History of Today in India – 30 April

Explore the history of today 30 April in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 30 April 2026, 04:23 AM

📜 Important Events on 30 April in World History

30 Apr 2021: Forty-five men and boys are killed in the Meron stampede in Israel. Read more
30 Apr 2014: A bomb blast in Ürümqi, China kills three people and injures 79 others. Read more
30 Apr 2013: Willem-Alexander is inaugurated as King of the Netherlands following the abdication of Beatrix. Read more
30 Apr 2012: An overloaded ferry capsizes on the Brahmaputra River in India killing at least 108 people. At least 150 more are missing and presumed dead. Read more
30 Apr 2009: Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Read more
30 Apr 2009: Seven civilians and the perpetrator are killed and another ten injured at a Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands in an attempted assassination on Queen Beatrix. Read more
30 Apr 2008: Two skeletal remains found near Yekaterinburg are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei and Anastasia, two of the children of the last Tsar of Russia, whose entire family was executed at Yekaterinburg by the Bolsheviks. Read more
30 Apr 2004: U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers committing war crimes against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. Read more
30 Apr 2000: Canonization of Faustina Kowalska in the presence of 200,000 people and the first Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated worldwide. Read more
30 Apr 1999: Neo-Nazi David Copeland carries out the last of his three nail bombings in London at the Admiral Duncan gay pub, killing three people and injuring 79 others. Read more
30 Apr 1994: Formula One racing driver Roland Ratzenberger is killed in a crash during the qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix run at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari outside Imola, Italy. Read more
30 Apr 1993: CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free. Read more
30 Apr 1989: The Monkseaton shootings occur in Tyne and Wear, England. One killed, 16 injured. Read more
30 Apr 1982: The Bijon Setu massacre occurs in Calcutta, India. Read more
30 Apr 1980: Beatrix is inaugurated as Queen of the Netherlands following the abdication of Juliana. Read more
30 Apr 1980: The Iranian Embassy siege begins in London. Read more
30 Apr 1979: Eruption of Mount Marapi: Mount Marapi, a complex volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, erupts. Between 80 and 100 people are killed. Read more
30 Apr 1975: Fall of Saigon: Communist forces gain control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Dương Văn Minh. Read more
30 Apr 1973: Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon fires White House Counsel John Dean; other top aides, most notably H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, resign. Read more
30 Apr 1963: The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom. Read more
30 Apr 1961: K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned. Read more
30 Apr 1957: Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery enters into force. Read more
30 Apr 1956: Former Vice President and Democratic Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia. Read more
30 Apr 1948: In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established. Read more
30 Apr 1947: In Nevada, Boulder Dam is renamed Hoover Dam. Read more
30 Apr 1945: World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for less than 40 hours. Soviet soldiers raise the Victory Banner over the Reichstag building. Read more
30 Apr 1945: World War II: Stalag Luft I prisoner-of-war camp near Barth, Germany is liberated by Soviet soldiers, freeing nearly 9,000 American and British airmen. Read more
30 Apr 1943: World War II: The British submarine HMS Seraph surfaces near Huelva to cast adrift a dead man dressed as a courier and carrying false invasion plans. Read more
30 Apr 1939: The 1939–40 New York World's Fair opens. Read more
30 Apr 1939: NBC inaugurates its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's N.Y. World's Fair opening day ceremonial address. Read more
30 Apr 1937: The Commonwealth of the Philippines holds a plebiscite for Filipino women on whether they should be extended the right to suffrage; over 90% would vote in the affirmative. Read more
30 Apr 1927: The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women's federal prison in the United States. Read more
30 Apr 1925: Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc, is sold to Dillon, Read & Co. for US$146 million plus $50 million for charity. Read more
30 Apr 1905: Albert Einstein completes his doctoral thesis at the University of Zurich. Read more
30 Apr 1900: Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor. Read more
30 Apr 1897: J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London. Read more
30 Apr 1885: Governor of New York David B. Hill signs legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, New York's first state park, ensuring that Niagara Falls will not be devoted solely to industrial and commercial use. Read more
30 Apr 1871: The Camp Grant massacre takes place in Arizona Territory. Read more
30 Apr 1864: American Civil War: Confederate forces led by General E. Kirby Smith attack federal troops retreating across the Saline at Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas. Read more
30 Apr 1863: A 65-man French Foreign Legion infantry patrol fights a force of nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers to nearly the last man in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico. Read more
30 Apr 1859: Charles Dickens publishes the first edition of his literary magazine, All the Year Round, containing the first installment of his best-selling classic, A Tale of Two Cities. Read more
30 Apr 1838: Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation. Read more
30 Apr 1812: The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana. Read more
30 Apr 1803: Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 30 April in World History

30 Apr 2003: Emily Carey, British actress Emily Joanna Carey is an English actor. They began their career as a child actor on stage and in the BBC One soap opera Casualty. They went on to play several young versions of characters, such as Diana Prince in Wonder Woman (2017), Lara Croft in Tomb Raider (2018), and Alicent Hightower in the HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon (2022). Read more
30 Apr 2003: Jung Yun-seok, South Korean actor Jung Yoon-seok is a South Korean actor. He won Best Young Actor award in 2009 SBS Drama Awards for his role in Temptation of Wife. Read more
30 Apr 2002: Anna Cramling, Spanish-Swedish chess player Anna Yolanda Bellón Cramling is a Spanish-Swedish chess player, Twitch live streamer, and YouTuber who holds the title of Woman FIDE Master (WFM). She had a peak FIDE rating of 2175 in March 2018. Cramling represented Sweden in the 2016 and 2022 Chess Olympiad as well as two European Team Chess Championships. Read more
30 Apr 2002: Teden Mengi, English footballer Teden Mengi is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for EFL League One club Luton Town. Read more
30 Apr 2000: Yui Hiwatashi, Japanese singer Yui Hiwatashi is a Japanese idol and former member of the groups AKB48 and Karat. She is represented by the talent agency AKS. Read more
30 Apr 2000: Dean James, Indonesian footballer Dean Ruben James is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Eredivisie club Go Ahead Eagles. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Indonesia national team. Read more
30 Apr 1999: Jorden van Foreest, Dutch chess grandmaster Jhr. Jorden van Foreest is a Dutch chess grandmaster. He won the Dutch Chess Championship in 2016 and 2025, and also the Tata Steel Masters in 2021. As of July 2025, Van Foreest is the No. 2 ranked Dutch player behind Anish Giri. Read more
30 Apr 1999: Krit Amnuaydechkorn, Thai actor and singer Krit Amnuaydechkorn, nicknamed PP or PP Krit, is a Thai actor, model and singer. He is known for his roles as Tewkao in My Ambulance (2019) and as Oh-aew in I Told Sunset About You (2020) and I Promised You the Moon (2021). Alongside his acting career, PP Krit is also well known for his music career as a singer; his most notable song is Fire Boy (2022). In 2023, Krit became the first brand ambassador of Balenciaga from Thailand. Read more
30 Apr 1998: Georgina Amorós, Spanish actress Georgina Amorós Sagrera is a Spanish actress known for her television work on series including Elite, Welcome to the Family and Locked Up. She featured in the 2020 film Rifkin's Festival, marking it as her first fully English-speaking role. Read more
30 Apr 1997: Adam Ryczkowski, Polish footballer Adam Ryczkowski is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a winger for III liga club Legia Warsaw II. Read more
30 Apr 1996: Luke Friend, English singer Luke Friend is an English singer from Teignmouth in Devon. He started his career in 2013 after winning TeenStar and appearing as a contestant and later a finalist on tenth series of The X Factor, being the last contestant eliminated on the show. After appearing on The X Factor, he signed with RCA Records in October 2014 and released his debut single "Hole in My Heart" in March 2015. From September 2022 to August 2023, he appeared as Adam in Mamma Mia! The Party at The O2 (London). Read more
30 Apr 1994: Chae Seo-jin, South Korean actress Kim Ko-woon, known professionally as Chae Seo-jin (채서진), is a South Korean actress. She started her career as a young actress in Over the Rainbow (2006). She is known to be Kim Ok-vin's sister. In May 2016, Chae decided to use Chae Seo-jin as her stage name instead of her birth name, Kim Ko-woon. Read more
30 Apr 1994: Wang Yafan, Chinese tennis player Wang Yafan is a Chinese professional tennis player. On 7 October 2019, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 47. She peaked at No. 49 in the doubles rankings on 15 February 2016. Read more
30 Apr 1993: Dion Dreesens, Dutch swimmer Dion Dreesens is a Dutch swimmer. Read more
30 Apr 1993: Martin Fuksa, Czech canoeist Martin Fuksa is a Czech sprint canoeist. Three-time world champion, Fuksa won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the C-1 1000 metres event. Read more
30 Apr 1992: Marcel Bauer, German politician Marcel Karl Bernhard Bauer is a German politician and member of the Bundestag. A member of The Left, he has represented Baden-Württemberg since 2025. Read more
30 Apr 1992: Goodnight Chicken, Taiwanese YouTuber Chen Neng-chuan, better known by his online alias Goodnight Chicken, is a Taiwanese YouTuber, live streamer, and criminal. He is known for his livestreams exploring abandoned areas and buildings and for investigating paranormal activities. Chen became a prominent content creator in 2020 after discovering a mummified body in a hospital that he was exploring, which helped solve a missing persons case. Chen continued to create content revolving around paranormal themes, garnering controversy for allegedly trespassing private properties multiple times. In February 2024, he was arrested after staging his own kidnapping on a livestream with another Taiwanese live-streamer in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, and both were sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a fine. The general public, including prominent Cambodian politicians, were unsympathetic towards him and supported the conviction. Following their release in March 2026, both were banned from the country and deported to Taiwan, where they face further criminal charges. Read more
