during the 1920s and 1930s. She led Terry and Her Playboys and was the first American woman to lead a notable jazz orchestra as an instrumentalist. Read more
30 Sep 1898: Renée Adorée, French-American actress (died 1933) Renée Adorée was a French stage and film actress who appeared in Hollywood silent movies during the 1920s. She is best known for portraying the role of Melisande, the love interest of John Gilbert in the melodramatic romance and war epic The Big Parade. Adorée's career was cut short after she contracted tuberculosis in 1930. She died of the disease in 1933 at the age of 35. Read more
30 Sep 1898: Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois (died 1977) Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois, styled Hereditary Princess of Monaco between 1922 and 1944, was the daughter of Louis II, Prince of Monaco, and mother of Prince Rainier III. From 1922 until 1944, she was the Hereditary Princess of Monaco, heiress presumptive to the throne. Read more
30 Sep 1898: Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, German-American author and illustrator (died 1986) Ingri d'Aulaire and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire were writers and illustrators of children's books who worked primarily as a team, completing almost all of their well-known works together. The couple immigrated to the United States from Europe and worked on books that focused on history such as Abraham Lincoln, which won the 1940 Caldecott Medal. They were part of the group of immigrant artists composed of Feodor Rojankovsky, Roger Duvoisin, Ludwig Bemelmans, Miska Petersham and Tibor Gergely, who helped shape the Golden Age of picture books in mid-twentieth-century America. Read more
30 Sep 1897: Alfred Wintle, Russian-English soldier and politician (died 1966) Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Daniel Wintle MC, better known as A. D. Wintle, was a British Army officer who served in the First and Second World Wars. He was the first non-lawyer to achieve a unanimous verdict in his favour in the House of Lords, and is considered one of London's greatest eccentrics. Read more
30 Sep 1897: Charlotte Wolff, German-English physician and psychotherapist (died 1986) Charlotte Wolff was a German-British physician who worked as a psychotherapist and wrote on sexology and hand analysis. Her writings on lesbianism and bisexuality were influential early works in the field. Read more
30 Sep 1895: Lewis Milestone, Moldovan-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1980) Lewis Milestone was a Russian-American film director, screenwriter, and producer active during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He twice won the Academy Award for Best Director, for Two Arabian Knights (1927) and All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), with a third nomination for The Front Page (1931). Read more
30 Sep 1893: Lansdale Ghiselin Sasscer, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (died 1964) Lansdale Ghiselin Sasscer was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 5th congressional district for seven terms from 1939 to 1953. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Read more
30 Sep 1887: Lil Dagover, Indonesian-German actress (died 1980) Lil Dagover was a German actress whose film career spanned from 1913 to 1979. She was a popular film actress in the Weimar Republic. Read more
30 Sep 1883: Bernhard Rust, German educator and politician (died 1945) Bernhard Rust was Minister of Science, Education and National Culture (Reichserziehungsminister) in Nazi Germany. A combination of school administrator and zealous Nazi, he issued decrees, often bizarre, at every level of the German educational system to immerse German youth in Nazi ideology. He also served as the party Gauleiter in Hanover and Brunswick from 1925 to 1940. Read more
30 Sep 1883: Nora Stanton Blatch Barney, American civil engineer, architect, and suffragist (died 1971) Nora Stanton Barney was an English-born American civil engineer, and suffragist. Barney was among the first women to graduate with an engineering degree in the United States. Given an ultimatum to either stay a wife or practice engineering she chose engineering. She was the granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Read more
30 Sep 1882: Hans Geiger, German physicist and academic (died 1945) Johannes "Hans" Wilhelm Geiger was a German experimental physicist. He is known as the inventor of the Geiger counter, a device used to detect ionizing radiation, and for carrying out the Rutherford scattering experiments, which led to the discovery of the atomic nucleus. He also performed the Bothe–Geiger coincidence experiment, which confirmed the conservation of energy in light-particle interactions. Read more
30 Sep 1870: Thomas W. Lamont, American banker and philanthropist (died 1948) Thomas William Lamont Jr. was an American banker. Read more
