December 30th in History

A Soviet propaganda poster. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was officially founded December 30, 1922.
Today in History
- Gadsden Purchase: The US buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building (1853)
- The All-India Muslim League is founded (1906)
- The USSR is formed (1922)
- The musical Kiss Me, Kate opens on Broadway (1948)
- December 30, 2011, does not exist in Samoa and Tokelau because of a change in time zone (2011)
Birthdays
- Titus, emperor of Rome (39)
- Asa Griggs Candler, Coca-Cola magnate (1851)
- Rudyard Kipling, author and poet, Nobel laureate (1865)
- Al Smith, 42nd Governor of New York, US presidential candidate (1873)
- 東條 英機 (Hideki Tōjō), prime minister of Japan (1884)
- Bert Parks, beauty pageant icon (1914)
- Jo Van Fleet, actress (1914)
- Jack Lord, actor (1920)
- Bo Diddley, singer-songwriter (1928)
- Del Shannon, singer-songwriter (1934)
- Russ Tamblyn, actor, singer, and dancer (1934)
- Sandy Koufax, baseball player (1935)
- Paul Stookey, singer-songwriter, member of Peter, Paul, and Mary (1937)
- Michael Nesmith, singer-songwriter, member of The Monkees (1942)
- Fred Ward, actor (1942)
- Davy Jones, singer and actor, member of The Monkees (1945)
- Patti Smith, singer-songwriter (1945)
- Meredith Vieira, television journalist (1953)
- Matt Laurer, television journalist (1957)
- Tracey Ullman, performer (1959)
- Sean Hannity, television pundit (1961)
- Henry Cho, actor (1962)
- Heidi Fleiss, madam (1965)
- Tiger Woods, golfer (1975)
- Eliza Dushku, actress (1980)
- LeBron James, basketball player (1984)
Deaths
- José Rizal, Philippine revolutionary (1896)
- Григорий Распутин (Grigori Rasputin), mystic and royal advisor (1916 [O.S. December 17])*
- Alfred North Whitehead, mathematician and philosopher (1947)
- Trygve Lie, 1st UN Secretary-General (1968)
- Sonny Liston, boxer (1970)
- Richard Rodgers, playwright and composer, partner with Oscar Hammerstein II and Lorenz Hart (1979)
- Alberto Vargas, pin-up painter (1982)
- Irving “Swifty” Lazar, talent agent (1993)
- Lew Ayres, actor (1996)
- John Gregory Dunne, author (2003)
- Artie Shaw, bandleader (2004)
- Rona Jaffe, author (2005)
- صدام حسين (Saddam Hussein), president of Iraq (2006)
* Because Russia did not convert from the Julian “old style” calendar to the modern Gregorian calendar until 1918, some dates are listed both ways.
Holidays and Celebrations
- Day of the Declaration of Slovakia as an Independent Ecclesiastic Province (Slovakia)
- Freedom Day (Scientology)
- Rizal Day (Philippines)
Informal and made-up holidays include National Bacon Day, National Bicarbonate of Soda Day, and Falling Needles Family Fest Day
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December 30 is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years). There is 1 day remaining until the end of the year.