30 Apr 1992: Marc-André ter Stegen, German footballer Marc-André ter Stegen is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Girona, on loan from Barcelona, and the Germany national team. He is known for his reflexes, passing, and ball-playing. Read more
30 Apr 1991: Chris Kreider, American ice hockey player Christopher James Kreider is an American professional ice hockey player who is a winger for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Read more
30 Apr 1991: Travis Scott, American rapper and producer Jacques Bermon Webster II, known professionally as Travis Scott, formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott has had five number-one hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, along with a total of over one hundred charting songs. In addition to ten Grammy Award nominations, he has won a Latin Grammy Award, Billboard Music Award, MTV Video Music Award, and several BET Hip Hop Awards. Scott's musical style has been described as a "blend between traditional hip-hop and lo-fi" and often characterized as an "ambient" drawing of notable influence from rappers Kanye West and Kid Cudi. His stage name is derived from the latter's real name, Scott Mescudi, combined with the name of a favorite uncle. Read more
30 Apr 1990: Jonny Brownlee, English triathlete Jonathan Callum Brownlee is an English professional duathlete and triathlete. He is a six-time World champion, and one-time Olympic champion in triathlon. Read more
30 Apr 1990: Mac DeMarco, Canadian singer-songwriter McBriare Samuel Lanyon DeMarco is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. DeMarco initially emerged in the indie music scene in 2012, and has since released six full-length studio albums: his debut 2 (2012), Salad Days (2014), This Old Dog (2017), Here Comes the Cowboy (2019), Five Easy Hot Dogs (2023) and Guitar (2025). He additionally released the mini-albums Rock and Roll Night Club in 2012 and Another One in 2015, as well as the compilation album One Wayne G in 2023. In 2018, DeMarco established his own record label by the name of "Mac's Record Label". Read more
30 Apr 1990: Kaarel Kiidron, Estonian footballer Kaarel Kiidron is a retired Estonian footballer who last played in Estonia for JK Tammeka Tartu, as a defender. Read more
30 Apr 1990: Paula Ribó, Spanish singer-songwriter and actress Paula Ribó González, is a Spanish singer, actress and playwright best known for her musical project Rigoberta Bandini, for which she writes, performs, and produces the music. Ribó's multi-departmental professional career started at age seven, when she provided the Iberian Spanish dubbing voice work for the title character of the children animated series Caillou. She continued to work as a voice actress in both Catalan and Castilian for international firms such as Universal and Disney starring in big productions such as Peter Pan and Brave, as well as in film series like The Twilight Saga or The Divergent Series and musical films such as Les Misérables, Sing and Frozen. She also has been the regular Spanish-dubbed voice of Emma Stone, Dakota Fanning and Shailene Woodley. Read more
30 Apr 1989: Jang Wooyoung, South Korean singer and actor Jang Woo-young, better known mononymously as Wooyoung, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. In 2008, he debuted as a member of 2PM, a boy band currently managed by JYP Entertainment. He debuted as a solo artist with his first extended play, 23, Male, Single, in July 2012. As of 2026, he has released a total of six EPs and one compilation album. He has also composed several songs for 2PM and other artists. Read more
30 Apr 1988: Andy Allen, Australian chef Andrew Peter Allen is an Australian cook, food critic and television presenter. He is notable for winning the fourth season of MasterChef Australia in 2012, and for being a judge on MasterChef Australia from 2020. Read more
30 Apr 1988: Sander Baart, Dutch field hockey player Alexander Baart is a Dutch field hockey player of Belgian descent who plays as a defender or midfielder for Belgian club Antwerp. Read more
30 Apr 1988: Ana de Armas, Cuban actress Ana Celia de Armas Caso is a Cuban and Spanish actress. She has been nominated for several accolades, including an Academy Award, an Actor Award, a BAFTA, and two Golden Globes. Read more
30 Apr 1988: Liu Xijun, Chinese singer Sara Liu Xijun is a Chinese pop singer who rose to fame through televised singing competitions. Liu was born in Shenzhen, Guangdong province to a Hakka family and began as a singer by ranking fifth in the fourth season (2009) of a singing contest in China, Super Girls, or Happy Girl. Read more
30 Apr 1988: Oh Hye-ri, South Korean taekwondo athlete Oh Hye-ri is a South Korean taekwondo athlete. Read more
30 Apr 1987: Alipate Carlile, Australian footballer Alipate Carlile is a former professional Australian rules footballer for who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Read more
30 Apr 1987: Chris Morris, South African cricketer Christopher Henry Morris is a former South African professional cricketer who played first-class and List A cricket for Titans and played for South Africa national cricket team. On 11 January 2022, Chris Morris announced retirement from all forms of cricket. Read more
30 Apr 1987: Rohit Sharma, Indian cricketer Rohit Gurunath Sharma is an Indian international cricketer and the former captain of the India national cricket team in all formats of the game. He is a right-handed top-order batter. He represents Mumbai in domestic cricket and Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. Sharma was a member of the teams that won the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and was the winning captain of the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. Read more
30 Apr 1986: Dianna Agron, American actress and singer Dianna Elise Agron is an American actress and singer. Her work spans screen and stage, and her accolades include a Screen Actors Guild Award and nomination for a Brit Award. Agron began acting in small theater productions in her youth, before making her screen debut in 2006. After early attention with recurring television roles, she had her breakthrough with her starring role as Quinn Fabray in the Fox musical comedy drama series Glee (2009–2015). Read more
30 Apr 1986: Martten Kaldvee, Estonian biathlete Martten Kaldvee is a former Estonian biathlete. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he finished 74th in the 10 km sprint and 81st in the 20 km individual. Read more
30 Apr 1985: Brandon Bass, American basketball player Brandon Sam Bass is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the LSU Tigers and was selected in the 2005 NBA draft by the New Orleans Hornets. Bass played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. He finished his career in 2020 after three seasons with the Liaoning Flying Leopards in China. Read more
30 Apr 1985: Gal Gadot, Israeli actress and model Gal Gadot is an Israeli actress. She gained recognition for portraying Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe films (2016–2023). In 2018, Gadot was named one of Time's 100 most influential people and ranked by Forbes as the tenth-highest-paid actress, later rising to third in 2020. She became the first Israeli actor to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2025. Read more
30 Apr 1985: Ashley Alexandra Dupré, American journalist, singer, and prostitute Ashley Rae Maika DiPietro, better known by the stage name Ashley Alexandra Dupré, is a former call girl. She gained fame in 2008 for her role as "Kristen" in the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal, which led to the resignation of Eliot Spitzer as Governor of New York. Read more
30 Apr 1984: Seimone Augustus, American basketball player Seimone Delicia Augustus is an American basketball coach and former professional player. She is currently an assistant coach for the Louisiana State University women's basketball team. She was drafted first overall by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2006 WNBA draft and played for the Lynx for most of her Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) career except for her final season in with the Los Angeles Sparks. An eight-time All-Star and the 2011 finals MVP, Augustus led the Lynx to four WNBA championships. She also won three gold medals in the Olympics on the U.S. national team. Read more
30 Apr 1984: Shawn Daivari, American wrestler and manager Dara Shawn Daivari is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Khosrow Daivari or simply Daivari. As of June 2021, he is signed to WWE, where he works as a producer. He is also known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling where he is a former TNA X Division Champion and has also made appearances in Ring of Honor and Lucha Underground. Read more
30 Apr 1984: Risto Mätas, Estonian javelin thrower Risto Mätas is a retired Estonian track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. His personal best throw is 83.48 m, achieved in August 2013 in Kohila. Read more
30 Apr 1984: Lee Roache, English footballer Lee Daniel Roache is an English retired footballer who played as a striker. He played in the Football League for Barnet. Read more
30 Apr 1983: Chris Carr, American football player Charles Christopher Carr is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback, punt returner, and kick returner in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He was also a member of the Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints. He played college football for the Boise State Broncos. Read more
30 Apr 1983: Tatjana Hüfner, German luger Tatjana Hüfner is a German retired luger who has competed since 2003. Read more
30 Apr 1983: Marina Tomić, Slovenian hurdler Marina Tomić is a Slovenian athlete who specialises in the 100 metres hurdles. Read more
30 Apr 1983: Troy Williamson, American football player Troy Williamson is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings seventh overall in the 2005 NFL draft. He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks. Read more
30 Apr 1982: Kirsten Dunst, American actress Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the anthology film New York Stories (1989) and has since starred in many film and television productions. She has received several awards including nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Golden Globe Awards. Read more
30 Apr 1982: Drew Seeley, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor Andrew Michael Edgar Seeley is a Canadian actor, singer and dancer. He has recorded many songs for the Walt Disney Company. He danced as a child in Ontario until he was about preteen age and then moved to Florida. Read more
30 Apr 1981: Nicole Kaczmarski, American basketball player Nicole Anne Kaczmarski is an American former professional basketball player. A standout player in high school, she received a Gatorade Player of the Year award, was named Miss New York Basketball and earned a spot in the 1999 USA Today All-USA high school basketball team. Heavily recruited by colleges, Kaczmarski eventually enrolled at UCLA and played one season for their women's basketball team.
Kaczmarski then enrolled at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Afterward, she had brief stints with two Women's National Basketball Association teams, the New York Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks. In 2011, she became a color commentator for basketball telecasts.