30 Sep 1870: Jean Baptiste Perrin, French-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1942) Jean Baptiste Perrin was a French physicist who, in his studies of the Brownian motion of minute particles suspended in liquids, verified Albert Einstein's explanation of this phenomenon and thereby confirmed the atomic nature of matter. For this work, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1926. Read more
30 Sep 1863: Reinhard Scheer, German admiral (died 1928) Carl Friedrich Heinrich Reinhard Scheer was an admiral in the Imperial German Navy. Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet and progressed through the ranks, commanding cruisers and battleships, as well as senior staff positions on land. At the outbreak of World War I, Scheer was the commander of the II Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet. He then took command of the III Battle Squadron, which consisted of the newest and most powerful battleships in the navy. In January 1916, he was promoted to admiral and given control of the High Seas Fleet. Scheer led the German fleet at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, one of the largest naval battles in history. Read more
30 Sep 1861: William Wrigley Jr., American businessman, founded Wrigley Company (died 1932) William Mills Wrigley Jr. was an American chewing gum industrialist. He founded the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 1891. Read more
30 Sep 1852: Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer, conductor, and educator (died 1924) Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was educated at the University of Cambridge before studying music in Leipzig and Berlin. He was instrumental in raising the status of the Cambridge University Musical Society, attracting international stars to perform with it. Read more
30 Sep 1836: Remigio Morales Bermúdez, Peruvian politician, President of Peru (died 1894) Remigio Morales Bermúdez served as the President of Peru from 1890 to 1894. He died while still in office. He served as the first vice president from 1886 to 1890. Read more
30 Sep 1832: Ann Jarvis, American activist, co-founded Mother's Day (died 1905) Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis was a social activist and community organizer during the American Civil War era. She is recognized as the mother who inspired Mother's Day and as a founder of Mother's Day movements, and her daughter, Anna Marie Jarvis (1864–1948), is recognized as the founder of the Mother's Day holiday in the United States. Read more
30 Sep 1827: Ellis H. Roberts, American journalist and politician, 20th Treasurer of the United States (died 1918) Ellis Henry Roberts was an American politician who served as a Representative from New York and 20th Treasurer of the United States. Read more
30 Sep 1827: Peter Ward, New York politician (died 1891) Peter Ward was a New York businessman and politician. From 1851–1859, Ward was the superintendent of the Newburgh Branch of the Erie Railroad. He also worked for the New York, Ontario and Western Railway and the New Jersey Southern Railroad. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the mayor of Newburgh, New York, from March 13, 1882, to March 11, 1884. In 1889, Ward was elected in a special election to represent the 13th district in the New York State Senate following the death of Senator Henry R. Low. He was sworn in on February 11, 1889, and served until the completion of the 112th New York State Legislature on December 31, 1889. Ward died on May 10, 1891, aged 63, just months after having his tongue removed in surgery. Read more
30 Sep 1814: Lucinda Hinsdale Stone, American feminist, educator, and philanthropist (died 1900) Lucinda Hinsdale Stone was an early American feminist, educator, traveler, writer, and philanthropist. Stone was the first woman in the United States to take classes of young women abroad to study, as a means to illustrate history and literature. Read more
30 Sep 1813: John Rae, Scottish physician and explorer (died 1893) John Rae was a Scottish surgeon who explored parts of northern Canada. He was a pioneer explorer of the Northwest Passage. Read more
30 Sep 1800: Decimus Burton, English architect, designed the Pharos Lighthouse (died 1881) Decimus Burton was one of the foremost English architects and landscapers of the 19th century. He was the foremost Victorian architect in the Roman Revival, Greek Revival, Georgian neoclassical and Regency styles. He was a founding fellow and vice-president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and from 1840 architect to the Royal Botanic Society, and an early member of the Athenaeum Club, London, whose clubhouse he designed and which the company of his father, James Burton, the pre-eminent Georgian London property developer, built. Read more

