April 30

Birthdays:

1986~ Dianna Elsie Agron, American actress and singer best known for her role as Quinn Fabray on Glee.

1985~ Gal Gadot, Israel actress.

1961~ Isiah Thomas (néIsiah Lord Thomas, III), American baseball player.

1959~ Paul Michael Gross, Canadian actor best known for his role as the upright Canadian Mounted Police Officer working in with the Chicago Police Department in the TV series, Due South.

1946~ King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.  He became King of Sweden in September 1973.

1945~ Michael John Smith (d. Jan. 28, 1986), American astronaut who was killed in the Space Shuttle Challengerdisaster. He was 40 years old.

1945~ Annie Dillard (née Meta Ann Doak), American author.

1944~ Jill Clayburg (d. Nov. 5, 2010), American actress.  She died of leukemia at age 66.

1930~ Nathaniel Branden (né Nathaniel Blumenthal, d. Dec. 3, 2014), Canadian-American psychologist who became Ayn Rand’s lover.  He died at age 84.

1930~ José Narosky, Argentine writer best known for his aphorisms.

1926~ Cloris Leachman, American actress.

1925~ Johnny Horton (néJohn LaGale Horton, d. Nov. 5, 1960), American musician and singer, best known for his song, The Battle of New Orleans.  He was killed in a car accident at age 35.

1921~ Robert Lee Easton, Sr. (d. May 8, 2014), American scientist and co-inventor of the GPS.  He was born in Craftsbury, Vermont and died in Hanover, New Hampshire.  He died 8 days after his 93^rdbirthday.

1916~ Claude Elwood Shannon (d. Feb. 24, 2001), American engineer and mathematician.  He died in Medford, Massachusetts at age 84.

1909~ Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (d. Mar. 20, 2004).  She reigned as Queen from September 1948 until April 1980, her 61^stbirthday, when she abdicated the throne in favor or her daughter, Wilhelmina.  She died at age 94.

1908~ Eve Arden (née Eunice Mary Quedens, d. Nov. 12, 1990), American actress.  She died at age 82 of heart disease.

1905~ Sergey Nikolsky (d. Nov. 9, 1912), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 107.

1902~ Theodore William Schultz (d. Feb. 26, 1998), American economist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. He died at age 95.

1901~ Simon Kuznets (d. July 8, 1985), Ukrainian economist and recipient of the 1971 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. He died at age 84 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1877~ Alice B. Toklas (né Alice Babette Toklas, d. Mar. 7, 1967), American writer and companion of Gertrude Stein.  She died at age 89.

1866~ Mary Haviland Stiwell Kuesel (d. June 22, 1936), American pioneer dentist. She was the founder of the Women’s Dental Association of the United States.  She died of coronary thrombosis at age 70.

1777~ Carl Friedrich Gauss (néJohann Carl Friedrich Gauss, d. Feb. 23, 1855), German mathematician.  He died at age 77.

1662~ Queen Mary II of England (d. Dec. 28, 1694). She died of smallpox at age 32.

1245~ King Philip III of France (d. Oct. 5, 1285).  He was known as Philip the Bold.  He died of dysentery at age 40.

Events that Changed the World:

2013~ Queen Beatrix (b. 1938) of the Netherlands abdicated in favor of her son, Willem-Alexander (b. 1967), who became King of the Netherlands.

2009~ Chrysler automobile company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

2008~ Two skeletal remains found near Yekaterinburg, Russia were confirmed to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna.

1993~ Tennis star Monica Seles (b. 1973) was stabbed in the back by an obsessed fan during the quarterfinal match of the 1993 Citizen Cup in Hamburg, Germany.

1980~ Beatrix of the Netherlands (b. 1938) became Queen of the Netherlands.  She abdicated the throne on April 30, 2013 in favor of her eldest son, Willem-Alexander (b. 1967).

1975~ The Vietnam War formally ended with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Duong Văn Minh (1916 ~ 2001).  Communist forces gained control of Saigon.

1973~ Richard Nixon’s top White House aides, including H.R. Haldeman (1926 ~ 1993) and John Ehrlichman (1925 ~ 1999), resigned amid the Watergate Scandal.

1947~ The Boulder Dam in Nevada was renamed the Hoover Dam.

1945~ Soviet troops liberated Stalag Luft I, a German prisoner-of-war camp. Over 9000 American and British airman were freed.

1939~ The 1939-40 New York World’s Fair opened.

1939~ Television was first publically broadcast from the Empire State Building in New York City.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 ~ 1945) presented the New York World’s Fair ceremonial address on NBC.

1927~ Douglas Fairbanks (1883 ~ 1939) and Mary Pickford (1892 ~ 1979) became the first Hollywood celebrities to leave their footprints in the concrete at Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

1927~ The first women’s federal prison in the United States opened in Alderson, West Virginia as the Federal Industrial Institute for Women.