Kaczmarski's high school career and college recruitment were chronicled in the documentary film Running Down a Dream. Read more
30 Apr 1981: John O'Shea, Irish footballer John Francis O'Shea is an Irish professional football coach and former player who is currently assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland men's national team. He was known for his versatility in playing several defensive and midfield positions on either side of the pitch or the centre. With 14 winners' medals, he is one of the most decorated Irish footballers of all time; only Denis Irwin, Roy Keane, Steve Heighway and Ronnie Whelan have accrued more honours. Read more
30 Apr 1981: Kunal Nayyar, British-Indian actor Kunal Nayyar is a British actor and philanthropist who gained recognition for playing Raj Koothrappali on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019). He also voiced Vijay on the Nickelodeon animated sitcom Sanjay and Craig (2013–2016). Nayyar was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2021 British Academy Television Awards for his role in Criminal: UK. Read more
30 Apr 1981: Justin Vernon, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known as the primary songwriter and frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. He is also a member of the bands Volcano Choir, Big Red Machine, the Shouting Matches, and Gayngs, and was previously a member of the now-defunct band DeYarmond Edison. Known for his distinct falsetto voice, Vernon has received widespread acclaim for his work, predominantly with Bon Iver. Read more
30 Apr 1980: Luis Scola, Argentinian basketball player Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa is an Argentine former basketball player and the chief executive officer for the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) team Pallacanestro Varese. A three-time All-EuroLeague selection with Tau Ceramica, he signed with the Houston Rockets in 2007 and was voted to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. He also played for the Phoenix Suns, Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, and Brooklyn Nets. Read more
30 Apr 1980: Jeroen Verhoeven, Dutch footballer Jeroen Verhoeven is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for RKC Waalwijk, FC Volendam, AFC Ajax and FC Utrecht in the span of his 17-year career as a professional goalkeeper in the Netherlands. Read more
30 Apr 1979: Gerardo Torrado, Mexican footballer Gerardo Torrado Díez de Bonilla is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Read more
30 Apr 1978: Liljay, Taiwanese singer Liao Xiao Jie, also known as Xiao Jie or Liljay, is a member of a trio boyband, JPM, with Qiu Wang Zi and Qiu Mao Di. Read more
30 Apr 1977: Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, American politician Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio is an American politician who served as the secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, she was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from District 37B from 2003 to 2015. Read more
30 Apr 1977: Meredith L. Patterson, American technologist, journalist, and author Meredith L. Patterson is an American technologist, science fiction writer, and journalist. She has spoken at numerous industry conferences on a wide range of topics. She is also a blogger and software developer, and a leading figure in the biopunk movement. Read more
30 Apr 1976: Davian Clarke, Jamaican sprinter Davian Clarke is a Jamaican former athlete, who mainly competed in the 400 metres. He was born in Spanish Town, St. Catherine and went to St. Catherine Primary & Kingston College HS won the bronze medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 1996 Olympics, and many relay medals followed, before he won his first individual medal at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Davian Clarke is also a graduate of University of Miami Patti & Allan Herbert Business School with Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA). Read more
30 Apr 1976: Amanda Palmer, American singer-songwriter and pianist Amanda MacKinnon Palmer is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who was the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo the Dresden Dolls She performs as a solo artist and was also a member of the duo Evelyn Evelyn and the lead singer and songwriter of Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra. She has gained a cult fanbase and was one of the first musical artists to popularize the use of crowdfunding websites. Read more
30 Apr 1976: Daniel Wagon, Australian rugby league player Daniel Wagon is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Limoux Grizzlies in the Elite One Championship. He is a former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Aston DSC Bulls in the AMNRL. He primarily played in the back row. He previously played for the St. George Dragons and Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League where he started his career in the centres before moving to the back row. Read more
30 Apr 1976: Victor Glover, American astronaut Victor Jerome Glover Jr. is an American naval officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut of the 2013 class. A former F/A‑18 pilot and graduate of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, in 2020, he piloted the first operational flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon to the International Space Station. Glover served as a flight engineer on Expedition 64 and became the first Black American astronaut to live aboard the ISS. In April 2026, Glover piloted the Artemis II mission, during which he became the first person of colour to travel to the vicinity of the Moon, and one of the four humans who have travelled the farthest from Earth. Read more
30 Apr 1975: Johnny Galecki, American actor John Mark Galecki is an American actor. In television, he played Leonard Hofstadter on The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019) and David Healy in Roseanne and The Conners (2018–2019). Galecki also appeared in the films Prancer (1989), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Suicide Kings (1997), I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), Bookies (2003), In Time (2011), and Rings (2017). Read more
30 Apr 1974: Christian Tamminga, Dutch athlete Christian Tamminga is a retired Dutch athlete who specialised in the pole vault. His biggest success was the sixth place at the 2001 World Championships. Read more
30 Apr 1973: Leigh Francis, English comedian and actor Leigh Izaak Francis is an English comedian, television presenter, actor, and writer. He is best known for creating and portraying the character Keith Lemon. Francis created and starred in Channel 4's sketch comedy show Bo' Selecta! (2002–2009) and presented the ITV shows Celebrity Juice (2008–2022) and Through the Keyhole (2013–2019). His other comedy shows include Lemon La Vida Loca (2012–2013), The Keith Lemon Sketch Show (2015–2016), and The Keith & Paddy Picture Show (2017–2018), as well as the film Keith Lemon: The Film (2012). Read more
30 Apr 1972: Takako Tokiwa, Japanese actress Takako Tokiwa is a Japanese actress. Read more
30 Apr 1969: Warren Defever, American bass player and producer Warren Defever is a musician and producer, originally from Livonia, Michigan, and now based in Detroit. He is most known for his chameleonic project His Name Is Alive, though he is active in numerous other circles. He produced, engineered, and/or remixed recordings by Iggy and the Stooges, Easy Action, Low, Ida, Michael Hurley, Califone, Yoko Ono, Thurston Moore, the Gories, the Go, Nomo, Saturday Looks Good to Me, Ethan Daniel Davidson, Faruq Z. Bey, the Von Bondies, Reba Fritz, Destroy All Monsters, Jenny Toomey, Slumber Party, John Sinclair, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Lisa Loeb, as well as HNIA offshoot Velour 100. Read more
30 Apr 1969: Justine Greening, English accountant and politician, Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening is an English former politician who was the Secretary of State for Education from 2016 to 2018. Prior to that, she was Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2010 to 2011, Secretary of State for Transport from 2011 to 2012 and Secretary of State for International Development from 2012 to 2016. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Putney from 2005 to 2019. Read more
30 Apr 1969: Paulo Jr., Brazilian bass player Paulo Xisto Pinto Júnior is a Brazilian musician best known as the bassist for heavy metal band Sepultura. He joined Sepultura after Roberto Raffan left the band in 1984, becoming Sepultura's second bassist. Although no original members are left in Sepultura, Pinto is the longest remaining member of Sepultura despite never performing on any album until Chaos A.D. (1993). Read more
30 Apr 1967: Phil Chang, Taiwanese singer-songwriter and actor Phil Chang is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, television presenter and actor. Read more
30 Apr 1967: Philipp Kirkorov, Bulgarian-born Russian singer, composer and actor Philipp Bedros Kirkorov is a Bulgarian-born Russian singer. He began his career in 1985 after participating in the Soviet musical TV show "Wider Circle". Since 2000, he has maintained public interest in his person with a scandalous reputation and recording remakes of hits by international performers from Europe and the United States. In 1995, he represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest and took 17th place. Read more
30 Apr 1967: Turbo B, American rapper Durron Maurice Butler, known as Turbo B, is an American rapper and beatboxer. He was once the frontman of the German electronic music group Snap! Read more
30 Apr 1966: Jeff Brown, Canadian ice hockey player and coach Jeff Randall Brown is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from the mid-1980s to late 1990s. He was selected to play in the 1992 NHL All-Star Game and holds many offensive records for the St. Louis Blues. Read more
30 Apr 1966: Dave Meggett, American football player and coach David Lee Meggett is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. A return specialist for most of his career, he ranks second in NFL punt return yards, which he led at the time of his retirement. Read more
30 Apr 1965: Daniela Costian, Romanian-Australian discus thrower Daniela Costian is a former Olympic discus throw bronze medallist. She was born in Brăila, Romania, but became an Australian citizen in 1990. She competed in the discus contest at the 1992 Summer Olympics and won the bronze medal. She won a silver medal at the 1993 World Championships in Athletics. Read more
30 Apr 1965: Adrian Pasdar, American actor Adrian Kayvan Pasdar is an American film, television, and voice actor. He is known for his roles in Profit, Near Dark, Carlito's Way, Mysterious Ways, Desperate Housewives, Burn Notice, Heroes and as Glenn Talbot / Graviton on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Additionally, he directed the feature film Cement. He is also known as the voice of Tony Stark / Iron Man in Marvel Anime, as well as in the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man, Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel, and Avengers Assemble, and in the Lego Marvel Super Heroes and Disney Infinity videogames. He also played district attorney Alec Rybak on The Lying Game. He has appeared on the American TV drama Grand Hotel as Felix. Read more
30 Apr 1964: Tony Fernandes, Malaysian-Indian businessman, co-founded Tune Group Tan Sri Dato' Sri Anthony Francis Fernandes is a Malaysian entrepreneur. He is the founder of Tune Air Sdn. Bhd., which took over the first Malaysian budget airline, AirAsia. Fernandes turned AirAsia, a failing government-linked commercial airline, into a highly successful budget airline public-listed company. He has since founded the Tune Group of companies. Until 2021, he was the owner of Caterham Group, the parent company of British car manufacturer Caterham Cars. Until July 2023, he was the majority shareholder of Queens Park Rangers F.C. Read more
30 Apr 1964: Ian Healy, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster Ian Andrew Healy is an Australian former international cricketer who played for Queensland domestically. A wicketkeeper and right-hand middle-order batsman, he first played international cricket in 1988, after six first-class games. Over the next decade, Healy was a member of the side as it enjoyed a period of success. By the time of his retirement, Healy held the world record for most Test dismissals by a wicket-keeper. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1996 Cricket World Cup. Read more
30 Apr 1964: Lorenzo Staelens, Belgian footballer and manager Lorenzo Jules Staelens is a Belgian professional football manager and former player. He most recently coached Dutch club HSV Hoek. Read more
30 Apr 1964: Abhishek Chatterjee, Indian actor (died 2022) Abhishek Chatterjee was an Indian actor who was known for his work in Bengali cinema. He made his big screen debut alongside veterans such as Sandhya Roy, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Tapas Paul and Utpal Dutt with the Bengali film Pathbhola (1986) directed by Tarun Majumdar. His notable works include Lathi by Prabhat Roy, Bakul Priya By Swapan Saha, Pabitra Papi, Sajoni Aamar Sohag and Chaowa Pawa. Read more
30 Apr 1963: Andrew Carwood, English tenor and conductor Andrew Carwood is the Director of Music at St Paul's Cathedral in London and director of The Cardinall's Musick. Read more
30 Apr 1963: Michael Waltrip, American race car driver and sportscaster Michael Curtis "Mikey" Waltrip is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, racing team owner, amateur ballroom dancing competitor and published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASCAR champion and racing commentator Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip is a two-time winner of the Daytona 500, having won the race in 2001 and 2003. He is also a pre-race analyst for the NASCAR Cup Series and color commentator for the Xfinity Series and the Craftsman Truck Series broadcasts for Fox Sports. He last raced in the 2017 Daytona 500, driving the No. 15 Toyota Camry for Premium Motorsports. All four of his NASCAR Cup Series wins came on superspeedways driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc.. Read more