Notable Deaths on 30 September

30 Sep 2024: Gavin Creel, American actor, singer and songwriter (born 1976) Gavin James Creel was an American actor, singer, and songwriter best known for his work in musical theater. Over his career he received a Grammy Award, a Tony Award, two Drama Desk Awards and a Laurence Olivier Award. Read more
30 Sep 2024: Dikembe Mutombo, Congolese-American basketball player (born 1966) Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo was a Congolese-American professional basketball player who played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "Mt. Mutombo", he is commonly regarded as one of the best shot-blockers and defensive players of all time. Outside of basketball, he was known for his humanitarian work. Read more
30 Sep 2024: Humberto Ortega, Nicaraguan military leader (born 1947) Humberto Ortega Saavedra was a Nicaraguan revolutionary, military leader, writer and businessman. One of the nine members of the National Directorate of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), he co-founded the Tercerista tendency faction within the FSLN and was the "major theorist" of the urban insurrection strategy that toppled the Somoza family dictatorship. A four-star general, Ortega was minister of defense from 1980 to 1995, between the victory of the Sandinista revolution in 1979 under the National Reconstruction Government, through the first presidency of his brother Daniel Ortega, and into the presidency of Violeta Chamorro who defeated Daniel Ortega in 1990. He was also chief of the army, overseeing its transformation from the partisan Sandinista Popular Army (EPS) to the professionalized Nicaraguan Armed Forces under civilian control. Later in life he spoke out against repression by his brother's government. Hours after a May 2024 interview in which he sharply criticized his brother, Humberto Ortega was placed under house arrest. The following month, he was transferred to a military hospital where he died in September 2024. Read more
30 Sep 2024: Ken Page, American actor and cabaret singer (born 1954) Kenneth Page was an American actor and cabaret singer who created the part of Ken in the original Broadway production of Ain't Misbehavin' and played Old Deuteronomy in the original Broadway and filmed stage adaptation of Cats. He voiced Oogie Boogie in The Nightmare Before Christmas and Kingdom Hearts franchises, and played in the original Broadway production of The Wiz as The Lion and the first Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls as Nicely-Nicely Johnson. Read more
30 Sep 2024: Pete Rose, American baseball player and manager (born 1941) Peter Edward Rose Sr., nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds lineup known as the Big Red Machine for their dominance of the National League in the 1970s. He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies, where he won his third World Series championship in 1980, and had a brief stint with the Montreal Expos. He managed the Reds from 1984 to 1989. Read more
30 Sep 2021: Koichi Sugiyama, Japanese composer and orchestrator (born 1931) Koichi Sugiyama was a Japanese composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He was best known for composing for the Dragon Quest franchise, along with several other video games, anime, film, television shows, and pop songs. Classically trained, Sugiyama was considered a major inspiration for other Japanese game music composers and was active from the 1960s until his death in 2021. Read more
30 Sep 2019: Victoria Braithwaite, British research scientist who proved fish feel pain (born 1967) Victoria A. Braithwaite was an English scientist who was a Professor of Animal Behaviour and Cognition at Pennsylvania State University. She was the first person to demonstrate that fish feel pain, which impacted animal welfare research and changed guidelines for the treatment of fish in laboratories and fisheries in the UK, Europe, and Canada. Read more
30 Sep 2018: Kim Larsen, Danish rock musician (born 1945) Kim Mellius Flyvholm Larsen was a Danish singer, songwriter, author, and guitarist. He began his musical career in 1968 after a brief period as an elementary school teacher and became known from 1969 as a member of the rock group Gasolin. During his time with Gasolin, Larsen also released solo albums and records with his leisure band, which went by several names. After the disbandment of Gasolin, Larsen continued as a solo artist and band leader. Read more
30 Sep 2018: Geoffrey Hayes, British television presenter and actor (born 1942) Charles Geoffrey Hayes was an English television presenter and actor. He presented Thames Television's children's show Rainbow from 1973 to 1992. Read more
30 Sep 2018: Sonia Orbuch, Polish resistance fighter during the Second World War and Holocaust educator. (born 1925) Sonia Shainwald Orbuch was an American Holocaust educator. During the Second World War, she was a Jewish resistance fighter in eastern Poland. Read more
30 Sep 2017: Monty Hall, American game show host (born 1921) Monty Hall was a Canadian-American radio and television show host who moved to the United States in 1955 to pursue a career in broadcasting. After working as a radio newsreader and sportscaster, Hall returned to television in the U.S., where his focus was now on hosting game shows. Starting in 1963, he was best known as the host, co-creator, and co-producer of Let's Make a Deal. A conundrum involving game theory and psychology was named after him: the Monty Hall problem. Behind the scenes, Hall also carried on an active life of philanthropy. Read more
