Historical Events on Tuesday, 30th December

30/12/2020

A large explosion at the airport in the southern Yemeni city of Aden kills at least 22 people and wounds 50.

On 30 December 2020, a plane carrying members of the recently formed Yemeni government landed at Aden International Airport in the southwest of Yemen. As passengers disembarked, there were explosions and gunfire, leaving 28 people dead and 107 others injured. None of the passengers were hurt in the attack and the Yemeni cabinet members were quickly transported to Mashiq Palace for safety.

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30/12/2013

More than 100 people are killed when anti-government forces attack key buildings in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Attacks in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, were launched by supporters of religious leader Paul Joseph Mukungubila against television studios, the airport and a military base in the capital on 30 December 2013. The state security forces responded, killing around 54 of the attackers. An additional 47 of Mukungubila's supporters were killed in separate clashes in the cities of Lubumbashi and Kolwezi and around 100 people were arrested.

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30/12/2009

A segment of the Lanzhou–Zhengzhou–Changsha pipeline ruptures in Shaanxi, China, and approximately 150,000 L (40,000 US gal) of diesel oil flows down the Wei River before finally reaching the Yellow River.

The Lanzhou–Zhengzhou–Changsha product oil pipeline is a pipeline carrying diesel and other oil products from the northwest to the central regions of China. The 2,070-kilometre (1,290 mi) pipeline starts in Lanzhou in Gansu, and runs through Zhengzhou in Henan to Changsha in Hunan. In Zhengzhou, it is linked with Jinzhou–Zhengzhou product pipeline running from Jinzhou in Liaoning to Zhengzhou.

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A suicide bomber kills nine people at Forward Operating Base Chapman, a key facility of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan.

The Camp Chapman attack was a suicide attack by Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi against the Central Intelligence Agency facility inside Forward Operating Base Chapman in Afghanistan on December 30, 2009. One of the main tasks of the CIA personnel stationed at the base was to provide intelligence supporting drone attacks in Pakistan. Seven American CIA officers and contractors, a Jordanian intelligence officer, and an Afghan working for the CIA were killed when al-Balawi detonated a bomb sewn into a vest he was wearing. Six other American CIA officers were wounded. The bombing was the most lethal attack against the CIA in more than 25 years.

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30/12/2006

Madrid–Barajas Airport is bombed.

Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport is the main international airport serving Madrid, the capital of Spain, and its metropolitan area. At 3,050 ha in area, it is the second-largest airport in Europe by physical size behind Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. In 2025, 68,1 million passengers travelled through Madrid–Barajas, making it the country's busiest airport as well as Europe's fifth-busiest.

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The Indonesian passenger ferry MV Senopati Nusantara sinks in a storm, resulting in at least 400 deaths.

The MV Senopati Nusantara was an Indonesian ferry that sank in a storm on December 30, 2006. The Japanese-made ship was a scheduled passenger liner from the port of Kumai in Central Kalimantan (Borneo) to Tanjung Emas port in Semarang, Central Java. About 40 km (25 mi) off Mandalika Island, the ship sank during a violent storm in the Java Sea. At least 400–500 people are thought to have drowned, with only 224 surviving.

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Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is executed.

The president of the Republic of Iraq is the head of state of Iraq. Since the mid-2000s, the presidency is primarily a symbolic office, as the position does not possess significant power within the country according to the constitution adopted in October 2005.

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30/12/2005

Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the open Atlantic Ocean, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone ever to form in the North Atlantic basin.

Tropical Storm Zeta was a very late-developing tropical storm that formed in the central Atlantic Ocean during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, forming one month after the season's official end. Becoming a tropical depression on December 30, and intensifying the following day into the season's 28th storm, Zeta continued into January 2006. It was one of only two Atlantic tropical cyclones to span two calendar years.

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30/12/2004

A fire in the República Cromagnon nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 194.