30 Apr 1961: Arnór Guðjohnsen, Icelandic footballer Arnór Guðjohnsen is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent seven years with Belgian club Anderlecht and was the top scorer in the 1986–87 season. He is the father of striker Eiður Guðjohnsen and the grandfather of striker Sveinn Aron Guðjohnsen. His younger son, also named Arnór, signed for Swansea City in July 2017, at the age of 16. Read more
30 Apr 1961: Isiah Thomas, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster Isiah Lord Thomas III, also known as "Zeke", is an American former professional basketball player who is a current analyst for NBA TV and Fox Sports. He played his entire professional career for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest point guards of all time, Thomas was a two-time NBA champion, an NBA Finals MVP recipient, a five-time All-NBA Team member, a 12-time NBA All-Star with two All-Star Game MVP awards and the 1985 NBA assist leader. He was named to the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000. From 2000 to 2012 he coached the Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, and FIU. Read more
30 Apr 1960: Geoffrey Cox, English lawyer and politician Sir Charles Geoffrey Cox is a British Conservative Party politician and barrister. He has been the member of parliament (MP) for Torridge and Tavistock, previously Torridge and West Devon, since 2005. Cox worked as a barrister from 1982 onwards and was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 2003, two years before his election to Parliament. He served as Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland under Theresa May and Boris Johnson from 2018 to 2020. Read more
30 Apr 1960: Kerry Healey, American academic and politician, 70th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts Kerry Murphy Healey is an American politician and educator serving as President Emerita of Babson College. She previously served as the 70th lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 under Governor Mitt Romney. A former member of the Republican Party, she was the party's nominee for Governor of Massachusetts in the 2006 gubernatorial election, but was defeated by Deval Patrick. Read more
30 Apr 1959: Stephen Harper, Canadian economist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Joseph Harper is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, being the party's co-founder and serving as its first leader from 2004 to 2015. Since 2018, he has also been the chairman of the International Democracy Union. Read more
30 Apr 1958: Charles Berling, French actor, director, and screenwriter Charles Berling is a French actor, director and screenwriter. Read more
30 Apr 1957: Wonder Mike, American rapper and songwriter Michael Anthony Wright, known professionally as Wonder Mike, is an American hip hop recording artist and member of the Sugarhill Gang. The group was part of the hip hop movement in the 1970s and 1980s. Read more
30 Apr 1956: Lars von Trier, Danish director and screenwriter Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. Read more
30 Apr 1955: Nicolas Hulot, French journalist and environmentalist Nicolas Jacques André Hulot is a French journalist and environmental activist. He is the founder and honorary president of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation, an environmental group established in 1990. Read more
30 Apr 1955: David Kitchin, English lawyer and judge David James Tyson Kitchin, Lord Kitchin, PC is a British judge who served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2018 to 2023. He has also served as a Lord Justice of Appeal from 2011 to 2018. Read more
30 Apr 1955: Pradeep Sarkar, Indian director and screenwriter (died 2023) Pradeep Sarkar was an Indian director and screenwriter, best known for directing Parineeta (2005). He was a recipient of the Abby Award, Rapa Award, and the National Film Award. His body of work spans movies, music videos, feature film songs, and over 1000 commercials. Read more
30 Apr 1955: Zlatko Topčić, Bosnian writer and screenwriter Zlatko Topčić is a Bosnian screenwriter, playwright and novelist. He has written a number of films, including: Remake, The Abandoned, Miracle in Bosnia; theater plays: Time Out, I Don't Like Mondays, Refugees; novels: The Final Word, Dagmar, June 28, 1914. Read more
30 Apr 1954: Jane Campion, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion is a New Zealand filmmaker. Best known for her feature films with themes of rebellion and often focused on women in leading roles who are outsiders in society, Campion is regarded as one of the prominent female filmmakers in women's cinema. Read more
30 Apr 1954: Kim Darroch, English diplomat, UK Permanent Representative to the European Union Nigel Kim Darroch, Baron Darroch of Kew, is a former British diplomat. He served as the British Ambassador to the United States between January 2016 and December 2019, and previously as National Security Adviser and UK Permanent Representative to the European Union. Read more
30 Apr 1954: Frank-Michael Marczewski, German footballer Frank-Michael Marczewski is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. Read more
30 Apr 1953: Merrill Osmond, American singer and bass player Merrill Davis Osmond is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and bassist of the family music group The Osmonds and The Osmond Brothers, as well as an occasional solo artist. Read more
30 Apr 1952: Jacques Audiard, French director and screenwriter Jacques Audiard is a French film director, producer, and screenwriter. One of the most awarded French filmmakers in history, his international accolades include an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes. He holds the record for most individual wins in the history of the César Awards, France's national film awards, with thirteen wins between 1995 and 2025 including three separate Best Film/Best Director/Best Screenplay trifectas, and won four prizes from the Cannes Film Festival. Read more
30 Apr 1952: Jack Middelburg, Dutch motorcycle racer (died 1984) Jack Middelburg was a Dutch professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Together with Wil Hartog and Boet van Dulmen, he was part of a contingent of Dutch riders who competed at the highest levels of Grand Prix racing in the late 1970s. Middelburg never earned a factory-sponsored race bike, yet managed to post some impressive results. Read more
30 Apr 1949: Phil Garner, American baseball player and manager (died 2026) Philip Mason Garner was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an infielder with the Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Francisco Giants from 1973 to 1988. He was a three-time MLB All-Star. With the Pirates, he won the 1979 World Series. He managed the Milwaukee Brewers from 1992 to 1999, the Detroit Tigers from 2000 to 2002, and the Astros from 2004 to 2007. He led the Astros to their first league pennant and an appearance in the 2005 World Series. Read more
30 Apr 1949: António Guterres, Portuguese academic and politician, 114th Prime Minister of Portugal and 9th Secretary-General of the United Nations António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres is a Portuguese and Timorese politician and diplomat who, since 2017, has served as the ninth secretary-general of the United Nations. A member of the Portuguese Socialist Party, Guterres served as the prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002. Read more
30 Apr 1949: Karl Meiler, German tennis player (died 2014) Karl Meiler was a tennis player from West Germany who was active in the 1970s and 1980s. Read more
30 Apr 1948: Wayne Kramer, American guitarist and singer-songwriter (died 2024) Wayne Stanley Kramer was an American musician, songwriter, producer, and film and television composer. Kramer came to prominence in the 1960s as the lead guitarist of the Detroit rock band MC5. Read more
30 Apr 1948: Pierre Pagé, Canadian ice hockey player and coach Pierre Pagé is a Canadian former ice hockey coach and executive. He only played briefly while attending college at St. Francis Xavier University in 1970-71, then turned to coaching. Read more
30 Apr 1948: Margit Papp, Hungarian athlete Margit Papp is a Hungarian former athlete. She competed in the Summer Olympic Games in 1972, 1976 and 1980 and won the gold medal in women's pentathlon at the 1978 European Championships. Read more
30 Apr 1947: Paul Fiddes, English theologian and academic Paul Stuart Fiddes is an English Baptist theologian and novelist. Read more
30 Apr 1947: Finn Kalvik, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist Finn Bjørn Kalvik is a Norwegian singer and composer. He represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981. Read more
30 Apr 1947: Tom Køhlert, Danish footballer and manager Tom Køhlert is a Danish football manager and former player who managed Brøndby IF from 1979 to 1985 and several times later as a caretaker. He led the club to its first ever Danish championship in 1985. He has also functioned as a caretaker for the club's first team on two occasions. He currently coaches lower-tier club Gilleleje FK. Read more
30 Apr 1947: Mats Odell, Swedish economist and politician, Swedish Minister for Financial Markets Mats Christer Johannes Odell is a Swedish politician. He served as Minister of Communications (Transport) from 1991 to 1994 and as Minister for Financial Markets from 2006 to 2010. Read more
30 Apr 1946: King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf has reigned as the King of Sweden since 15 September 1973. Having reigned for 52 years, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history and the second longest-serving current head of state. Read more
30 Apr 1946: Bill Plympton, American animator, producer, and screenwriter Bill Plympton is an American animator, graphic designer, cartoonist, and filmmaker best known for his 1987 Academy Award–nominated animated short Your Face and his series of shorts featuring a dog character starting with 2004's Guard Dog. Read more
30 Apr 1946: Don Schollander, American swimmer Donald Arthur Schollander is an American former competition swimmer, five-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events. He won a total of five gold medals and one silver medal at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. With four gold medals, he was the most successful athlete at the 1964 Olympics. Read more
30 Apr 1945: J. Michael Brady, British radiologist Sir John Michael Brady is an emeritus professor of oncological imaging at the University of Oxford. He has been a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford, since 1985 and was elected a foreign associate member of the French Academy of Sciences in 2015. He was formerly BP Professor of Information Engineering at Oxford from 1985 to 2010 and a senior research scientist in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1980 to 1985. Read more
30 Apr 1945: Annie Dillard, American novelist, essayist, and poet Annie Dillard is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and nonfiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memoir. Her 1974 book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. From 1980, Dillard taught for 21 years in the English department of Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut. Read more
30 Apr 1945: Mimi Fariña, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist (died 2001) Margarita Mimi Baez Fariña was an American singer-songwriter and activist, the youngest of three daughters of mother Joan Chandos Bridge and Mexican-American physicist Albert Baez. She was the younger sister of the singer and activist Joan Baez. Read more
30 Apr 1945: Michael J. Smith, American pilot, and astronaut (died 1986) Michael John Smith, was an American engineer and astronaut. He served as the pilot of the Space Shuttle Challenger when it was destroyed during the STS-51-L mission, breaking up 73 seconds into the flight, and at an altitude of 48,000 feet (14.6 km), killing all seven crew members. Smith's voice was the last one heard on the Challenger voice recorder. Read more
30 Apr 1944: Jon Bing, Norwegian author, scholar, and academic (died 2014) Jon Bing was a Norwegian writer and law professor at the Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law (NRCCL), and the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo. Bing was considered a pioneer in international IT and information law. He held honorary doctorates from the Stockholm University and the University of Copenhagen, and was a visiting professor at King's College London. Bing was part of The Protection of Privacy Committee. From 1979 to 1981 he was head of Norsk Filmråd. Between 1981 and 1982, he was the head of The Council of Europe Committee on Legal Data Processing. Between 1993 and 2000, he headed Norsk kulturråd. Read more
30 Apr 1944: Jill Clayburgh, American actress (died 2010) Jill Clayburgh was an American actress known for her work in theater, television, and cinema. She received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her breakthrough role in Paul Mazursky's comedy drama An Unmarried Woman (1978). She received a second consecutive Academy Award nomination for Starting Over (1979) as well as four Golden Globe nominations for her film performances, and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her television work. Read more
30 Apr 1943: Frederick Chiluba, Zambian politician, 2nd President of Zambia (died 2011) Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba was a Zambian politician who was the second president of Zambia from 1991 to 2002. Chiluba, a trade union leader, won the country's multi-party presidential election in 1991 as the candidate of the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD), defeating long-time President Kenneth Kaunda. He was re-elected in 1996. As he was unable to run for a third term in 2001, former Vice President Levy Mwanawasa instead ran as the MMD candidate and succeeded him. After leaving office, Chiluba was the subject of a long investigation and trial regarding alleged corruption; he was eventually acquitted in 2009. Read more