30 Sep 2017: Vladimir Voevodsky, Russian-American mathematician (born 1966) Vladimir Alexandrovich Voevodsky was a Russian-American mathematician. His work in developing a homotopy theory for algebraic varieties and formulating motivic cohomology led to the award of a Fields Medal in 2002. He is also known for the proof of the Milnor conjecture and motivic Bloch–Kato conjectures and for the univalent foundations of mathematics and homotopy type theory. Read more
30 Sep 2015: Guido Altarelli, Italian-Swiss physicist and academic (born 1941) Guido Altarelli was an Italian theoretical physicist. Read more
30 Sep 2015: Claude Dauphin, French businessman (born 1951) Claude Dauphin was a French billionaire businessman and executive chairman of Trafigura Beheer BV, a company specialising in commodity trading. He was a founding partner of Trafigura and its CEO for a time. In March 2013, his net worth was estimated at $1 billion by Forbes. Read more
30 Sep 2015: Göran Hägg, Swedish author and critic (born 1947) Göran Olof Waldemar Hägg was a Swedish author, critic and docent in literature science. Read more
30 Sep 2014: Martin Lewis Perl, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1927) Martin Lewis Perl was an American chemical engineer and physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1995 for his discovery of the tau lepton. Read more
30 Sep 2013: Janet Powell, Australian educator and politician (born 1942) Janet Frances Powell was an Australian politician. Read more
30 Sep 2012: Turhan Bey, Austrian actor and producer (born 1922) Turhan Bey was an Austrian-born actor of Turkish and Czech-Jewish origins. Active in Hollywood from 1941 to 1953, he was dubbed "The Turkish Delight" by his fans. After his return to Austria, he pursued careers as a photographer and stage director. Returning to Hollywood after a 40-year hiatus, he made several guest appearances in 1990s television series including SeaQuest DSV, Murder, She Wrote and Babylon 5 as well as a number of films. After retiring, he appeared in a number of documentaries, including a German-language documentary on his life. Read more
30 Sep 2012: Barry Commoner, American biologist, academic, and politician (born 1917) Barry Commoner was an American cellular biologist, college professor, and politician. He was a leading ecologist and among the founders of the modern environmental movement. He was the director of the Center for Biology of Natural Systems and its Critical Genetics Project. He ran as the Citizens Party candidate in the 1980 U.S. presidential election. His work studying the radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing led to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963. Read more
30 Sep 2012: Bobby Jaggers, American wrestler and engineer (born 1948) Robert Francis Jeaudoin was an American professional wrestler and civil engineer, also known by the ring name of "Hangman" Bobby Jaggers. Read more
30 Sep 2012: Clara Stanton Jones, American librarian (born 1913) Clara Stanton Jones was the first African-American president of the American Library Association, serving as its acting president from April 11 to July 22, 1976, and then its president from July 22, 1976, to 1977. Also, in 1970 she became the first African American and the first woman to serve as director of a major library system in America, as director of the Detroit Public Library. Read more
30 Sep 2012: Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian-American figure skater (born 1928) Barbara Ann Scott was a Canadian figure skater. She was the 1948 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (1947–1948), and a four-time Canadian national champion in ladies' singles. Known as "Canada's Sweetheart", she is the only Canadian to have won the Olympic ladies' singles gold medal, the first North American to have won three major titles in one year and the only Canadian to have won the European Championship (1947–48). During her forties, she was rated among the top equestrians in North America. She received many honours and accolades, including being made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991 and a member of the Order of Ontario in 2008. Read more
30 Sep 2012: Boris Šprem, Croatian lawyer and politician, 8th Speaker of the Croatian Parliament (born 1956) Boris Šprem was a Croatian politician who was the speaker of the Croatian Parliament from 2011 to 2012. He was the first and to date only speaker to die in office since country's independence in 1991. Read more
30 Sep 2011: Anwar al-Awlaki, American-Yemeni terrorist (born 1971) Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki was an American-Yemeni Islamic cleric, lecturer, and propagandist. He was assassinated in Yemen in 2011 by a U.S. drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki was the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and assassinated by a U.S. government drone strike. Al-Awlaki, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Yemen, was a key organizer for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda. Read more
30 Sep 2011: Ralph M. Steinman, Canadian-American immunologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1943) Ralph Marvin Steinman was a Canadian physician and medical researcher at Rockefeller University, who in 1973 discovered and named dendritic cells while working as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Zanvil A. Cohn, also at Rockefeller University. Steinman was one of the recipients of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Read more
