September 30th in History

A vintage postcard, “Boulder Dam — Upstream Face and Intake Towers,” by Tichnor Brothers, Inc.

Today in History

  • Mozart’s last opera, The Magic Flute, debuts (1791)
  • Thomas Edison’s first commercial hydroelectric power plant begins operation (1882)
  • Jack the Ripper kills his third and fourth victims (1888)
  • Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 60 home runs in a season (1927)
  • The Hoover Dam (aka Boulder Dam) is dedicated (1935)
  • Neville Chamberlain celebrates the Munich Agreement with Nazi Germany as achieving “peace for our time” (1938)
  • The World Series is televised for the first time (1947)
  • The Berlin Airlift ends (1949)
  • The first nuclear reactor powered vessel, the USS Nautilus, is commissioned (1954)
  • César Chávez founds the United Farm Workers union (1962)
  • James Meredith becomes the first African-American to attend the University of Mississippi (1962)
  • The Boeing 747 is unveiled (1968)

Birthdays

  • Rumi, Sufi mystic and poet (1207)
  • William Wrigley, Jr., chewing gum magnate (1861)
  • Hans Geiger, physicist (1882)
  • Deborah Kerr, actress (1921)
  • Truman Capote, writer (1924)
  • Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and activist (1928)
  • Angie Dickinson, actress (1931)
  • Johnny Mathis, singer (1935)
  • Martina Hingis, tennis player (1980)

Deaths

  • James Dean, actor (1955)
  • Simone Signoret, actress (1985)
  • Alfred Bester, science fiction writer (1987)
  • Monty Hall, game show host (2017)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Agricultural Reform Day (Sao Tome and Principe)
  • Boipuso (Botswana)
  • Boy’s Day (Poland)
  • International Translation Day
  • Natalacio de Jose Ma. Morelos y Pavon (Mexico)
  • National Hot Mulled Cider Day (US)
  • Recovery Day (Canada)

September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years). There are 92 days remaining until the end of the year.