On 30 December 2004, a fire broke out in the crowded República Cromañón nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 194 people and leaving at least 1,492 injured. The direct cause was the indoor pyrotechnics igniting the ceiling.

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30/12/2000

Rizal Day bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines within a period of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.

The Rizal Day bombings, also referred to as the December 30 bombings, were a series of bombings that occurred around Metro Manila in the Philippines on December 30, 2000. The explosions occurred within a span of a few hours, killing 22 people and injuring over 100 others.

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30/12/1997

In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres, 400 people from four villages are killed.

Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Spanning over 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi), it is the largest country in Africa and the tenth largest in the world. It is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia; to the east by Libya; to the southeast by Niger; to the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; to the west by Morocco; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. With a population of over 47 million, Algeria is the tenth-most populous country in Africa. Its capital and largest city is Algiers.

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30/12/1996

Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers who shut down services across Israel.

Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is an Israeli politician and diplomat who has served as Prime Minister of Israel since 2022. Having previously held office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021, Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving prime minister.

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30/12/1993

Israel establishes diplomatic relations with Vatican City and also upgrades to full diplomatic relations with Ireland.

Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral declarative political act of a state that acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state. Recognition can be accorded either on a de facto or de jure basis. Partial recognition can occur if many sovereign states refuse to recognize an entity as a peer. Recognition can be a declaration to that effect by the recognizing government or may be implied from an act of recognition, such as entering into a treaty with the other state or making a state visit. Recognition may, but need not, have domestic and international legal consequences. If sufficient countries recognize a particular entity as a state, that state may have a right to membership in international organizations, while treaties may require all existing member countries unanimously agreeing to the admission of a new member.

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30/12/1987

Stella Sigcau, Prime minister of the South African Bantustan of Transkei, is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by General Bantu Holomisa.

Stella Nomzamo Sigcau was a South African politician. Sigcau was also the first female Prime Minister of the bantustan of Transkei before being deposed in a military coup in 1987. After Transkei was merged into South Africa following the end of apartheid, Sigcau became a minister in the cabinets of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki until her death.

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30/12/1972

Vietnam War: Operation Linebacker II ends.

Operation Linebacker II, sometimes referred to as the Christmas bombings and, in Vietnam, the Twelve days and nights, or Điện Biên Phủ of the Sky, was a strategic bombing campaign conducted by the United States against military and civilian targets in North Vietnam from 18 December to 29 December 1972, during the Vietnam War. More than 20,000 tons of ordnance was dropped on military and industrial areas in Hanoi and Haiphong and at least 1,624 civilians were killed. The operation was the final major military operation carried out by the U.S. during the conflict, and the largest bombing campaign involving heavy bombers since World War II.

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30/12/1970

Hurricane Creek mine disaster, near Hyden, Kentucky

The Hurricane Creek mine disaster occurred at the Finley Mine near Hyden, Kentucky, USA, on December 30, 1970, shortly after noon and resulted in the deaths of 38 men. As was often pointed out in coverage of the disaster, it occurred a year to the day after the passage of the Coal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969. Recovery was complicated by the fact that a foot of snow fell on the rural mountain roads at the time of the accident.

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30/12/1967

Aeroflot Flight L-51 crashes near Liepāja International Airport in Liepāja, Latvia, killing 43.

Aeroflot Flight L-51 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by an Antonov An-24 that crashed on approach to Liepāja International Airport on 30 December 1967, resulting in the death of 43 of the 51 people on board. To date, it is the deadliest aviation accident in Latvian history. The investigation revealed the cause of the accident to be pilot error.

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30/12/1958

The Guatemalan Air Force sinks several Mexican fishing boats alleged to have breached maritime borders, killing three and sparking international tension.

The Guatemalan Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of Guatemala. The FAG is a subordinate to the Guatemalan Military and its commanding officer reports to the Defence Minister.

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30/12/1954

The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation is established to consolidate criminal investigation and intelligence into a single agency.