30 Sep 2010: Stephen J. Cannell, American screenwriter and producer (born 1941) Stephen Joseph Cannell was an American television producer, writer, novelist, actor, and founder of Cannell Entertainment and The Cannell Studios. Read more
30 Sep 2008: J. B. Jeyaretnam, Singaporean lawyer and politician (born 1926) Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was a Singaporean politician and lawyer who served as secretary-general of the opposition Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001 and was the de facto Leader of the Opposition between 1981 and 1986. He was also an elected Member of Parliament for Anson SMC between 1981 and 1986, and a Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) from 1997 to 2001. Read more
30 Sep 2004: Gamini Fonseka, Sri Lankan actor, director, and politician (born 1936) Kala Keerthi Sembuge Gamini Shelton Fonseka was a Sri Lankan film actor, film director and politician. Often considered one of the greatest actors in Sinhala cinema, Fonseka dominated the industry in the 1960s and 1970s and won several Best Actor and Popular Actor awards throughout his career. Some critics and audiences regard Gamini Fonseka as the greatest actor in the Sri Lankan film industry, while others argue that title belongs to Joe Abeywickrama. Fonseka was the first to die among the three “crowned kings” of Sri Lankan cinema, followed by Joe Abeywickrama and then Tony Ranasinghe. Read more
30 Sep 2004: Jacques Levy, American director and songwriter (born 1935) Jacques Levy was an American songwriter, theatre director and clinical psychologist. Read more
30 Sep 2004: Michael Relph, English director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1915) Michael Leighton George Relph was an English film producer, art director, screenwriter and film director. He was the son of actor George Relph. Read more
30 Sep 2003: Yusuf Bey, American activist, founded Your Black Muslim Bakery (born 1935) Yusuf Bey was an American Black Muslim activist and leader who was a member of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, an offshoot of Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam (NOI). Read more
30 Sep 2003: Ronnie Dawson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1939) Ronald Monroe Dawson was an American rockabilly singer, guitarist and drummer, nicknamed The Blond Bomber. Although he achieved regional success in the 1950s, his popularity peaked internationally with tours in the 1980s and 1990s. Read more
30 Sep 2003: Robert Kardashian, American lawyer and businessman (born 1944) Robert George Kardashian was an American attorney and businessman. Patriarch of the Kardashian family of prominent entertainers, he gained national recognition as O. J. Simpson's friend and defense attorney during Simpson's 1995 murder trial. Read more
30 Sep 2002: Göran Kropp, Swedish race car driver and mountaineer (born 1966) Lars Olof Göran Kropp was a Swedish mountaineer, the first Scandinavian to climb Mount Everest without oxygen. He made a solo ascent of Mount Everest without bottled oxygen or Sherpa support on 23 May 1996, after traveling there from Sweden by bicycle and foot. Read more
30 Sep 2002: Hans-Peter Tschudi, Swiss lawyer and politician, 63rd President of the Swiss Confederation (born 1913) Hans-Peter Tschudi was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1959–1973) heading the Department of Home Affairs. Read more
30 Sep 1998: Marius Goring, English actor (born 1912) Marius Re Goring was an English stage and screen actor. He often portrayed urbane and morally grey characters, and is best remembered for the four films he made with Powell & Pressburger, particularly as Conductor 71 in A Matter of Life and Death and as Julian Craster in The Red Shoes. He is also known for playing the titular role in the long-running TV drama series, The Expert. Read more
30 Sep 1998: Dan Quisenberry, American baseball player and poet (born 1953) Daniel Raymond Quisenberry, nicknamed "Quiz", was an American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the Kansas City Royals. Notable for his submarine-style pitching delivery and his humorous quotes, he led the American League (AL) in saves a record five times. In each season he led the league in saves, Quisenberry finished in the top five of the AL Cy Young Award voting, including runner-up finishes in 1983 and 1984 to LaMarr Hoyt and Willie Hernández, respectively. He retired in 1990 with 244 saves, the fifth-highest total in major league history at the time. Read more
30 Sep 1998: Robert Lewis Taylor, American soldier and author (born 1912) Robert Lewis Taylor was an American writer who won the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters. His writing has been adapted into a television series, film, and musical. Read more
30 Sep 1994: André Michel Lwoff, French microbiologist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1902) André Michel Lwoff was a French microbiologist and Nobel laureate. Read more
30 Sep 1991: Toma Zdravković, Serbian singer-songwriter (born 1938) Tomislav "Toma" Zdravković was a Serbian singer-songwriter and recording artist. Read more
30 Sep 1990: Rob Moroso, American race car driver (born 1968) Robert James Moroso was an American NASCAR racing driver who was champion of the NASCAR Busch Series in 1989, and was posthumously awarded the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. A promising young driver, he and another driver were killed when Moroso was driving under the influence at excessive speeds on roads near his hometown of Terrell, North Carolina. Read more
