January 30

1649 – Charles I of England is executed for treason against England by order of the newly formed High Court of Justice, created by a special act of Parliament.

1661 – Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is exhumed and ritually executed more than two years after his death, on the 12th anniversary of the execution of Charles I

1703 – The 47 rōnin, former samurai of Asano Naganori, under the command of Ōishi Kuranosuke, avenge the death of their master, by killing Kira Yoshinaka who had been assaulted by Asano, who was then forced to commit suicide.

1835 – The first assassination attempt against a President of the United States fails when both pistols of Richard Lawrence misfire due to humid conditions. President Jackson turns on the assassin and beats him with his cane until others, including Congressman Davy Crockett, come to his aid.

1847 – Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco.

1862 – The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.

1911 – The destroyer USS Terry makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of Douglas McCurdy ten miles off Havana, Cuba.

1933 – Adolf Hitler takes office as the Chancellor of Germany.

1945 – 126 American Rangers and Filipino resistance fighters liberate over 500 Allied prisoners from the Japanese controlled Cabanatuan POW camp on Luzon, Philippines.

1948 –Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in New Delhi, Indian by a Hindu nationalist

1956 – Martin Luther King Jr.’s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery bus boycott.

1968 – During the Tet lunar new year celebrations and cease fire, forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army launch an offensive against South Vietnam, the United States forces there, and their allies.

1982 – Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code,  called “Elk Cloner”, which is disguised as an Apple boot program.

1989 – The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is closed and staff evacuated due to a civil war starting

1991 – Coalition air forces attack invading Iraqi forces in and around Khafji, Saudi Arabia, destroying hundreds of Iraqi Army tanks and armored vehicles, not to mention the crews.

2020 – The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’.