The National Bureau of Investigation is a national law enforcement agency of the Finnish Police and the principal criminal investigation and criminal intelligence organization of Finland. The Bureau's main tasks are to counter and investigate organized crime, provide expert services, and develop methods for criminal investigation. NBI is also responsible for financial intelligence (FININT), such as preventing money laundering and terrorism financing. NBI headquarters has been situated in the city of Vantaa within the Capital Region since 1994 with field offices in Tampere, Turku, Mariehamn, Joensuu, Oulu and Rovaniemi. It is subordinate to the National Police Board under the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry.

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30/12/1952

An RAF Avro Lancaster bomber crashes in Luqa, Malta after an engine failure, killing three crew members and a civilian on the ground.

The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling, all three aircraft being four-engine heavy bombers adopted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the same era.

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30/12/1947

Cold War: King Michael I of Romania is forced to abdicate by the Soviet Union-backed Communist government of Romania.

The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.

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30/12/1944

King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving the throne vacant.

George II was King of Greece from 27 September 1922 until 25 March 1924, and again from 25 November 1935 until his death on 1 April 1947.

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30/12/1943

Subhas Chandra Bose raises the flag of Indian independence at Port Blair.

Subhas Chandra Bose was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist. Bose's defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan left a legacy vexed by authoritarianism, antisemitism, and military failure. The honorific Netaji was first applied to Bose in Germany in early 1942—by the Indian soldiers of the Indische Legion and by the German and Indian officials in the Special Bureau for India in Berlin. It is now used throughout India.

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30/12/1936

The Flint sit-down strike hits General Motors.

The 1936–1937 Flint sit-down strike, also known as the General Motors sit-down strike, or the great GM sit-down strike, was a sitdown strike at the General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan, United States. It changed the United Automobile Workers (UAW) from a collection of isolated local unions on the fringes of the industry into a major labor union and led to the unionization of the American automobile industry.

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30/12/1935

The Italian Air Force bombs a Swedish Red Cross hospital during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.

On 30 December 1935, a Swedish Red Cross field hospital was destroyed in an airstrike by the Regia Aeronautica in Dolo, Ethiopia, killing between 22 and 30 people, mostly Ethiopians. The attack was reportedly part of an Italian reprisal for the earlier execution of an Italian prisoner of war by Ethiopian troops or civilians.

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30/12/1927

The Ginza Line, the first subway line in Asia, opens in Tokyo, Japan.

The Ginza Line , officially designated as Line 3 Ginza Line , is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. The line spans 14.3 km and serves the wards of Shibuya, Minato, Chūō, Chiyoda, and Taitō.

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30/12/1922

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is formed.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), also known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. It was the world's third-most populous country, largest by area, and bordered twelve countries. A diverse multinational state, it was organized as a federal union of national republics, the largest and most populous being the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. In practice, its government and economy were highly centralized. As a one-party state governed by the Communist Party, it was the flagship communist state. Its capital and largest city was Moscow.

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30/12/1916

Russian mystic and advisor to the Tsar Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin is murdered by a loyalist group led by Prince Felix Yusupov. His frozen, partially-trussed body was discovered in a Petrograd river three days later.

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final years of the Russian Empire.

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The last coronation in Hungary is performed for King Charles IV and Queen Zita.

The coronation of the Hungarian monarch was a ceremony in which the king or queen of the Kingdom of Hungary was formally crowned and invested with regalia. It corresponded to the coronation ceremonies in other European monarchies. While in countries like France and England the king's reign began immediately upon the death of his predecessor, in Hungary the coronation was absolutely indispensable: if it were not properly executed, the Kingdom stayed "orphaned". All monarchs had to be crowned as King of Hungary in order to promulgate laws and exercise his royal prerogatives in the Kingdom of Hungary. Starting from the Golden Bull of 1222, all new Hungarian monarchs had to take a coronation oath, by which they had to agree to uphold the constitutional arrangements of the country, and to preserve the liberties of their subjects and the territorial integrity of the realm.