30 Sep 1990: Alice Parizeau, Polish-Canadian journalist and author (born 1930) Alice Parizeau was a Polish-Canadian writer, essayist, journalist and criminologist. Read more
30 Sep 1990: Patrick White, Australian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1912) Patrick Victor Martindale White was an Australian novelist and playwright who explored themes of religious experience, personal identity and the conflict between visionary individuals and a materialistic, conformist society. Influenced by the modernism of James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, he developed a complex literary style and a body of work that challenged the dominant realist prose tradition of his home country, was satirical of Australian society, and sharply divided local critics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1973 and is the only Australian to receive it. Read more
30 Sep 1989: Drew Shafer, American LGBT rights activist (born 1936) Drew Shafer was an American gay activist from Kansas City, Missouri, known for his LGBTQ activism. Read more
30 Sep 1989: Virgil Thomson, American composer and critic (born 1896) Virgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclassicist, and a composer of "an Olympian blend of humanity and detachment" whose "expressive voice was always carefully muted" until his late opera Lord Byron which, in contrast to all his previous work, exhibited an emotional content that rises to "moments of real passion". Read more
30 Sep 1988: Al Holbert, American race car driver (born 1946) Alvah Robert Holbert was an American automobile racing driver who was a five-time champion of the IMSA Camel GT series and the fifth driver to complete the informal triple Crown of endurance racing. He once held the record with the most IMSA race wins at 50. Read more
30 Sep 1987: Alfred Bester, American author and screenwriter (born 1913) Alfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor, and scriptwriter for comics. He is best remembered for his science fiction, including the novel The Demolished Man, winner of the inaugural Hugo Award in 1953. Read more
30 Sep 1986: Nicholas Kaldor, Hungarian-British economist (born 1908) Nicholas Kaldor, Baron Kaldor, born Káldor Miklós, was a Hungarian-born British economist. He developed the "compensation" criteria called Kaldor–Hicks efficiency for welfare comparisons (1939), derived the cobweb model, and argued for certain regularities observable in economic growth, which are called Kaldor's growth laws. Kaldor worked alongside Gunnar Myrdal to develop the key concept Circular Cumulative Causation, a multicausal approach where the core variables and their linkages are delineated. Read more
30 Sep 1985: Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist and physicist (born 1900) Charles Francis Richter was an American seismologist and physicist. He is one of the creators of the Richter scale, which, until the development of the moment magnitude scale in 1979, was widely used to quantify the size of earthquakes. Inspired by Kiyoo Wadati's 1928 paper on shallow and deep earthquakes, Richter first used the scale in 1935 after developing it in collaboration with Beno Gutenberg; both worked at the California Institute of Technology. Read more
30 Sep 1985: Simone Signoret, French actress (born 1921) Simone Signoret was a French actress. She received various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, a César Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, in addition to nominations for two Golden Globe Awards. Read more
30 Sep 1978: Edgar Bergen, American actor and ventriloquist (born 1903) Edgar John Bergen was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio performer. He was best known for his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Bergen pioneered modern-day ventriloquism and has been described by puppetry organization UNIMA as the “quintessential ventriloquist of the 20th century”. He was the father of actress Candice Bergen. Read more
30 Sep 1977: Mary Ford, American singer and guitarist (born 1924) Mary Ford was an American guitarist and vocalist, comprising half of the husband-and-wife musical team Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hits, including "How High the Moon" and "Vaya con Dios", which were number one hits on the Billboard charts. In 1951 alone they sold six million records. With Paul, Ford became one of the early practitioners of multi-tracking. Read more
30 Sep 1974: Carlos Prats, Chilean general and politician, Chilean Minister of Defense (born 1915) Carlos Prats González was a Chilean Army officer and politician. He served as a minister in Salvador Allende's government while Commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army. He resigned in August 1973 amid growing national discontent. Immediately after General Augusto Pinochet's September 11, 1973 coup, Prats went into voluntary exile in Argentina. The following year, he and his wife, Sofía Cuthbert, were assassinated in Buenos Aires by a car bomb planted by the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA). Read more
30 Sep 1973: Peter Pitseolak, Canadian photographer and author (born 1902) Peter Pitseolak (1902–1973) was an Inuk photographer, sculptor, artist and historian. Pitseolak was Baffin Island's first indigenous photographer. Read more
30 Sep 1961: Onésime Gagnon, Canadian scholar and politician, 20th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (born 1888) Onésime Gagnon was a Canadian politician who served as the 20th Lieutenant Governor of Québec. Read more
