Today in History - 30 January

1648
Eighty Years' War: The Treaty of Munster and Osnabruck is signed, ending ending the
conflict between the Netherlands and Spain
1649
King Charles I of England is beheaded
1661
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is ritually executed
two years after his death, on the anniversary of the execution of the monarch ho himself
deposed
1790
The first boat specializing as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne
1806
The original Lower Trenton Bridge, which spans the Delaware River between Morrisville,
Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey, is opened
1820
Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica
1826
The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge,
connecting the Isle of Anglesey to north West coast of Wales, is opened
1835
In the first assassination attempt against the President of the United States, Richard
Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson, but fails and is subdued by a
crowd, including several congressman
1841
Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco
1858

The first Halle concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of
the Halle Orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra
1862
The first American ironclad warship, the Monitor is launched
1889
Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found
dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in Mayerling
1911
The Canadian Naval Service becomes the Royal Canadian Navy
1913
The United Kingdom's House of Lords rejects the Irish Home Rule Bill
1925
The Government of Turkey throws Patriarch Constantine VI out of Instambul
1930
The world's second radiosonde is launched in Pavlovsk, USSR
1933
Adolph Hitler is sworn in as Chancellor of Germany
1943
CA-29 is sunk and a U.S. destroyer is heavily damaged by Japanese torpedoes
1944
World War II: United States troops land on Majuro
1945
World War II: Hitler gives his last ever public address, a radio address on the 12th
anniversary of his coming to power
1948
Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is assassinated by Nathuram

Godse, a Hindu extremist

1956
American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for
the Montgomery Bus Boycott
1960
The African Nation Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties
1962
Two of the high-wire Flying Wallendas are killed when their seven-person pyramid
collapses during a performance in Detroit, Michigan
1964
Ranger program: Ranger 6 is launched
1968
Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive begins when Viet Cong forces launch a series of
surprise attacks in South Vietnam
1969
The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The
impromptu concert is broken up by the police
1972
Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations
1976
George H. W. Bush becomes the 11th director of the CIA
1979
Varig 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over
the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo
1982
Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as
an Apple boot program called 'Elk Cloner'

1989
The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan closes
1994
Peter Leko becomes the youngest chess grand master
1995
Workers from the National Institutes of Health announce the success of clinical trials
testing the first preventive treatment for sickle cell disease
1996
Comet Hyakutate is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake
2000
Off the coast of Ivory Coast, Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean,
killing 169
2003
Belgium becomes the second country in the world to legally recognize same-sex
marriage