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30/12/1906

The All-India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India (later Dhaka, Bangladesh).

The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when some well-known Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests in British India.

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30/12/1905

Former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg is assassinated at the front gate of his home in Caldwell.

Idaho is a landlocked state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington and Oregon to the west; the state shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border to the north with the Canadian province of British Columbia. Idaho's state capital and largest city is Boise. With an area of 83,569 square miles (216,440 km2), Idaho is the 14th-largest state by land area. The state has a population of approximately two million people; it ranks as the 13th-least populous and the seventh-least densely populated of the 50 U.S. states.

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30/12/1903

A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills at least 605.

The Iroquois Theatre fire was a catastrophic building fire in Chicago, Illinois, that broke out on December 30, 1903, during a performance attended by 1,700 people. The fire caused 602 deaths and 250 non-fatal injuries. It ranks as the worst theater fire in the United States, surpassing the carnage of the Brooklyn Theatre fire of 1876, which claimed at least 278 lives.

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30/12/1902

The Discovery Expedition under Robert Falcon Scott attains a Farthest South at 82°17′S in Antarctica.

The Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904, known officially as the British National Antarctic Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since the voyage of James Clark Ross sixty years earlier (1839–1843). Organized on a large scale under a joint committee of the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), the new expedition carried out scientific research and geographical exploration in what was then largely an untouched continent. It launched the Antarctic careers of many who would become leading figures in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, including Robert Falcon Scott who led the expedition, Ernest Shackleton, Edward Wilson, Frank Wild, Tom Crean and William Lashly.

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30/12/1897

The British Colony of Natal annexes Zululand.

The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on 4 May 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its provinces. It is now the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

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30/12/1896

Filipino patriot and reform advocate José Rizal is executed by a Spanish firing squad in Manila.

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is popularly considered a national hero of the Philippines. An ophthalmologist by profession, Rizal became a writer and a key member of the Filipino Propaganda Movement in the 1880s, which advocated political reforms for the colony under Spain.

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Canadian ice hockey player Ernie McLea scores the first hat-trick in Stanley Cup play, and the Cup-winning goal as the Montreal Victorias defeat the Winnipeg Victorias 6–5.

Ice hockey, known simply as hockey in North America and parts of Europe, is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. The two opposing teams score by using their sticks to control and advance a vulcanized rubber hockey puck, and then shooting it into the net of the other team. Each goal is worth one point. The team with the highest score after an hour of gameplay, broken down into three 20 minute periods, is declared the winner; ties are broken in overtime or a shootout. In a formal game, each team has six skaters on the ice at a time, barring any penalties, including a goaltender. It is a full contact game and one of the more physically demanding team sports.

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30/12/1890

Following the Wounded Knee Massacre, the United States Army and Lakota warriors face off in the Drexel Mission Fight.

The Wounded Knee Massacre, also known as the Battle of Wounded Knee, involved nearly three hundred Lakota people killed by soldiers of the United States Army. More than 250 and up to 300 Lakota people were killed and 51 wounded. Twenty-five U.S. soldiers were killed and 39 were wounded. Nineteen soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor specifically for Wounded Knee, and overall 31 for the campaign.

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30/12/1853

Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest.

The Gadsden Purchase, also known as the Treaty of Mesilla, is a 29,640-square-mile (76,800 km2) region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the United States acquired from Mexico. The first draft was signed on December 31, 1853, by James Gadsden, US Minister to Mexico, and by Antonio López de Santa Anna, president of Mexico. The treaty took effect on June 8, 1854.

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30/12/1825

The Treaty of St. Louis between the United States and the Shawnee Nation is proclaimed.

The Treaty of St. Louis is the name of a series of treaties signed between the United States and various Native American tribes from 1804 through 1824. The fourteen treaties were all signed in the St. Louis, Missouri area.