1904~ The Louisiana Purchase Exposition World’s Fair opened in St. Louis, Missouri.

1900~ Hawaii became a territory of the United States.

1885~ The Governor of New York State signed legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, the first state park in New York State.

1812~ Louisiana became the 18^thState of the Union.

1803~ The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France under the Louisiana Purchase Agreement which, although was signed on May 2, was dated as of April 30.  The purchase price was $15 Million.

1789~ George Washington (1732 ~ 1799) was inaugurated as the first United States President.  The ceremony took place on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City.

1598~ Henry IV of France (1553 ~ 1610) issued the Edict of Nantes, which allowed the freedom of religion to the Huguenots.

1492~ Spain granted Christopher Columbus (1451 ~ 1506) his commission of exploration.

Good-byes:

2017~ Ueli Steck (b. Oct. 4, 1976), Swiss daredevil mountaineer who raced up peaks.  He died at age 40 from a fall while training in the Himalayas.

2016~ Sir Harry Kroto (néHarold Walter Krotoschiner, b. Oct. 7, 1939), British chemist and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 76.

2016~ Father Daniel Berrigan (né Daniel Joseph Berrigan, b. May 9, 1921), American Catholic priest, political and anti-war/peace activist.  He died 9 days before his 95^thbirthday.

2015~ Ben E. King (né Benjamin Earl Nelson, b. Sept. 28, 1938), American soul legend who sang Stand by Me.  He was 76 years old.

2012~ Benzion Netanyahu (b. Mar. 25, 1910), Israeli historian whose field of expertise was the history of Jews in Spain during the Inquisition.  He was also the father of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  He died at age 102.

2007~ Tom Poston (né Thomas Gordon Poston, b. Oct. 17, 1921), American actor.  He is best known for his portrayal of George Utley on Newhart.  He died of respiratory failure at age 85.

1994~ Richard Scarry (né Richard McClure Scarry, b. June 5, 1919), American author and illustrator of children’s books.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died of a heart attack at age 74.

1983~ Muddy Waters (né McKinley Morganfield, b. Apr. 4, 1913), American musician, considered the “father of modern Chicago blues.”  He died of heart failure 26 days after his 70^thbirthday.

1983~ George Balanchine (b. Jan. 22, 1904), Russian dancer and choreographer.  He died at age 79.

1974~ Agnes Robertson Moorehead (b. Dec. 6, 1900), American actress.  She is best known for her role as Endora on the sit-com Bewitched.  She was born in Clinton, Massachusetts.  She died of uterine cancer at age 73.

1958~ Alvan Fuller (d. Feb. 27, 1878), 50^thGovernor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1925 until January 1929.  He died at age 80.

1956~ Alben William Barkley (b. Nov. 24, 1877). 35^thVice President of the United States.  He served under President Harry S. Truman from January 1949 until January 1953.  He collapsed and died of a heart attack while giving a speech in Virginia.  He died at age 78.

1945~ Adolf Hitler (b. Apr. 20, 1889) dictator of Nazi Germany.  He committed suicide along with Eva Braun (née Eva Anna Paula Braun, b. Feb. 6, 1912), his wife of one day 10 days before his 57^thbirthday.

1936~ A.E. Housman (né Alfred Edward Housman, b. Mar. 26, 1859), English poet.  He died at age 77.

1926~ Bessie Coleman (née Elizabeth Coleman, b. Jan. 26, 1892), African-American civil aviator.  She was the first African-American woman pilot and the first African-American to hold an international pilot license.  She was killed at age 34 in a plane crash.

1900~ Casey Jones (né Jonathan Luther Jones, b. Mar. 14, 1863), American railroad engineer who died in a train wreck in Vaughn, Mississippi, when his train, the Cannonball Express, collided with a stalled freight train.  He gave his life to prevent a crash and to save the lives of his passengers.  He was the only fatality in the crash.  He was 37 years old at the time of his death.

1883~ Édouard Manet (b. Jan. 23, 1832), French painter.  He died of gangrene following an operation to amputate his foot.  He was 51 years old.

1879~ Sarah Josepha Hale (b. Oct. 24, 1788), American author and poet.  She was born in Newport, New Hampshire.  She is credited with the nursery rhyme, Mary had a Little Lamb.  She died at age 90.

1513~ Edmund de la Pole, 3^rdDuke of Suffolk (b. 1471), Yorkist pretender to the English throne.  Henry VIII had him executed.  He was the son of Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 41 or 42 at the time of his death

1063~ Emperor Renzong of Song (b. May 30, 1010), 4^thChinese emperor of the Song Dynasty.  He died a month before his 53^rdbirthday.

125~ Emperor An of Han (b. 94), Chinese emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty.  The exact date of his birth is not known but he is believed to have died at age 31.