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April 30th Major News Events

  1. 1789 George Washington inaugurated as first US president
  2. 1939 First regular television services start in USA
  3. 1945 Hitler dies by suicide at end of WWII
  4. 1951 Iran nationlizes oil fields
  5. 1975 South Vietname surrenders to North Vietnam
  6. 2009 Chrysler files for bankruptcy in USA

Find More Details for What happened 30th April This Day in History on your birthday

1952 England Diary of Anne Frank

1952: The diary of Anne Frank, a Jewish victim of the Holocaust is to be published in English titled "The Diary of a Young Girl". Her diary, later entitled "The Diary of Anne Frank", becomes one of the most popular books in the world and is included in most schools as recommended reading. The diary provides a disturbing account of a teenager living in hiding with seven others in fear of their lives in occupied Holland, Anne Frank died of typhus just before her 16th birthday in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. Find More What happened in 1952 Webmaster's note: I read this very moving journal after my daughter read it in high school a few years ago and was amazed at how well it was written under terrible circumstances.

1789 USA George Washington Inaugurated

1789: George Washington Inaugurated as the First President of the United States at Federal Hall in New York City (New York City was the first capital of the United States) New York State.

1921 England Treaty of Versailles

1921: The discussions over Germany sticking to the Treaty of Versailles and steps to enforce reparations by Germany for the World War are causing rifts between England , France and Italy with the British prime minister Lloyd George calling an emergency meeting of the cabinet . The French and Italians want immediate occupation of the Ruer region of Germany while Britain wishes to pursue more diplomatic means.

1932 USA Tuberculosis

1932: The continued growth in TB / Tuberculosis is becoming more widespread and with more variations and the worst affected are infants and young children. It is often transmitted through milk from diseased cows. It can be diagnosed by a chest X-ray and is highly contagious. Side note - this was the most important reason the milk we now buy is pasteurized / homogenized.

1939 USA New York World's Fair

1939: 200,000 people attended New York World’s Fair, officially opening. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the opening day address, which was not only broadcast over the various radio networks but also was televised. New York World's Fair allowed visitors to look at "The world of tomorrow." The General Motors exhibit was titled Futurama. Philo T. Farnsworth premiered some of the first televisions at the fair. AT&T presented its first Picture Phone at the World's Fair. Salvador Dali created a pavilion that was called “Dream of Venus” The IBM Pavilion featured electric typewriters, and a fantastic machine called the electric calculator that used punched cards to enter the information for the computer to calculate the results.

1939 USA First Regular Television Service

1939: President Franklin D. Roosevelt appeared on television for the opening of the New York World's Fair. His appearance started the first regular television service in America.

1940 Norway German Conquest

1940: Germany has stated that the conquest of Norway is now complete and has captured most British servicemen who are now in Prison Camps.

1940 USA Jimmy Dorsey

1940: Jimmy Dorsey and his band recorded the song "Contrasts." Along with his brother Tommy, the Dorsey Brothers eventually became an unmatched rival during the big band and swing era.

1943 Spain "The Man Who Never Was"

1943: "The Man Who Never Was" is pushed into the sea off the coast of Spain where the tide would bring the body ashore into German Hands. This was known as operation "Mincemeat." The operation was a British deception plan to convince the German High Command that allied forces would be invading the Balkans and Sardinia instead of the island of Sicily, by planting invasion plans on a corpse the Germans would find. The full deception is very complicated but great detail can be found on Wikipedia by searching for "The Man Who Never Was." The operation was a complete success which makes it even more interesting reading.

1945 Germany Hitler Commits Suicide

1945: German dictator Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva Braun committed suicide one day after they were married, just before the Russian troops entered his Berlin bunker at the end of World War II.

1948 England First Land Rover

1948: The Land Rover (Land Rover Series I) is shown for the first time at the Amsterdam Car Show, many of the original components were from Rover saloon cars including the 1.6 engine from the Rover P3 60 saloon. The car featured four-wheel drive.

1951 Iran Nationalize Oil Fields

1951: The Iranian government has voted to nationalize the countries oil fields which will be taken over from Anglo Iranian Co immediately and transferred to Government Ownership to ensure the wealth created from the nations reserves is used for the Iranian People.