30 Apr 1943: Bobby Vee, American pop singer-songwriter (died 2016) Robert Thomas Velline, known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to Billboard magazine, he had thirty-eight Hot 100 chart hits, ten of which reached the Top 20. He had six gold singles in his career. Read more
30 Apr 1942: Sallehuddin of Kedah, Sultan of Kedah Al-Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah is the 29th Sultan of Kedah since ascending to the throne in September 2017 upon the death of his elder half-brother Abdul Halim. As the fourth son of Badlishah of Kedah that lived to adulthood, he was initially not expected to inherit the throne. Read more
30 Apr 1941: Stavros Dimas, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Stavros Dimas is a Greek politician who was European Commissioner for the Environment from 2004 to 2009. From November 2011 to May 2012, he served in the government of Greece as Minister for Foreign Affairs. The New Democracy–PASOK coalition government nominated him for the post of President of Greece in December 2014, but he failed to achieve the necessary votes, forcing the dissolution of parliament. Read more
30 Apr 1941: Max Merritt, New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter (died 2020) Maxwell James Merritt was an Australian-New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist who was renowned as an interpreter of soul music and R&B. As leader of Max Merritt & The Meteors, his best known hits are "Slippin' Away", which reached No. 2 on the 1976 Australian singles charts, and "Hey, Western Union Man" which reached No. 13. Merritt rose to prominence in his native New Zealand from 1958 and relocated to Sydney, Australia, in December 1964. Merritt was acknowledged as one of the best local performers of the 1960s and 1970s and his influence did much to popularise soul music / R&B and rock in New Zealand and Australia. Read more
30 Apr 1940: Jeroen Brouwers, Dutch journalist and writer (died 2022) Jeroen Godfried Marie Brouwers was a Dutch writer. Read more
30 Apr 1940: Michael Cleary, Australian rugby player and politician Michael Arthur Cleary AO is an Australian former rugby union and rugby league footballer of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and a politician. He represented Australia in both rugby codes as well as in athletics making him one of only four Australians who have represented their country at full international level in three different sports. He represented as a Wallaby in six Tests in 1961 and as a Kangaroo in eight Tests from 1962. Read more
30 Apr 1940: Ülo Õun, Estonian sculptor (died 1988) Ülo Õun was an Estonian sculptor whose career began in the late 1960s and came to prominence in the 1970s. Õun mainly worked as a portrait and figural sculptor and was known for his works in colored plaster and bronze. Read more
30 Apr 1940: Burt Young, American actor and painter (died 2023) Gerald Tommaso DeLouise, known professionally as Burt Young, was an American actor. He played Rocky Balboa's brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino in the Rocky film series, his performance in the first installment of which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Read more
30 Apr 1938: Gary Collins, American actor and talk show host (died 2012) Gary Ennis Collins was an American actor and television host. Throughout his career, he won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1984 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1985. Read more
30 Apr 1938: Juraj Jakubisko, Slovak director and screenwriter (died 2023) Juraj Jakubisko was a Slovak film director. He directed fifteen feature films, between 1967 and 2008. He often took on the dual role of cinematographer in his films, as well as writing or co-writing the scripts. In 2000 he was named the Best Slovak Director of the 20th century by film critics and journalists. His work is often described as magical realism. Read more
30 Apr 1938: Larry Niven, American author and screenwriter Laurence van Cott Niven is an American science fiction writer. His 1970 novel Ringworld won the Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. With Jerry Pournelle he wrote The Mote in God's Eye (1974) and Lucifer's Hammer (1977). The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America gave him the 2015 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. Read more
30 Apr 1937: Tony Harrison, English poet and playwright (died 2025) Tony William Harrison was an English poet, translator and playwright. He was one of Britain's foremost verse writers and many of his works have been performed at the Royal National Theatre. He is noted for controversial works such as the poem "V", as well as his versions of dramatic works such as the tragedies Oresteia and Lysistrata from ancient Greek, Molière's The Misanthrope from French, and The Mysteries from Middle English. Read more
30 Apr 1934: Jerry Lordan, English singer-songwriter (died 1995) Jeremiah Patrick Lordan was an English songwriter, composer and singer. He had three hit singles on the UK Singles Chart before focusing purely on songwriting. Amongst his songwriting credits were the chart hits "I've Waited So Long", "Apache", "Wonderful Land", "Atlantis", "Diamonds", and "A Girl Like You". Read more
30 Apr 1934: Don McKenney, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2022) Donald Hamilton McKenney was a Canadian ice hockey forward and coach. He played in the National Hockey League between 1954 and 1968 with five teams, mostly with the Boston Bruins. After retiring he worked as a coach for Northeastern University for over twenty years. Read more
30 Apr 1933: Charles Sanderson, Baron Sanderson of Bowden, English politician (Charles) Russell Sanderson, Baron Sanderson of Bowden is a Scottish Conservative Party politician and a life peer. He was a member of the House of Lords from 1985 until his retirement in 2018. Read more
30 Apr 1930: Félix Guattari, French psychotherapist and philosopher (died 1992) Pierre-Félix Guattari was a French psychoanalyst, political philosopher, semiotician, social activist, and screenwriter. He co-founded schizoanalysis with Gilles Deleuze, and created ecosophy independently of Arne Næss. He has become best known for his literary and philosophical collaborations with Deleuze, most notably Anti-Oedipus (1972) and A Thousand Plateaus (1980), the two volumes of their theoretical work Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Read more
30 Apr 1928: Hugh Hood, Canadian author and academic (died 2000) Hugh John Blagdon Hood, OC was a Canadian novelist, short story writer, essayist and university professor. Read more
30 Apr 1928: Orlando Sirola, Italian tennis player (died 1995) Orlando Sirola was an Italian tennis player. Read more
30 Apr 1926: Shrinivas Khale, Indian composer (died 2011) Shrinivas Vinayak Khale, fondly addressed as "Khale Kaka", was an Indian composer/music director from Maharashtra, India. Read more
30 Apr 1926: Cloris Leachman, American actress and comedian (died 2021) Cloris Leachman was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nine decades. She received many accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations of which she won eight; with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, she is tied for the distinction of most acting Emmy Awards ever awarded to a performer. Leachman also won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award. She was known for her versatility and distinctive physicality, where she used props to accentuate and express her roles' characterizations. Read more
30 Apr 1925: Corinne Calvet, French actress (died 2001) Corinne Calvet, born Corinne Dibos, was a French actress who appeared mostly in American films. According to one obituary, she was promoted "as a combination of Marlene Dietrich and Rita Hayworth", but her persona failed to live up to this description, though the fault lay partially with a string of mediocre films. She eventually became better known for her turbulent private life and some well-publicised legal battles. Read more
30 Apr 1925: Johnny Horton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1960) John LaGale Horton was an American country, honky tonk, and rockabilly musician during the 1950s. He is best known for a series of history-inspired narrative country saga songs that became international hits. His 1959 single "The Battle of New Orleans" was awarded the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song was awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award and in 2001 ranked number 333 of the Recording Industry Association of America's "Songs of the Century". His first number-one country song was in 1959, "When It's Springtime in Alaska ". Read more
30 Apr 1924: Sheldon Harnick, American lyricist (died 2023) Sheldon Mayer Harnick was an American lyricist and songwriter best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on musicals such as Fiorello!, She Loves Me, and Fiddler on the Roof. Read more
30 Apr 1924: Uno Laht, Estonian KGB officer and author (died 2008) Uno Laht, was an Estonian writer and poet who wrote about the characteristics of everyday Soviet life in poetry. Laht was also a NKVD officer who participated in arrests and deportations in 1940s. Read more
30 Apr 1923: Percy Heath, American bassist (died 2005) Percy Heath was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet throughout their long history and also worked with Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Thelonious Monk and Lee Konitz. Read more
30 Apr 1923: Kagamisato Kiyoji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 42nd Yokozuna (died 2004) Kagamisato Kiyoji was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Aomori Prefecture. He was the sport's 42nd yokozuna. Read more
30 Apr 1922: Anton Murray, South African cricketer (died 1995) Anton Ronald Andrew Murray was a South African cricketer. Read more
30 Apr 1921: Roger L. Easton, American scientist, co-invented the GPS (died 2014) Roger Lee Easton Sr. was an American physicist and state representative who was the principal inventor and designer of the Global Positioning System, along with Ivan A. Getting and Bradford Parkinson. Read more
30 Apr 1920: Duncan Hamilton, Irish-English race car driver and pilot (died 1994) James Duncan Hamilton was a British racing driver. He was known for his colourful and extroverted personality. After fighting in the Second World War, he took up motorsport. Although adept in single-seaters, he was more successful in sportscars, winning the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans, two Coupe de Paris events, and the 12 heures internationals Reims race in 1956. He retired in 1958 and ran a garage in Byfleet, Surrey for many years. He died of lung cancer in 1994. Read more
30 Apr 1920: Gerda Lerner, Austrian-American historian and woman's history author (died 2013) Gerda Hedwig Lerner was an Austrian-born American historian and woman's history author. In addition to her numerous scholarly publications, she wrote poetry, fiction, theatre pieces, screenplays, and an autobiography. She served as president of the Organization of American Historians from 1980 to 1981. In 1980, she was appointed Robinson Edwards Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she taught until retiring in 1991. Read more
30 Apr 1920: Tom Moore, British army officer and fundraiser (died 2021) Captain Sir Thomas Moore, more popularly known as Captain Tom, was a British Army officer and fundraiser. He made international headlines in April 2020 when he raised money for charity in the run-up to his 100th birthday during the COVID-19 pandemic. He served in India and the Burma campaign during the Second World War, and later became an instructor in armoured warfare. After the war, he worked as managing director of a concrete company and was an avid motorcycle racer. Read more
30 Apr 1917: Bea Wain, American singer (died 2017) Beatrice Ruth Wain was an American Big Band-era singer and radio personality born in the Bronx, New York City. She had several hits with Larry Clinton and His Orchestra, including "My Reverie", "Deep Purple", and "Heart and Soul". Wain and announcer Andre Baruch, her husband, co-hosted radio programs from the 1940s to the 1980s. Read more
30 Apr 1916: Paul Kuusberg, Estonian journalist and author (died 2003) Paul Kuusberg was an Estonian writer and journalist. Novellas by him include "Roostetanud kastekann" (1971) and "Võõras või õige mees" (1978), which won an award in Estonia. Read more
30 Apr 1916: Claude Shannon, American mathematician and engineer (died 2001) Claude Elwood Shannon was an American polymath who was a mathematician, electrical engineer, computer scientist, cryptographer, and inventor known as the "father of information theory", and the man who laid the foundations of the Information Age. Read more
30 Apr 1916: Robert Shaw, American conductor (died 1999) Robert Lawson Shaw was an American conductor most famous for his work with his namesake Chorale, with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. He was known for drawing public attention to choral music through his wide-ranging influence and mentoring of younger conductors, the high standard of his recordings, his support for racial integration in his choruses, and his support for modern music, winning many awards throughout his career. Read more
30 Apr 1914: Charles Beetham, American middle-distance runner (died 1997)
Charles Beetham was an American middle-distance runner. He was United States champion in the 800-meter run in 1936, 1939, 1940 and 1941 and NCAA champion in 1936; he entered the 1936 United States Olympic Trials as one of the favorites, but fell in the final and failed to qualify for the Olympics. Read more
30 Apr 1914: Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter, actor, and painter (died 2008) Dorival Caymmi was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actor, and painter active for more than 70 years, beginning in 1933. He contributed to the birth of Brazil's bossa nova movement, and several of his samba pieces, such as "Samba da Minha Terra", "Doralice" and "Saudade da Bahia", have become staples of música popular brasileira (MPB). Equally notable are his ballads celebrating the fishermen and women of Bahia, including "Promessa de Pescador", "O Que É Que a Baiana Tem?", and "Milagre". Caymmi composed about 100 songs in his lifetime, and many of his works are now considered to be Brazilian classics. Both Brazilian and non-Brazilian musicians have covered his songs. Read more
