December 30

Pre-1600 • 534 – The second and final edition of the Code of Justinian comes into effect in the Byzantine Empire. • 999 – Battle of Glenmama: The combined forces of Munster and Meath under king Brian Boru inflict a crushing defeat on the allied armies of Leinster and Dublin near Lyons Hill in Ireland. • 1066 – Granada massacre: A Muslim mob storms the royal palace in Granada, crucifies Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacres most of the Jewish population of the city. • 1419 – Hundred Years' War: Battle of La Rochelle. • 1460 – Wars of the Roses: Lancastrians kill the 3rd Duke of York and win the Battle of Wakefield. 1601–1900 • 1641 – Reapers' War: Louis XIII of France swears the Catalan constitutions, being appointed Count of Barcelona and thus establishing the personal union of the Principality of Catalonia with the Kingdom of France. • 1702 – Queen Anne's War: James Moore, Governor of the Province of Carolina, abandons the Siege of St. Augustine. • 1813 – War of 1812: British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York. • 1816 – The Treaty of St. Louis between the United States and the united Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi Indian tribes is proclaimed. • 1825 – The Treaty of St. Louis between the United States and the Shawnee Nation is proclaimed. • 1853 – Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest. • 1890 – Following the Wounded Knee Massacre, the United States Army and Lakota warriors face off in the Drexel Mission Fight. • 1896 – Filipino patriot and reform advocate José Rizal is executed by a Spanish firing squad in Manila. • 1896 – Canadian ice hockey player Ernie McLea scores the first hat-trick in Stanley Cup play, and the Cup-winning goal as the Montreal Victorias defeat the Winnipeg Victorias 6–5. • 1897 – The British Colony of Natal annexes Zululand. 1901–present • 1902 – The Discovery Expedition under Robert Falcon Scott attains a Farthest South at 82°17′S in Antarctica. • 1903 – A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills at least 605. • 1905 – Former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg is assassinated at the front gate of his home in Caldwell. • 1906 – The All-India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India (later Dhaka, Bangladesh). • 1916 – Russian mystic and advisor to the Tsar Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin is murdered by a loyalist group led by Prince Felix Yusupov. His frozen, partially-trussed body was discovered in a Petrograd river three days later. • 1916 – The last coronation in Hungary is performed for King Charles IV and Queen Zita. • 1922 – The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is formed. • 1927 – The Ginza Line, the first subway line in Asia, opens in Tokyo, Japan. • 1935 – The Italian Air Force bombs a Swedish Red Cross hospital during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. • 1936 – The Flint sit-down strike hits General Motors. • 1943 – Subhas Chandra Bose raises the flag of Indian independence at Port Blair. • 1944 – King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving the throne vacant. • 1947 – Cold War: King Michael I of Romania is forced to abdicate by the Soviet Union-backed Communist government of Romania. • 1952 – An RAF Avro Lancaster bomber crashes in Luqa, Malta after an engine failure, killing three crew members and a civilian on the ground. • 1954 – The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation is established to consolidate criminal investigation and intelligence into a single agency. • 1958 – The Guatemalan Air Force sinks several Mexican fishing boats alleged to have breached maritime borders, killing three and sparking international tension. • 1967 – Aeroflot Flight L-51 crashes near Liepāja International Airport in Liepāja, Latvia, killing 43. • 1970 – Hurricane Creek mine disaster, near Hyden, Kentucky • 1972 – Vietnam War: Operation Linebacker II ends. • 1987 – Stella Sigcau, Prime minister of the South African Bantustan of Transkei, is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by General Bantu Holomisa. • 1993 – Israel establishes diplomatic relations with Vatican City and also upgrades to full diplomatic relations with Ireland. • 1996 – Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers who shut down services across Israel. • 1997 – In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres, 400 people from four villages are killed. • 2000 – Rizal Day bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines within a period of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring about a hundred. • 2004 – A fire in the República Cromagnon nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 194. • 2005 – Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the open Atlantic Ocean, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone ever to form in the North Atlantic basin. • 2006 – Madrid–Barajas Airport is bombed. • 2006 – The Indonesian passenger ferry sinks in a storm, resulting in at least 400 deaths. • 2006 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is executed. • 2009 – A segment of the Lanzhou–Zhengzhou–Changsha pipeline ruptures in Shaanxi, China, and approximately of diesel oil flows down the Wei River before finally reaching the Yellow River. • 2009 – A suicide bomber kills nine people at Forward Operating Base Chapman, a key facility of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan. • 2013 – More than 100 people are killed when anti-government forces attack key buildings in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. • 2020 – A large explosion at the airport in the southern Yemeni city of Aden kills at least 22 people and wounds 50. ==Births==

Pre–1600 • AD 39 – Titus, Roman emperor (probable) (died 81) • 159 – Empress Dowager Bian, second wife of Cao Cao, mother of Cao Wei's first emperor, Cao Pi (died 230) • 1204 – Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd ibn Hakam al Qurashi, ruler of Minorca (died 1282) • 1371 – Vasily I of Moscow (died 1425) • 1490 – Ebussuud Efendi, Ottoman lawyer and jurist (died 1574) • 1548 – David Pareus, German theologian (died 1622) • 1578 – Ulrik of Denmark, Danish prince-bishop (died 1624) 1601–1900 • 1642 – Vincenzo da Filicaja, Italian poet (died 1707) • 1673 – Ahmed III, Ottoman sultan (died 1736) • 1678 – William Croft, English organist and composer (died 1727) • 1722 – Charles Yorke, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (died 1770) • 1724 – Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, French painter and educator (died 1805) • 1757 – Sebastián Kindelán y O'Regan, colonial governor of East Florida, Santo Domingo and Cuba (died 1826) • 1760 – Charles Sapinaud de La Rairie, French general (died 1829) • 1792 – Sylvester Jordan, German lawyer and politician (died 1861) • 1819 – Theodor Fontane, German author and poet (died 1898) • 1819 – John W. Geary, American lawyer and politician, 16th Governor of Pennsylvania (died 1873) • 1825 – Samuel Newitt Wood, American lawyer and politician (died 1891) • 1842 – Osman Hamdi Bey, Ottoman administrator, intellectual, art expert and painter (died 1910) • 1849 – John Milne, English seismologist and geologist (died 1913) • 1851 – Asa Griggs Candler, American businessman and politician, 44th Mayor of Atlanta (died 1929) • 1853 – André Messager, French pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1929) • 1857 – Sylvio Lazzari, French-Austrian composer (died 1944) • 1865 – Rudyard Kipling, Indian-English author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1936) • 1869 – Stephen Leacock, English-Canadian political scientist and author (died 1944) • 1869 – Ōzutsu Man'emon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 18th Yokozuna (died 1918) • 1873 – Al Smith, American lawyer and politician, 42nd Governor of New York (died 1944) • 1878 – William Aberhart, Canadian evangelist and politician, seventh Premier of Alberta (died 1943) • 1879 – Ramana Maharshi, Indian guru and philosopher (died 1950) • 1883 – Archer Baldwin, American-English farmer and politician (died 1966) • 1883 – Lester Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 1960) • 1884 – Hideki Tōjō, Japanese general and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Japan (died 1948) • 1886 – Austin Osman Spare, English artist and occultist (died 1956) • 1887 – William Kolehmainen, Finnish-American runner and coach (died 1967) • 1887 – K. M. Munshi, Indian politician, writer and educationist, founder of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (died 