On This Day in History – October 30

Major Events

• 1270 – The Eighth Crusade ended with the death of Louis IX of France.
• 1485 – Henry VII was crowned King of England.
• 1864 – Nevada was admitted as the 36th U.S. state.
• 1938 – Orson Welles broadcast The War of the Worlds, sparking panic.
• 1947 – The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was signed.
• 1961 – The Soviet Union detonated the Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever tested.
• 1995 – Quebec narrowly voted to remain in Canada.

Famous Birthdays

• John Adams (1735–1826) – 2nd U.S. President.
• Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869) – French poet.
• Ezra Pound (1885–1972) – American poet.
• Ruth Gordon (1896–1985) – American actress.
• Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–2009) – French anthropologist.
• Diego Maradona (1960–2020) – Argentine football legend.

Notable Deaths

• Andrew Mellon (1855–1937) – American banker and philanthropist.
• Steve Allen (1921–2000) – American television personality.
• King Charles X of France (1757–1836) – French monarch.

Holidays

• Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repressions (Russia)
• Mischief Night (various countries)

Fun Facts

• The Tsar Bomba explosion was 3,800 times stronger than Hiroshima.
• Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds caused mass panic in 1938.
• Nevada was admitted to the Union just before the 1864 U.S. election.