30 Apr 1910: Levi Celerio, Filipino pianist, violinist, and composer (died 2002) Levi Celerio was a Filipino composer and lyricist who is credited with writing over 4,000 songs. Celerio was recognized as a National Artist of the Philippines for Music and Literature in 1997. Read more
30 Apr 1909: F. E. McWilliam, Irish sculptor and educator (died 1992) Frederick Edward McWilliam, was a Northern Irish surrealist sculptor. He worked chiefly in stone, wood and bronze. Read more
30 Apr 1909: Juliana of the Netherlands (died 2004) Juliana was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Read more
30 Apr 1908: Eve Arden, American actress (died 1990) Eve Arden was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades. Read more
30 Apr 1908: Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic professor of law and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Iceland (died 1970) Bjarni Benediktsson was an Icelandic politician of the Independence Party who served as prime minister of Iceland from 1963 to 1970. He was born to Benedikt Sveinsson (1877–1954), a leader in the independence movement of Iceland and a member of the Althingi from 1908 to 1931, and Guðrún Pétursdóttir frá Engey, a nationally renowned poet. Read more
30 Apr 1908: Frank Robert Miller, Canadian air marshal and politician (died 1997) Air Chief Marshal Frank Robert Miller was a Canadian airman, the last Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee in 1964, the first chief of the Defence Staff from 1964 until 1966, and deputy minister of National Defence. He held a range of Air Force training appointments during World War II. Read more
30 Apr 1905: Sergey Nikolsky, Russian mathematician and academic (died 2012) Sergey Mikhailovich Nikolsky was a Soviet and Russian mathematician. Read more
30 Apr 1902: Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1998) Theodore William Schultz was an American agricultural economist and chairman of the University of Chicago Department of Economics. Schultz rose to national prominence after winning the 1979 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Read more
30 Apr 1901: Simon Kuznets, Belarusian-American economist, statistician, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1985) Simon Smith Kuznets was a Russian-born American economist and statistician who received the 1971 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences "for his empirically founded interpretation of economic growth which has led to new and deepened insight into the economic and social structure and process of development." Read more
30 Apr 1900: Erni Krusten, Estonian author and poet (died 1984) Erni Krusten was an Estonian writer. He was born Ernst Krustein in Muraste, Harku Parish, in a gardening family, and he worked as a gardener himself. He was the brother of the writer Pedro Krusten and caricaturist Otto Krusten, and the father of the literary scholar Reet Krusten. Read more
30 Apr 1897: Humberto Mauro, Brazilian director and screenwriter (died 1983) Humberto Duarte Mauro was a Brazilian film director. His best known work is Ganga Bruta. He is often considered the greatest director of early Brazilian cinema. Read more
30 Apr 1896: Reverend Gary Davis, American singer and guitarist (died 1972) Gary D. Davis, known as Reverend Gary Davis and Blind Gary Davis, was an American blues and gospel singer who was also proficient on the banjo, guitar and harmonica. Born in Laurens, South Carolina, and blind since infancy, Davis first performed professionally in the Piedmont blues scene of Durham, North Carolina, in the 1930s, then converted to Christianity and became a minister. After moving to New York in the 1940s, Davis experienced a career rebirth as part of the American folk music revival that peaked during the 1960s. Davis' most notable recordings include "Samson and Delilah" and "Death Don't Have No Mercy". Read more
30 Apr 1896: Hans List, Austrian scientist and businessman, founded the AVL Engineering Company (died 1996) Hans List was a technical scientist and inventor and entrepreneur. Read more
30 Apr 1895: Philippe Panneton, Canadian physician, academic, and diplomat (died 1960) Philippe Panneton was a Canadian physician, academic, diplomat and writer. Read more
30 Apr 1893: Harold Breen, Australian public servant (died 1966) Harold Patrick Breen was a senior Australian public servant. He was head of the Department of Defence Production between 1951 and 1957. Read more
30 Apr 1893: Joachim von Ribbentrop, German soldier and politician, 14th German Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs (died 1946) Ulrich Friedrich-Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was a German politician, diplomat, and war criminal who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. Read more
30 Apr 1888: John Crowe Ransom, American poet, critic, and academic (died 1974) John Crowe Ransom was an American educator, scholar, literary critic, poet, essayist and editor. He is considered to be a founder of the New Criticism school of literary criticism. As a faculty member at Kenyon College, he was the first editor of the widely regarded Kenyon Review. Highly respected as a teacher and mentor to a generation of accomplished students, he also was a prize-winning poet and essayist. He was nominated for the 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature. Read more
30 Apr 1884: Olof Sandborg, Swedish actor (died 1965) Olof Sandborg was a Swedish stage and film actor. He won the Eugene O'Neill Award in 1962. Read more
30 Apr 1883: Jaroslav Hašek, Czech soldier and author (died 1923) Jaroslav Hašek was a Czech writer, humorist, satirist, journalist, bohemian, first anarchist and then communist, and commissar of the Red Army against the Czechoslovak Legion. He is best known for his novel The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War, an unfinished novel about a soldier in World War I and a satire on the ineptitude of authority figures. The novel has been translated into about 60 languages, making it the most translated novel in Czech literature. Read more
30 Apr 1883: Luigi Russolo, Italian painter and composer (died 1947) Luigi Carlo Filippo Russolo was an Italian Futurist painter, composer, builder of experimental musical instruments, and the author of the manifesto The Art of Noises (1913). Russolo completed his secondary education at Seminary of Portogruaro in 1901, after which he moved to Milan and began gaining interest in the arts. He is often regarded as one of the first noise music experimental composers with his performances of noise music concerts in 1913–14 and then again after World War I, notably in Paris in 1921. He designed and constructed a number of noise-generating devices called Intonarumori. Read more
30 Apr 1880: Charles Exeter Devereux Crombie, Scottish cartoonist (died 1967) Charles Exeter Devereux Crombie was an editorial cartoonist. Read more
30 Apr 1879: Richárd Weisz, Hungarian Olympic champion wrestler (died 1945) Richárd Weisz was a Hungarian heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler. He competed at the 1906 Intercalated Games and at the 1908 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal in 1908. Read more
30 Apr 1878: Władysław Witwicki, Polish psychologist, philosopher, translator, historian (of philosophy and art) and artist (died 1948) Władysław Witwicki was a Polish psychologist, philosopher, translator, historian and artist. He is seen as one of the fathers of psychology in Poland. Read more
30 Apr 1877: Léon Flameng, French cyclist (died 1917) Marie Léon Flameng was a French cyclist and a World War I pilot. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, winning three medals including one gold. Read more
30 Apr 1877: Alice B. Toklas, American memoirist (died 1967) Alice Babette Toklas was an American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century, and the life partner of American writer Gertrude Stein. Read more
30 Apr 1876: Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist and politician (died 1937) Orso Mario Corbino was an Italian physicist and politician. He is noted for his studies of the influence of external magnetic fields on the motion of electrons in metals and he discovered the Corbino effect. He served as Minister for education in 1921–1922 and as Minister for National Economy in 1923–1924. He also served as professor of the University of Messina (1905) and of the University of Rome (1908). He was also the supervisor of the Via Panisperna boys. Read more
30 Apr 1874: Cyriel Verschaeve, Flemish priest and author (died 1949) Cyriel Verschaeve was a Flemish nationalist priest and writer who collaborated with the Nazis during the Second World War. He was recognised as the spiritual leader of Flemish nationalism by the ideology's adherents and a Nazi propagandist. Read more
30 Apr 1870: Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer (died 1948) Franz Lehár was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow. Read more
30 Apr 1870: Dadasaheb Phalke, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1944) Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke, was an Indian producer, director and screenwriter, widely regarded as "the Father of Indian cinema". Read more
30 Apr 1869: Hans Poelzig, German architect, designed the IG Farben Building and Großes Schauspielhaus (died 1936) Hans Poelzig was a German architect, painter and set designer. Read more
30 Apr 1866: Mary Haviland Stilwell Kuesel, American pioneer dentist (died 1936) Mary Haviland Stilwell Kuesel sometimes spelled Stillwell-Kuesel was a pioneer American dentist. She was the founder of the Women's Dental Association of the United States, which she founded in 1892 with 12 charter members. Read more
30 Apr 1865: Max Nettlau, German historian and academic (died 1944) Max Heinrich Hermann Reinhardt Nettlau was a German anarchist and historian. Read more
30 Apr 1857: Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist (died 1940) Paul Eugen Bleuler was a Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist most notable for his influence on modern concepts of mental illness. He coined several psychiatric terms including schizophrenia, schizoid, autism, depth psychology and what Sigmund Freud called "Bleuler's happily chosen term 'ambivalence'". Bleuler remains a controversial figure in psychiatric history for his racist and ableist beliefs, as well as his implementation of eugenic practises in psychiatry based on these beliefs, most notably at the Burghölzli clinic in Zurich. Read more
30 Apr 1857: Walter Simon, German banker and philanthropist (died 1920) Walter Simon was a German banker, councillor and philanthropist active in Königsberg and Tübingen. Read more
30 Apr 1848: Eugène Simon, French naturalist (died 1924) Eugène Louis Simon was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider taxonomist in history, describing over 4,000 species. Read more
30 Apr 1829: Ferdinand von Hochstetter, Austrian geologist and academic (died 1884) Christian Gottlieb Ferdinand Ritter von Hochstetter was a German-Austrian geologist. In 1857 he was appointed geologist on the Austrian Novara expedition to New Zealand, collecting natural history specimens and producing the first geological map of New Zealand. Read more
30 Apr 1803: Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and politician, 10th Minister President of Prussia (died 1879) Albrecht Theodor Emil Graf von Roon was a Prussian soldier and statesman. As Minister of War from 1859 to 1873, Roon, along with Otto von Bismarck and Helmuth von Moltke, was a dominating figure in Prussia's government during the key decade of the 1860s, when a series of successful wars against Denmark, Austria, and France led to German unification under Prussia's leadership. A moderate conservative and supporter of executive monarchy, he was an avid modernizer who worked to improve the efficiency of the army. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 30 April in World History

30 Apr 2024: Paul Auster, American writer and film director (born 1947) Paul Benjamin Auster was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include The New York Trilogy (1987), Moon Palace (1989), The Music of Chance (1990), The Book of Illusions (2002), The Brooklyn Follies (2005), Invisible (2009), Sunset Park (2010), Winter Journal (2012), and 4 3 2 1 (2017). His books have been translated into more than 40 languages. Read more
30 Apr 2023: Jock Zonfrillo, Scottish television presenter and chef (born 1976) Barry "Jock" Zonfrillo was a Scottish chef, television presenter and restaurateur. He was the founder of the Orana Foundation and a judge on MasterChef Australia. Read more
30 Apr 2022: Naomi Judd, American singer-songwriter and actress (born 1946) Naomi Judd was an American country music singer and actress. In 1980, she and her daughter Wynonna formed the duo known as The Judds, who became a successful country music act, winning five Grammy Awards and nine Country Music Association awards. The Judds ceased performing in 1991 after Naomi was diagnosed with hepatitis; while Wynonna continued to perform as a solo artist, she occasionally reunited with her mother for tours as The Judds. Naomi died by suicide in 2022, the day before she and Wynonna were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Read more
30 Apr 2022: Mino Raiola, Italian football agent (born 1967) Carmine "Mino" Raiola was an Italian-Dutch football agent known for having represented players such as Pavel Nedvěd, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Paul Pogba, and Erling Haaland. Read more
30 Apr 2021: Anthony Payne, English composer (born 1936) Anthony Edward Payne was an English composer, music critic and musicologist. He is best known for his acclaimed completion of Edward Elgar's third symphony, which gained wide acceptance into Elgar's oeuvre. Payne is particularly noted for his chamber music, much of which was written for his wife, the soprano Jane Manning, and the couple's new music ensemble Jane's Minstrels. Initially an unrelenting proponent of modernist music, by the 1980s his compositions had embraced aspects of the late English romanticism, described by his colleague Susan Bradshaw as "modernized nostalgia". Read more