Born This Day In History April 30th

Celebrating Birthdays Today

Cloris Leachman

Born: 30th April 1926, Des Moines, Iowa, USA

Died: 27th January 2021, Encinitas, California, USA

Known For: American comedienne Cloris Leachman is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Emmy Award winning actress known for her roles in Young Frankenstein, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Phyllis, The Last Picture Show, and Raising Hope. Leachman has the distinction of being the actor to have won the most Primetime Emmys for acting with a total of 8 from her various starring roles and guest appearances.

1973 USA Watergate

1973: As part of the investigation of the Watergate bugging scandal 4 of President Nixon's closest aides resigned including Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst, H.R. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman and John W. Dean II.

1975 South Vietnam Surrenders

1975: South Vietnam unconditional surrender to North Vietnam and the war in Vietnam is over with the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army and Government now in control.

1978 Bottled Water

1978: A debate is happening in the Soft Drink Industry and if the sales of bottled water by Perrier and others will ever make an impact on sales of more traditional sugary soft drinks in America.

1980 UK Terrorist Group Takes Iran Embassy Hostages

1980: Six terrorists take control of the Iranian Embassy in Prince's Gate, South Kensington in central London. The terrorists calling themselves the "Democratic Revolutionary Movement for the Liberation of Arabistan" take 26 hostages including the Metropolitan Police constable " PC Trevor Lock" on official protection duty at the main entrance. Their demands included the release of 91 political prisoners held in Iran as well as an aircraft to take them and the hostages out of the UK. The Iran embassy siege ends when SAS storms embassy on May 5th.

1984 Chad Civil War

1984: The Libya Prime minister has offered to withdraw Libyan troops from Chad if France will also withdraw from the former French African Colony, The French are supporting the current regime while the Libyans are supporting the rebel army.

1993 Germany Monica Seles Stabbed

1993: A man leans over a three-feet-high barrier at the quarter final tennis match in Hamburg and stabs Monica Seles from behind in the back. She is expected to be out of tennis for the next month while she recovers.

1999 England Nail Bomb

1999: A third Nail bomb attack in London at the Admiral Duncan pub, in Soho, leaves two dead and at least 30 injured.

2007 U.S. and E.U. Sign for Single Market

2007: The United States and European Union have committed themselves to a new transatlantic economic partnership at a summit in Washington. The pact will attempt to boost trade and investment by harmonizing regulatory standards, and laying down the basis for a US-EU single market. The two sides have also signed an Open Skies deal, which is designed to reduce fares and boost traffic on transatlantic flights.

From 1950s Toys Page

  • Tweedie Singing Bird in Cage Tweedie Singing Bird in Cage
    Price $2.67
    Pretty bird trills a merry tune as he swings to and fro on perch. The cage has two feeding cups and a ring at the top for hanging.

  • Caterpillar Earthmoving Equipment Caterpillar Earthmoving Equipment
    Price $2.98
    Caterpillar earthmoving equipment has real working action. Three big pieces in yellow and black: caterpillar scraper, motor grader, and wagon with tractor.
    From Our 1952 Toys Page

  • Toni Doll Toni Doll
    Ideal
    Price $11.95, $13.95, $19.95
    Toni doll made of all plastic with magic nylon wig that can be shampooed and play waved. Beautifully dressed. Comes with complete play wave kit. Choose from 14-inch, 16-inch, or 21-inch dolls.

2007 Afghanistan Coalition forces report heavy fighting in Herat

2007: U.S.-led forces and Afghan troops have killed scores of Taleban fighters in the western province of Herat. The report says that eighty-seven fighters have been killed in the fourteen-hour battle that took place on Sunday, April 29th. Forty-nine had been killed two days earlier, and one U.S. soldier has died. There is no word from the Taleban on the deaths, but it is likely to be their worst loss in 2007.