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30/12/1816

The Treaty of St. Louis between the United States and the united Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi Indian tribes is proclaimed.

The Treaty of St. Louis of 1816 was treaty signed by Ninian Edwards, William Clark, and Auguste Chouteau for the United States and representatives of the Council of Three Fires residing on the Illinois and Milwaukee rivers, signed on August 24, 1816, and proclaimed on December 30, 1816. Despite the name, the treaty was conducted at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, located immediately north of St. Louis, Missouri.

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30/12/1813

War of 1812: British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York.

The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States declared war on Britain on 18 June 1812. Although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 Treaty of Ghent, the war did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by the United States Congress on 17 February 1815.

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30/12/1702

Queen Anne's War: James Moore, Governor of the Province of Carolina, abandons the Siege of St. Augustine.

Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In the United States, it is regarded as a standalone conflict under this name. Elsewhere it is usually viewed as the American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession. It is also known as the Third Indian War. In France it was known as the Second Intercolonial War.

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30/12/1641

Reapers' War: Louis XIII of France swears the Catalan constitutions, being appointed Count of Barcelona and thus establishing the personal union of the Principality of Catalonia with the Kingdom of France.

The Reapers' War, also known as the Catalan Revolt or Catalan Revolution, was a conflict that affected the Principality of Catalonia between 1640 and 1659, in the context of the Franco-Spanish War of 1635–1659. Incited by an unrest among the Catalan peasantry and institutions, as well as French diplomatic movements, the war resulted in the establishment of the short-lived Catalan Republic and the subsequent clash of Spanish and French armies on Catalan soil for over a decade.

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30/12/1460

Wars of the Roses: Lancastrians kill the 3rd Duke of York and win the Battle of Wakefield.

The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, and also the Cousins' War, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought for control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fought between supporters of the House of Lancaster and House of York, two rival cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet. The conflict resulted in the end of Lancaster's male line in 1471, leaving the Tudor family to inherit, through the female line, the Lancaster claim to the throne. Conflict was largely brought to an end upon the union of the two houses through marriage, creating the Tudor dynasty that would subsequently rule England.

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30/12/1419

Hundred Years' War: Battle of La Rochelle.

The Lancastrian War was the third and final phase of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. It lasted from 1415, when Henry V of England invaded Normandy, to 1453, when the English were definitively defeated in Aquitaine. It followed a long period of peace from the end of the Caroline War in 1389. The phase is named after the House of Lancaster, the ruling house of the Kingdom of England, to which Henry V belonged. The early years of the Lancastrian War were dominated by the forces of the House of Plantagenet, who held the English throne and also claimed that of France. Initial English successes, notably at the Battle of Agincourt, coupled with divisions among the French ruling class, allowed Henry V to win the allegiance of large parts of France. Under the terms of the Treaty of Troyes of 1420, Henry V married the French princess Catherine of Valois and was made regent of the kingdom and heir to the throne of France. A victory on paper was thus achieved by the English, with their claims now having legal standing. Some of the French nobility refused to recognise the agreement, however, and so military conflict continued. Henry V and, after his death, his brother John, Duke of Bedford, brought the English to the height of their power in France, with a Plantagenet crowned in Paris.

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30/12/1066

Granada massacre: A Muslim mob storms the royal palace in Granada, crucifies Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacres most of the Jewish population of the city.

The 1066 Granada massacre took place on 30 December 1066 when a Muslim mob stormed the royal palace in Granada, in the Taifa of Granada, killed and crucified the Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela, and massacred members of the city’s Jewish community.

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30/12/0999

Battle of Glenmama: The combined forces of Munster and Meath under king Brian Boru inflict a crushing defeat on the allied armies of Leinster and Dublin near Lyons Hill in Ireland.

Year 999 (CMXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.

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30/12/0534

The second and final edition of the Code of Justinian comes into effect in the Byzantine Empire.

Year 534 (DXXXIV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iustinianus and Paulinus. The denomination 534 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

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