1971) • 1890 – Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, Mexican soldier and politician, 47th President of Mexico (died 1973) • 1897 – Alfredo Bracchi, Italian songwriter and screenwriter (died 1976) • 1899 – Helge Ingstad, Norwegian explorer, lawyer, and politician, 2nd Governor of Svalbard (died 2001) 1901–present • 1904 – Dmitry Kabalevsky, Russian composer and academic (died 1987) • 1905 – Daniil Kharms, Russian poet, author, and playwright (died 1942) • 1906 – Alziro Bergonzo, Italian architect and painter (died 1997) • 1906 – Carol Reed, English director and producer (died 1976) • 1910 – Paul Bowles, American composer and author (died 1999) • 1911 – Jeanette Nolan, American actress (died 1998) • 1913 – Lucio Agostini, Italian-Canadian conductor and composer (died 1996) • 1913 – Elyne Mitchell, Australian author (died 2002) • 1914 – Bert Parks, American actor, singer, television personality, and beauty pageant host (died 1992) • 1917 – Seymour Melman, American engineer and author (died 2004) • 1919 – Dick Spooner, English cricketer (died 1997) • 1919 – David Willcocks, English organist, composer, and conductor (died 2015) • 1921 – Rashid Karami, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Lebanon (died 1987) • 1922 – Jane Langton, American author and illustrator (died 2018) • 1923 – Prakash Vir Shastri, Indian academic and politician (died 1977) • 1924 – Yvonne Brill, Canadian-American propulsion engineer (died 2013) • 1925 – Ian MacNaughton, Scottish actor, producer, and director (died 2002) • 1926 – Stan Tracey, English pianist and composer (died 2013) • 1927 – Jan Kubíček, Czech painter and sculptor (died 2013) • 1928 – Bo Diddley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2008) • 1929 – Rosalinde Hurley, English physician, microbiologist, and academic (died 2004) • 1930 – Roy Yorke Calne, English surgeon and academic (died 2024) • 1930 – Elmira Minita Gordon, Belizean educator, 1st Governor-General of Belize (died 2021) • 1930 – Red Rhodes, American pedal steel guitarist (died 1995) • 1930 – Tu Youyou, Chinese chemist and pharmacist, Nobel Prize laureate • 1931 – Skeeter Davis, American singer-songwriter (died 2004) • 1931 – John T. Houghton, Welsh physicist and author (died 2020) • 1931 – Frank Torre, American baseball player and manager (died 2014) • 1933 – Timité Bassori, Ivorian filmmaker, actor, and writer • 1934 – John N. Bahcall, American astrophysicist and astronomer, co-developed the Hubble Space Telescope (died 2005) • 1934 – Joseph Bologna, American actor, director, playwright and screenwriter (died 2017) • 1934 – Barry Briggs, New Zealand motorcycle racer and sportscaster • 1934 – Joseph P. Hoar, American general (died 2022) • 1934 – Tony Serra, American criminal defense and civil rights attorney, political activist and tax resister • 1934 – Del Shannon, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1990) • 1934 – Russ Tamblyn, American actor • 1935 – Omar Bongo, Gabonese lieutenant and politician, President of Gabon (died 2009) • 1935 – Sandy Koufax, American baseball player and sportscaster • 1935 – Jack Riley, American actor (died 2016) • 1937 – Gordon Banks, English footballer and manager (died 2019) • 1937 – John Hartford, American singer-songwriter and fiddler (died 2001) • 1937 – Jim Marshall, American football player (died 2025) • 1937 – Paul Stookey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist • 1949 – Jim Flaherty, Canadian lawyer and politician, 37th Canadian Minister of Finance (died 2014) • 1950 – Timothy Mo, Chinese-English author • 1950 – Lewis Shiner, American journalist and author • 1950 – Bjarne Stroustrup, Danish computer scientist, created the C++ programming language • 1950 – Martti Vainio, Finnish runner • 1951 – Doug Allder, English footballer and coach • 1951 – Chris Jasper, American musician, singer-songwriter, and producer (died 2025) • 1951 – Nick Rose, English runner • 1952 – June Anderson, American soprano and actress • 1953 – Daniel T. Barry, American engineer and astronaut • 1953 – Dana Key, American singer, guitarist, and producer (died 2010) • 1953 – Graham Vick, English director and producer (died 2021) • 1953 – Meredith Vieira, American journalist and game show host • 1958 – Pedro Costa, Portuguese director, screenwriter, and