2008 US State Department’s Report on Terrorism

2008: The State Department has said that al-Qaeda is still the greatest terrorist threat to the U.S. and its allies. The Department's annual Country Reports on Terrorism also named Iran as the biggest state sponsor of terrorism. It says that there were 14,499 attacks in 2007, down from 14,570 in 2006. Attacks in Iraq were also down, from 6,628 to 6,212, although in Afghanistan these numbers rose from 969 in 2006 to 1,127 in 2007. Despite the overall attacks being slightly down, the number of terror-related deaths has risen by 8% to 22,000 in 2007. The report explained that "the ability of [Iraqi] attackers to penetrate large concentrations of people and then detonate their explosives may account for the increase in lethality of bombings in 2007." It summed up by saying that al-Qaeda had continued to lose ground, both structurally and in the court of world public opinion. Al-Qaeda is said to have reconstituted some of its pre-9-11 operational capabilities through the exploitation of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), as well as the replacement of captured or killed operational lieutenants.

2009 United States Chrysler Files for Bankruptcy

2009: The U.S. car maker Chrysler has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and has formed an alliance with Fiat. Chapter 11 protects firms from their creditors, and allows them to rearrange their finances while still trading. The move came after talks had broken down with Chrysler's lenders. Chrysler said most of its plants would be shut until the transaction was complete, and that staff would still be paid.

2010 Belgium Starts to Ban Burqa

2010: Belgium's lower house of parliament has voted for a law that will ban women from wearing the full Islamic face veil in public. The law will ban any clothing that obscures the identity of the wearer in public places like parks and on the street. No one voted against the bill, although the law now goes to the Senate, where it may face challenges over its wording.

2010 First Oil Reaches Louisiana Coast From Deepwater Horizon

2010: First Oil Reaches the washes ashore at Venice, Louisiana on the Louisiana Coast From Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster.

2011 Yemeni President Fails to Sign Deal

2011: The President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, failed to sign a deal that would create a transitional government and force him to step down after saying he would agree to it earlier in the month. Saleh refused to sign in his position as president but said he would sign as head of the ruling party because he feared he would not be allowed to preside over the thirty day transitional period. The opposition had earlier agreed to the deal.

2012 India Over 100 People Dead After Ferry Sinking

2012: At least 103 people were killed after a ferry capsized during a storm in India. The ferry was reportedly carrying around three hundred passengers while on the Brahmaputra river in the Assam state. The ferry reportedly capsized and broke into two pieces during the storm and several passengers were swept away by the river current.

2014 Brunei Announces Introduction of Islamic Penal Code

2014: The ruler of Brunei, Sultan Hassnal Bolkiah, announced that starting on May 1st, the country would slowly introduce the Islamic penal code over the next three years. The Sharia punishments would include the severing of limbs and death by stoning for various offences, The country was already under a fairly restrictive Islamic law system compared to neighboring countries and the introduction of the new penal code caused some concern for the United Nations.

From our 1980s Furniture

1989 Videotape Storage Cabinet

1989 Videotape Storage Cabinet

Price: $79.99

This custom-crafted oak-grained cabinet opens to reveal storage for up to 120 video tapes. With inserts included, holds 92 video tapes, 18 CD's and 14 audio cassettes. Doors lock for complete security.


1987 Clock Radio TV

1987 Clock Radio TV

Price: $79.95

AM/FM Clock/Radio with four and a half inch black and white TV. Red LED digital time display with AM indicator. High/low dimmer control. Snooze bar. Battery backup system. Earphone jack. Telescopic FM antenna. White plastic cabinet.


Toys From The 1990s

Vintage Nintendo Game Boy Compact Video Game System

Vintage Nintendo Game Boy Compact Video Game System

Vintage Nintendo Game Boy Compact Video Game System
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Price: $89.99

A hand-held version of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Features Tetris Game Pack, LCD dot-matrix game screen, and digital stereo sound with earphones for private play. Video Link cable hook-up allows two Game Boy systems to go head-to-head.




Tickle Me Elmo

Tickle Me Elmo

Tickle Me Elmo
Manufacturer: Tyco
Price: $27.99

Tickle his tummy once to make him giggle, twice to make him laugh longer. Tickle him a third time and he shakes with laughter. This was one of the most popular toys for the 1996 Christmas season, with many stores running out of stock and battling crowds trying to get their hands on one.
From Our 1996 Toys Page