30 Sep 1959: Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (born 1877) Sir Henry Newman Barwell KCMG was the 28th premier of South Australia. Read more
30 Sep 1955: James Dean, American actor (born 1931) James Byron Dean was an American actor. He became one of the most influential figures in Hollywood in the 1950s, and his impact on cinema and popular culture was profound, although his career lasted only five years. He appeared in just three major films: Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he portrayed a disillusioned and rebellious teenager; East of Eden (1955), which showcased his intense emotional range; and Giant (1956), a sprawling drama. These have been preserved in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for their "cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance". He was killed in a car accident in 1955 at the age of 24, leaving him a lasting symbol of rebellion, youthful defiance, and the restless spirit. Read more
30 Sep 1946: Takashi Sakai, Japanese general and politician, Governor of Hong Kong (born 1887) Takashi Sakai was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, known for his role as Governor of Hong Kong under Japanese occupation. Read more
30 Sep 1943: Franz Oppenheimer, German-American sociologist and economist (born 1864) Franz Oppenheimer was a German-American sociologist and political economist, who published also in the area of the fundamental sociology of the state. Read more
30 Sep 1942: Hans-Joachim Marseille, German captain and pilot (born 1919) Hans-Joachim Marseille was a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot and flying ace during World War II. He is noted for his aerial battles during the North African Campaign and his bohemian lifestyle. One of the most successful fighter pilots, he was nicknamed the "Star of Africa". Marseille claimed all but seven of his 158 victories against the British Commonwealth's Desert Air Force over North Africa, flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter for his entire combat career. No other pilot claimed as many Western Allied aircraft as Marseille. Read more
30 Sep 1921: Fanya Baron, Lithuanian Jewish anarchist (born 1887) Fanya Anisimovna Baron was a Russian Jewish anarchist revolutionary. She spent her early life participating in the Chicago workers' movement, but following the Russian Revolution in 1917, she moved to Ukraine and participated in the Makhnovist movement. For her anarchist activities, she was arrested and executed by the Cheka during the Red Terror. Read more
30 Sep 1910: Maurice Lévy, French mathematician and engineer (born 1838) Maurice Lévy was a French engineer and member of the Institut de France. Read more
30 Sep 1897: Thérèse of Lisieux, French nun and saint (born 1873) Thérèse of Lisieux, religious name Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, was a French Discalced Carmelite who is widely venerated in modern times. She is popularly known in English as the "Little Flower of Jesus", or simply the "Little Flower", and in French as la petite Thérèse. Read more
30 Sep 1891: Georges Ernest Boulanger, French general and politician, French Minister of War (born 1837) Georges Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger, nicknamed Général Revanche, was a French Army officer and politician. An enormously popular public figure during the second decade of the Third Republic, he won multiple elections. At the zenith of his popularity in January 1889, he was feared to be powerful enough to establish himself as dictator. His base of support was the working-class districts of Paris and other cities, plus rural traditionalist Catholics and royalists. He advocated revanche, révision, and restauration. Read more
30 Sep 1866: Per Gustaf Svinhufvud af Qvalstad, treasurer of Tavastia province, manor host, and paternal grandfather of President of Finland P. E. Svinhufvud (born 1804) Per Gustaf Svinhufvud af Qvalstad was a Finnish provincial treasurer of Tavastia and the host of the Rapola Manor in Sääksmäki. His grandson was Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, the future third President of the Republic of Finland. Read more
30 Sep 1865: Samuel David Luzzatto, Italian poet and scholar (born 1800) Samuel David Luzzatto, also known by the Hebrew acronym Shadal, was an Italian-Austrian Jewish scholar, poet, and a member of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement. Read more

Why is 30 September Important in History?

30 September is important because many political, cultural, scientific, educational and social events took place on this date. These facts are useful for students, exam aspirants and readers interested in daily history and general knowledge.

History of Today 30 September for Competitive Exams

Questions based on today in history, famous personalities, historical events and important dates are often asked in UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway, Defence and State PSC examinations.

👉 View complete History of Today archive

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on 30 September in history?

On 30 September, many important historical events, famous births and notable deaths occurred across the world.

Why is History of Today important for exams?

History of Today helps students remember important dates, events and personalities for competitive exams like UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway and PSC.

Where can I read daily history facts?

You can read daily history facts on this History of Today section, updated regularly with important events, births and deaths.