June 30th in History

Michael Dobson | June 30

Albert Einstein introduces special relativity in his paper “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies,” published June 30, 1905. (The portrait of Albert Einstein was taken by Ferdinand Schmutzer in 1921.)

Today in History

  • Glorious Revolution: William of Orange receives a letter from the Immortal Seven asking him to invade England to place his wife Mary on the throne (1688)
  • Albert Einstein introduces special relativity in “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies” (1905)
  • Adolf Hitler purges his rivals in the Night of the Long Knives (1934)
  • Congo gains independence from Belgium (1960)
  • The US voting age is lowered to 18 with the ratification of the 26th Amendment (1971)
  • The first leap second is added to the UTC time system (1972)
  • West Germany and East Germany merge their economies (1990)
  • The UK transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the Chinese (1997)

Birthdays

  • Man Mountain Dean, wrestler (1891)
  • Bo Carter, bluesman (1892)
  • Susan Hayward, actress (1917)
  • Lena Horne, actress and singer (1917)
  • Dave Van Ronk, singer-songwriter (1936)
  • Florence Ballard, singer, member of The Supremes (1943)
  • David Alan Grier, actor, producer, and writer (1956)
  • Vincent D’Onofrio, actor (1959)
  • Mike Tyson, boxer (1966)
  • Michael Phelps, swimmer (1985)

Deaths

  • Charles Guiteau, assassin of US President James Garfield (1882)
  • Lee de Forest, “father of radio” (1961)
  • Georgy Dobrovolsky, Viktor Patsayev, Vladislav Volkov, crew of ill-fated Soyuz 11 mission (1971)
  • Nancy Mitford, author (1973)
  • Vannevar Bush, science administrator (1974)
  • Firpo Marberry, baseball player (1976)
  • Lillian Hellman, author and playwright (1984)
  • Gale Gordon, actor (1995)
  • Chet Atkins, guitarist and singer-songwriter (2001)
  • Buddy Hackett, actor (2003)
  • Robert McCloskey, children’s book author and illustrator (2003)
  • Harve Presnell, actor (2009)
  • Yitzhak Shamir, Israeli prime minister (2012)
  • Paul Mazursky, filmmaker (2014)
  • Frank M. Robinson, science fiction writer (2014)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Armed Forces Day (Guatemala)
  • General Prayer Day (Central African Republic)
  • Independence Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
  • Meteor Day
  • Navy Day (Israel)
  • NOW Day
  • Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day (Philippines)
  • Revolution Day (Sudan)
  • Social Media Day

June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years). There are 184 days remaining until the end of the year.