30 Apr 2020: Tony Allen, Nigerian drummer and composer (born 1940) Tony Oladipo Allen was a Nigerian drummer, composer, and songwriter. Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti's band Africa '70 from 1968 to 1979, and was one of the founders of the Afrobeat genre. Read more
30 Apr 2020: Rishi Kapoor, Indian actor, film director and producer (born 1952) Rishi Kapoor was an Indian actor, film director, and producer who worked in Hindi films. In a career spanning five decades, he established himself through a diverse range of roles in Hindi cinema. Kapoor was the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award and four Filmfare Awards. Read more
30 Apr 2019: Peter Mayhew, English-American actor (born 1944) Peter William Mayhew was a British-American actor. He was best known for portraying Chewbacca in the Star Wars film series. He played the character in all of his live-action appearances from the 1977 original to 2015's The Force Awakens before his retirement from the role. He also voiced the character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and portrayed him in some non-canon television shows, including The Muppet Show. Read more
30 Apr 2017: Belchior, Brazilian singer and composer (born 1946) Belchior was a Brazilian singer and composer. He was one of the first MPB singers from the Brazilian northeast to reach mainstream success, in the early 1970s. Read more
30 Apr 2016: Daniel Berrigan, American priest and activist (born 1921) Daniel Joseph Berrigan was an American Jesuit priest, anti-war activist, Christian pacifist, playwright, poet, and author. Read more
30 Apr 2016: Harry Kroto, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1939) Sir Harold Walter Kroto was an English chemist. He shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley for their discovery of fullerenes. He was the recipient of many other honors and awards. Read more
30 Apr 2015: Ben E. King, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1938) Benjamin Earl King was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence as one of the principal lead singers of the R&B vocal group the Drifters, singing the lead vocals on three of their biggest hit singles: "There Goes My Baby", "This Magic Moment", and "Save the Last Dance for Me". Read more
30 Apr 2014: Khaled Choudhury, Indian painter and set designer (born 1919) Khaled Choudhury was a theatre personality and artist of Bengal. He worked for various directors of both Bengali and Hindi plays, including Sombhu Mitra, Tripti Mitra, and Shyamanand Jalan in various capacities — creating the Stage, sets and costumes and later as music director. He was a bachelor. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to theatre in India's Republic Day Honours List on 26 January 2012. He died on 30 April 2014 in Kolkata. Read more
30 Apr 2014: Julian Lewis, English biologist and academic (born 1946) Julian Hart Lewis FRS was an English developmental biologist and researcher whose work shed light on the nature of cellular timing mechanisms and their role in animal development. He showed that the Notch ligand controls the timing of nerve cell differentiation and the synchronised cycling of neighbouring cell activity. He modelled the cellular oscillatory circuit that determines the segmentation of the developing body, and clarified the importance of delay kinetics in setting the frequency of those oscillations. Read more
30 Apr 2014: Carl E. Moses, American businessman and politician (born 1929)
Carl Eugene Moses was an American businessman from Unalaska, Alaska who served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1965 to 1973 as both a Republican and Democrat, and was elected again to the House in 1992 running on the Alaskan Independence Party ticket, later switched back to the Democrats, and served until 2007. Moses served a total of eleven full terms in the Alaska House, making him the longest-serving member in the history of that body. In the 2006 primary election, Moses was defeated for renomination by Bryce Edgmon, losing via a coin toss after the election results wound up in court and were later certified by the state of Alaska as ending in a tie vote. Read more
30 Apr 2014: Ian Ross, Australian journalist (born 1940) Ian Charles "Roscoe" Ross was an Australian television news presenter for Seven News in Sydney and for Nine News. Read more
30 Apr 2013: Roberto Chabet, Filipino painter and sculptor (born 1937) Roberto "Bobby" Rodríguez Chabet was an artist from the Philippines and widely acknowledged as the father of Philippine conceptual art. Read more
30 Apr 2013: Shirley Firth, Canadian skier (born 1953) Shirley Firth was a Canadian cross-country skier who competed in four consecutive Winter Olympics in 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984. Read more
30 Apr 2013: Viviane Forrester, French author and critic (born 1925)
Viviane Forrester was an essayist, novelist, journalist and literary critic. Read more
30 Apr 2012: Tomás Borge, Nicaraguan poet and politician, co-founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front (born 1930) Tomás Borge Martínez, often spelled as Thomas Borge in American newspapers, was a cofounder of the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Nicaragua and was Interior Minister of Nicaragua during one of the administrations of Daniel Ortega. He was also a renowned statesman, writer, and politician. Tomás Borge also held the titles of "Vice-Secretary and President of the FSLN", member of the Nicaraguan Parliament and National Congress, and Ambassador to Peru. Considered a hardliner, he led the "prolonged people's war" tendency within the FSLN until his death. Read more
30 Apr 2012: Alexander Dale Oen, Norwegian swimmer (born 1985) Alexander Dale Oen was a Norwegian competitive swimmer. He was an Olympic silver medallist, World Championships gold medallist, World Championships (25m) bronze medallist, two-time European Championships gold medallist and European Short Course Championships gold medallist in the 100 metre breaststroke. Read more
30 Apr 2012: Giannis Gravanis, Greek footballer (born 1958) Giannis Gravanis was a Greek footballer. Read more
30 Apr 2012: Benzion Netanyahu, Russian-Israeli historian and academic (born 1910) Benzion Netanyahu was a Polish-born Israeli encyclopedist, historian, and medievalist. Born in Warsaw, he served as a professor of history at Cornell University. A scholar of Judaic history, he was also an activist in the Revisionist Zionism movement, who lobbied in the United States to support the creation of the Jewish state. His field of expertise was the history of the Jews in Spain. He was an editor of the Hebrew Encyclopedia and assistant to Benjamin Azkin, Ze'ev Jabotinsky's personal secretary. Read more
30 Apr 2011: Dorjee Khandu, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh (born 1955) Dorjee Khandu was an Indian politician who served as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh from 2007 until his death in a helicopter crash in April 2011. Read more
30 Apr 2011: Evald Okas, Estonian painter (born 1915) Evald Okas was an Estonian painter, probably best known for his portraits of nudes. Read more
30 Apr 2011: Ernesto Sabato, Argentinian physicist, author, and painter (born 1911) Ernesto Sabato was an Argentine novelist, essayist, painter, and physicist. According to the BBC he "won some of the most prestigious prizes in Hispanic literature" and "became very influential in the literary world throughout Latin America". Upon his death El País dubbed him the "last classic writer in Argentine literature". Read more
30 Apr 2009: Henk Nijdam, Dutch cyclist (born 1935) Henk Nijdam was a Dutch road and track cyclist. His sporting career began with Fortuna Zundert. On track, he finished in fifth place in the 4 km team pursuit at the 1960 Summer Olympics. He also won a gold and a bronze medals in the individual pursuit at world championships in 1962 and 1963. Read more
30 Apr 2008: Juancho Evertsz, Dutch Antillean politician (born 1923) Juancho Evertsz, whose full name was Juan Miguel Gregorio Evertsz, was a Dutch Antillean politician who served as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles between 1973 and 1977. Read more
30 Apr 2007: Kevin Mitchell, American football player (born 1971) Kevin Danyelle Mitchell was an American professional football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He played for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Redskins. Read more
30 Apr 2007: Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk, Inuk writer (born 1931) Mitiarjuk Attasie Nappaaluk was an Inuk author, educator, and sculptor from Kangiqsujuaq in Nunavik, in northern Quebec, Canada. She was noted for writing Sanaaq, one of the first Inuktitut-language novels. Nappaaluk translated books into Inuktitut and contributed to an early Inuktitut dictionary. She went on to teach Inuit culture and language in the Nunavik region, authoring a total of 22 books for use in schools. Her soapstone sculptures are held in collections at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, the Musée de la Civilisation, and the British Museum. Read more
30 Apr 2007: Tom Poston, American actor, comedian, and game show panelist (born 1921) Thomas Gordon Poston was an American actor, appearing in television roles from the 1950s through the early to mid-2000s, reportedly appearing in more sitcoms than any other actor. In the 1980s, he played George Utley on the CBS sitcom Newhart, receiving three Emmy Award nominations for the role. In addition he had a number of film roles and appeared frequently on Broadway and television game shows. Read more
30 Apr 2007: Gordon Scott, American film and television actor (born 1926) Gordon Scott was an American film and television actor known for his portrayal of the fictional character Tarzan in five films of the Tarzan film series from 1955 to 1960. Gordon Scott was the 11th Tarzan, starting with Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955). He was "discovered" poolside, and offered "a seven-year contract, a loin cloth, and a new last name." Read more
30 Apr 2006: Jean-François Revel, French philosopher (born 1924) Jean-François Revel was a French philosopher, journalist, and author. A prominent public intellectual, Revel was a socialist in his youth but later became a prominent European proponent of classical liberalism and free market economics. He was a member of the Académie française after June 1998. He is best known for his book Without Marx or Jesus: The New American Revolution Has Begun, published in French in 1970. Read more
30 Apr 2006: Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesian author and academic (born 1925) Pramoedya Ananta Toer, also nicknamed Pram, was an Indonesian novelist and writer. His works span the colonial period under Dutch rule, Indonesia's struggle for independence, its occupation by Japan during World War II, as well as the post-colonial authoritarian regimes of Sukarno and Suharto, and are infused with personal and national history. Read more
30 Apr 2005: Phil Rasmussen, American lieutenant and pilot (born 1918) Philip M. Rasmussen was a United States Army Air Forces second lieutenant assigned to the 46th Pursuit Squadron at Wheeler Field on the island of Oahu during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He was one of the few American pilots to get into the air that day. Read more
30 Apr 2003: Mark Berger, American economist and academic (born 1955) Professor Mark C. Berger was the director of The Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Kentucky until his death at age 47. He was also a Fulbright Scholar at University College Dublin. Originally hailing from Sylvania, Ohio, Berger earned his BA from the University of Toledo and his MA and PhD from Ohio State University. Read more
30 Apr 2003: Possum Bourne, New Zealand race car driver (born 1956) Peter Raymond George "Possum" Bourne was a champion New Zealand rally car driver. He died under non-competitive circumstances while driving on a public road that was to be the track for an upcoming race. Read more
30 Apr 2002: Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, German philanthropist, founded the Gründerzeit Museum (born 1928) Charlotte von Mahlsdorf was a well-known transgender woman in East Germany and founded the Gründerzeit Museum in Berlin-Mahlsdorf. Later she became a LGBT-icon in Germany because of Rosa von Praunheim's biopic I Am My Own Woman (1992). Read more
30 Apr 2000: Poul Hartling, Danish politician, 36th Prime Minister of Denmark (born 1914) Poul Hartling was a Danish politician and diplomat. He was leader of Venstre from 1965 to 1977, and served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1973 to 1975. Prior to that, he served as foreign minister from 1968 to 1971 under Hilmar Baunsgaard. From 1978 to 1985, he served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Read more
30 Apr 1998: Nizar Qabbani, Syrian-English poet, publisher, and diplomat (born 1926) Nizar Tawfiq Qabbani was a Syrian poet, diplomat, and publisher. Widely regarded as Syria’s national poet. Qabbani’s work is noted for its blend of simplicity and lyrical elegance, addressing themes of love, eroticism, feminism, religion, Arab nationalism, and resistance to both foreign imperialism and domestic authoritarianism. He remains one of the most celebrated and influential contemporary poets in the Arab world. His notable relatives include the playwright Abu Khalil Qabbani, diplomat Sabah Qabbani, writer Rana Kabbani, and translator Yasmine Seale. Read more
30 Apr 1995: Maung Maung Kha, Burmese colonel and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma (born 1920) Maung Maung Kha was Prime Minister of Burma between 1977 and 1988. Read more
30 Apr 1994: Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian race car driver (born 1960) Roland Walter Ratzenberger was an Austrian racing driver, who competed in Formula One at three Grands Prix in 1994. Read more
30 Apr 1994: Richard Scarry, American author and illustrator (born 1919) Richard McClure Scarry was an American children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of over 100 million worldwide. He is best known for his Best Ever book series that take place primarily in the fictional town of Busytown, "which is populated by friendly and helpful resident [animals…such as] Mr. Frumble, Huckle Cat, Mr. Fixit, Lowly Worm, and others…" The series spawned a media franchise. Read more
30 Apr 1993: Tommy Caton, English footballer (born 1962) Thomas Stephen Caton was an English footballer who played as a centre half for Manchester City, Arsenal, Oxford United and Charlton Athletic. Caton captained both Manchester City and Oxford United and was named as City's Player of the Year in 1982. Read more
30 Apr 1989: Sergio Leone, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1929) Sergio Leone was an Italian filmmaker, credited as the pioneer of the spaghetti Western genre. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. Read more
30 Apr 1986: Robert Stevenson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1905) Robert Edward Stevenson was a British-American screenwriter and film director. Read more
30 Apr 1983: George Balanchine, Russian dancer and choreographer (born 1904) George Balanchine was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century. Styled as the father of American ballet, he co-founded the New York City Ballet and remained its artistic director for more than 35 years. His choreography is characterized by plotless ballets with minimal costume and décor, performed to classical and neoclassical music. Read more
30 Apr 1983: Muddy Waters, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and bandleader (born 1913) McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues". His style of playing has been described as "raining down Delta beatitude". Read more
30 Apr 1983: Edouard Wyss-Dunant, Swiss physician and mountaineer (born 1897) Edouard Wyss-Dunant was a Swiss physician and alpinist. He had a distinguished career in medicine, both in his own country and abroad. He published a number of treatises in his professional capacity and was the author of several mountaineering books. He is best known for his leadership of the Swiss Expedition to Everest of 1952. Read more
30 Apr 1982: Lester Bangs, American journalist and author (born 1949) Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist and critic. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines and was also a performing musician. The music critic Jim DeRogatis called him "America's greatest rock critic". Read more
30 Apr 1980: Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican journalist and politician, 1st Governor of Puerto Rico (born 1898) José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín, most commonly known as Luis Muñoz Marín, was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, and statesman who served as the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico from 1949 to 1965. He previously served as the fourth president of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 1941 to 1948. Read more
30 Apr 1974: Agnes Moorehead, American actress (born 1900) Agnes Robertson Moorehead was an American actress. In a career spanning five decades, her credits included work in radio, stage, film, and television. Moorehead was the recipient of such accolades as a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for four Academy Awards. Read more
30 Apr 1973: Václav Renč, Czech poet and playwright (born 1911) Václav Renč was a Czech poet, children's writer, dramatist and translator. Like other Catholic ruralistic writers, his themes included God, traditions and the countryside. Read more
30 Apr 1972: Gia Scala, English-American model and actress (born 1934) Gia Scala was a British and American actress. Read more
30 Apr 1970: Jacques Presser, Dutch historian, writer and poet (born 1899) Jacob (Jacques) Presser was a Dutch historian, writer and poet who is known for his book Ashes in the Wind on the history of the persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands during World War II. Presser made a significant contribution to Dutch historical scholarship, as well as to European historical scholarship. Read more
30 Apr 1970: Inger Stevens, Swedish-American actress (born 1934) Inger Stevens was a Swedish-born American film, stage, and Golden Globe–winning television actress. Read more
30 Apr 1956: Alben W. Barkley, American lawyer and politician, 35th Vice President of the United States (born 1877) Alben William Barkley was an American lawyer and politician from Kentucky who served as the 35th vice president of the United States from 1949 to 1953 under President Harry S. Truman. In 1905, he was elected to local offices and in 1912 as a U.S. representative. Serving in both houses of Congress, he was a liberal Democrat, supporting President Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom domestic agenda and foreign policy. Read more
30 Apr 1953: Jacob Linzbach, Estonian linguist and author (born 1874) Jakob Linzbach was an Estonian linguist. Read more
30 Apr 1945: Eva Braun, German photographer and office and lab assistant, wife of Adolf Hitler (born 1912) Eva Anna Paula Hitler was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich in 1929 when she was an assistant and model for his personal photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann. She began seeing Hitler often about two years later. Read more
30 Apr 1945: Adolf Hitler, Austrian-German politician and author, dictator of Nazi Germany (born 1889) Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany during the Nazi era from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 under his leadership marked the outbreak of the Second World War. Throughout the ensuing conflict, Hitler was closely involved in the direction of German military operations and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust, the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims. Read more
30 Apr 1943: Eddy Hamel, American footballer (born 1902) Eddy Hamel was an American soccer player who played as a right winger for Dutch club AFC Ajax. Hamel was the first Jewish player for Ajax. He was murdered by the Nazis in 1943 in Auschwitz concentration camp. Read more
30 Apr 1943: Otto Jespersen, Danish linguist and academic (born 1860) Jens Otto Harry Jespersen was a Danish linguist who worked in foreign-language pedagogy, historical phonetics, and other areas, but is best known for his description of the grammar of the English language. Steven Mithen describes him as "one of the greatest language scholars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries." Read more
30 Apr 1943: Beatrice Webb, English sociologist and economist (born 1858) Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, was an English sociologist, economist, feminist and social reformer. She was among the founders of the London School of Economics and played a crucial role in forming the Fabian Society. Additionally, she authored several popular books, with her most notable being The Co-operative Movement in Great Britain and Industrial Democracy, co-authored by her husband Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, where she coined the term "collective bargaining" as a way to discuss the negotiation process between an employer and a labor union. As a feminist and social reformer, she criticised the exclusion of women from various occupations as well as campaigning for the unionisation of female workers, pushing for legislation that allowed for better hours and conditions. Read more
30 Apr 1939: Frank Haller, American boxer (born 1883) Frank Bee Haller was an American featherweight professional boxer who competed in the early twentieth century. He won a silver medal in Boxing at the 1904 Summer Olympics, beating fellow American Frederick Gilmore, but losing to Oliver Kirk in the final. Read more
30 Apr 1936: A. E. Housman, English poet and scholar (born 1859) Alfred Edward Housman was an English classical scholar and poet. He showed early promise as a student at the University of Oxford, but he failed the final examination in literae humaniores and took employment as a patent examiner in London in 1882. In his spare time he engaged in textual criticism of classical Greek and Latin texts and his publications as an independent researcher earned him a high academic reputation and appointment as a professor of Latin at University College London in 1892. In 1911 he was appointed Kennedy Professor of Latin in the University of Cambridge. He is regarded as one of the foremost classicists of his age and one of the greatest classical scholars. His editions of Juvenal, Manilius, and Lucan are still considered authoritative. Read more
30 Apr 1926: Bessie Coleman, American pilot (born 1892) Elizabeth Coleman was an early American civil aviator. She was the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license, and is the earliest known Black person to earn an international pilot's license. She earned her license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale on June 15, 1921. Read more
30 Apr 1910: Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (born 1856) Jean Moréas was a Greek poet, essayist, and art critic, who wrote mostly in the French language but also in Greek during his youth. Read more
30 Apr 1903: Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and activist (born 1831) Emily Howard Stowe was a Canadian physician who was the first female physician to practise in Canada, the second licensed female physician in Canada and an activist for women's rights and suffrage. Stowe helped found the women's suffrage movement in Canada and campaigned for the country's first medical college for women. Read more
30 Apr 1900: Casey Jones, American railroad engineer (born 1864) John Luther "Casey" Jones was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train in Vaughan, Mississippi. Read more
30 Apr 1891: Joseph Leidy, American paleontologist and author (born 1823) Joseph Mellick Leidy was an American paleontologist, parasitologist, and anatomist. Read more
30 Apr 1883: Édouard Manet, French painter (born 1832) Édouard Manet was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Read more
30 Apr 1879: Emma Smith, American religious leader (born 1804) Emma Hale Smith Bidamon was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and a prominent member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as well as the first wife of Joseph Smith, the movement's founder. In 1842, when the Ladies' Relief Society of Nauvoo was formed as a women's service organization, she was elected by its members as the organization's first president. Read more
30 Apr 1875: Jean-Frédéric Waldeck, French explorer, lithographer, and cartographer (born 1766) Jean-Frédéric Maximilien de Waldeck was a French antiquarian, cartographer, artist and explorer. He was a man of talent and accomplishment, but his love of self-promotion and refusal to let the truth get in the way of a good story leave some aspects of his life in mystery. Read more
30 Apr 1870: Thomas Cooke, Canadian bishop and missionary (born 1792) Thomas Cooke was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest, missionary, and the first Bishop of Trois Rivières from 1852 to 1870. Read more
30 Apr 1865: Robert FitzRoy, English admiral, meteorologist, and politician, 2nd Governor of New Zealand (born 1805) Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy was an English officer of the Royal Navy, politician and scientist who served as the second governor of New Zealand between 1843 and 1845. Read more
30 Apr 1864: John B. Cocke, Confederate States Army officer, killed in action at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry (born c. 1833) John Benjamin Cocke was an American lawyer who served as a senior officer of the Confederate States Army, commanding the 39th Arkansas Infantry Regiment in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War from 1863 until he was killed in action at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry in 1864. Read more
30 Apr 1863: Jean Danjou, French Army officer, killed in action at the Battle of Camarón (born 1828) Jean Danjou was a decorated captain of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. He commanded the two lieutenants and 62 legionnaires who fought the Battle of Camarón during the French intervention in Mexico, in which he was killed. Read more
30 Apr 1847: Charles, Austrian commander and duke of Teschen (born 1771) Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Lawrence of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field marshal, the third son of Emperor Leopold II and Maria Luisa of Spain. He was also the younger brother of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor. He was epileptic, but achieved respect both as a commander and as a reformer of the Austrian Army. He was considered one of Napoleon's most formidable opponents and one of the greatest generals of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Charles wrote several military works as well. Read more
30 Apr 1841: Peter Andreas Heiberg, Danish philologist and author (born 1758) Peter Andreas Heiberg was a Danish-Norwegian author and philologist. He was born in Vordingborg, Denmark-Norway. The Heiberg ancestry can be traced back to Norway, and has produced a long line of priests, headmasters and other learned men. His father was the Norwegian-born headteacher of the grammar school in Vordingborg, Ludvig Heiberg, whilst his mother was Inger Margrethe, daughter of the vicar at the manor of Vemmetofte Peder Heiberg, a relative of Ludvig Heiberg, and Inger Hørning, who came from a family of wealthy Danish merchants. Read more
30 Apr 1806: Onogawa Kisaburō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 5th Yokozuna (born 1758) Onogawa Kisaburō was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Ōtsu, Ōmi Province. He was the sport's 5th yokozuna. Along with Tanikaze, Onogawa was the first to be given a yokozuna licence during his lifetime. He is described as a leading figure of sumo during the Kansei era. Read more

Why is 30 April Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 30 April, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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On 30 April, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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