cinematographer • 1958 – Steven Smith, American engineer and astronaut • 1959 – Antonio Pappano, English pianist and conductor • 1959 – Kåre Thomsen, Norwegian guitarist and graphic designer • 1959 – Tracey Ullman, English-American actress, singer, director, and screenwriter • 1959 – Josée Verner, Canadian politician, 8th Canadian Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs • 1960 – Richard M. Durbin, English biologist and academic • 1961 – Douglas Coupland, German-Canadian author and playwright • 1961 – Bill English, New Zealand farmer and politician, 39th Prime Minister of New Zealand • 1961 – Sean Hannity, American radio and television host • 1963 – Milan Šrejber, Czech tennis player • 1964 – Almir Kayumov, Russian footballer and referee (died 2013) • 1964 – Sylvie Moreau, Canadian actress and screenwriter • 1964 – George Newbern, American actor • 1969 – Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia • 1969 – Michelle McGann, American golfer • 1969 – Meredith Monroe, American actress • 1975 – Scott Chipperfield, Australian footballer • 1975 – Tiger Woods, American golfer • 1976 – Kastro, American rapper • 1976 – Patrick Kerney, American football player • 1976 – A. J. Pierzynski, American baseball player and sportscaster • 1977 – Laila Ali, American boxer and actress • 1977 – Glory Alozie, Nigerian-Spanish sprinter and hurdler • 1977 – Grant Balfour, Australian baseball player • 1977 – Saša Ilić, Serbian footballer and manager • 1977 – Kenyon Martin, American basketball player • 1977 – Lucy Punch, English actress • 1984 – LeBron James, American basketball player, producer and businessman • 1985 – Lars Boom, Dutch cyclist • 1985 – Bryson Goodwin, Australian rugby league player • 1985 – Anna Wood, American actress • 1989 – Tyler Anderson, American baseball player • 1989 – Ryan Sheckler, American skateboarder and entrepreneur • 1989 – Kateřina Vaňková, Czech tennis player • 1990 – Bruno Henrique, Brazilian footballer • 1990 – Joe Root, English cricketer • 1990 – C. J. Wilcox, American basketball player • 1991 – Camila Giorgi, Italian tennis player • 1992 – Ryan Tunnicliffe, English footballer • 1992 – Carson Wentz, American football player • 1995 – Igor Shesterkin, Russian hockey goaltender • 1995 – Joshua, American singer • 1995 – Ollie Watkins, English footballer • 1995 – V, South Korean singer ==Deaths==

Pre-1600 • 274 – Pope Felix I • 717 – Egwin of Evesham, bishop of Worcester • 903 – Tian Jun, Chinese warlord (born 858) • 925 – Wang Shenzhi, founder of Min (born 862) • 1115 – Theodoric II, Duke of Lorraine • 1331 – Bernard Gui, inquisitor (born 1261 or 1262) • 1435 – Bonne of Berry, Regent of Savoy (born 1362) • 1436 – Louis III, Elector Palatine (born 1378) • 1460 – Edmund, Earl of Rutland, Irish politician, Lord Chancellor of Ireland (born 1443) • 1460 – Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (born 1411) • 1525 – Jakob Fugger, German banker and businessman (born 1459) • 1572 – Galeazzo Alessi, Italian architect, designed the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli (born 1512) • 1573 – Giovanni Battista Giraldi, Italian author and poet (born 1504) • 1591 – Pope Innocent IX (born 1519) 1601–1900 • 1606 – Heinrich Bünting, German priest and cartographer (born 1545) • 1621 – Job of Manyava, Ukrainian monk and saint (born 1550) • 1640 – John Francis Regis, French priest and saint (born 1597) • 1643 – Giovanni Baglione, Italian painter and historian of art (born 1566) • 1644 – Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist, physiologist, and physician (born 1577) • 1662 – Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria (born 1628) • 1769 – Nicholas Taaffe, 6th Viscount Taaffe, Irish-Austrian soldier and courtier (born 1685) • 1777 – Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria (born 1727) • 1788 – Francesco Zuccarelli, Italian painter and academic (born 1702) • 1803 – Francis Lewis, Welsh-American merchant and politician (born 1713) • 1879 – Manuel de Araújo Porto-Alegre, Baron of Santo Ângelo, Brazilian poet and painter (born 1806) • 1885 – Martha Darley Mutrie, British painter (born 1824) • 1896 – José Rizal, Filipino ophthalmologist, journalist, and author (born 1861) 1901–present • 1906 – Josephine Butler, English feminist and social reformer (born 1828) • 1908 – Thomas-Alfred Bernier, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician (born 1844) • 1916 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian mystic (born 1869) • 1928 – Jean Collas, French rugby player and tug of war competitor (born 1874) • 1937 – Hans Niels Andersen, Danish businessman, founded the East Asiatic Company (born 1852) • 1940 – Childe Wills, American engineer (born 1878) • 1941 – El Lissitzky, Russian photographer and architect (born 1890) • 1944 – Romain Rolland, French author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1866) • 1945 – Song Jin-woo, South Korean journalist and politician (born 1889) • 1947 – Han van Meegeren, Dutch painter (born 1889) • 1947 – Alfred North Whitehead, English-American mathematician and philosopher (born 1861) • 1954 – Archduke Eugen of Austria (born 1863) • 1955 – Rex Ingamells, Australian poet and author (born 1913) • 1967 – Vincent Massey, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor General of Canada (born 1887) • 1968 – Trygve Lie, Norwegian journalist and politician, first Secretary-General of the United Nations (born 1896) • 1970 – Sonny Liston, American boxer (born 1932) • 1971 – Jo Cals, Dutch lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (born 1914) • 1971 – Vikram Sarabhai, Indian physicist and academic (born 1919) • 1979 – Richard Rodgers, American playwright and composer (born 1902) • 1982 – Alberto Vargas, Peruvian-American painter and illustrator (born 1896) • 1983 – Violette Cordery, English race car driver (born 1900) • 1986 – Era Bell Thompson, American journalist (born 1905) • 1988 – Yuli Daniel, Russian author and poet (born 1925) • 1988 – Isamu Noguchi, American sculptor and landscaper (born 1904) • 1990 – Raghuvir Sahay, Indian author, poet, and critic (born 1929) • 1992 – Romeo Muller, American actor, screenwriter, for screenplays like the 1964, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special) (born 1928) • 1993 – İhsan Sabri Çağlayangil, Turkish lawyer and politician, 20th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1908) • 1993 – Irving "Swifty" Lazar, American talent agent (born 1907) • 1993 – Giuseppe Occhialini, Italian-French physicist and academic (born 1907) • 1994 – Dmitri Ivanenko, Ukrainian-Russian physicist and academic (born 1904) • 1995 – Ralph Flanagan, American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1914) • 1995 – Doris Grau, American voice actor and script supervisor (born 1924) • 1996 – Lew Ayres, American actor (born 1908) • 1997 – Shinichi Hoshi, Japanese author and illustrator (born 1926) • 1998 – Sam Muchnick, American wrestling promoter, co-founded the National Wrestling Alliance (born 1905) • 1999 – Joff Ellen, Australian comedian and actor (born 1915) • 1999 – Fritz Leonhardt, German engineer, co-designed the Cologne Rodenkirchen Bridge and Fernsehturm Stuttgart (born 1909) • 1999 – Des Renford, Australian swimmer (born 1927) • 1999 – Sarah Knauss, American supercentenarian (born 1880) • 2000 – Julius J. Epstein, American screenwriter and producer (born 1909) • 2002 – Mary Brian, American actress (born 1906) • 2002 – Eleanor J. Gibson, American psychologist and academic (born 1910) • 2002 – Mary Wesley, English author (born 1912) • 2003 – John Gregory Dunne, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic (born 1932) • 2004 – Artie Shaw, American clarinet player, composer, and bandleader (born 1910) • 2005 – Eddie Barlow, South African cricketer and coach (born 1940) • 2005 – Rona Jaffe, American novelist (born 1932) • 2006 – Saddam Hussein, Iraqi general and politician, fifth President of Iraq (born 1937) • 2006 – Terry Peck, Falkland Islander police officer and spy (born 1938) • 2006 – Michel Plasse, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1948) • 2009 – Rowland S. Howard, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1959) • 2009 – Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesian journalist and politician, fourth President of Indonesia (born 1940) • 2010 – Bobby Farrell, Dutch dancer and performer from Aruba (born 1949) • 2011 – Ronald Searle, English-French cartoonist (born 1920) • 2012 – Philip Coppens, Belgian-American journalist and author (born 1971) • 2012 – Beate Sirota Gordon, Austrian-American director and producer (born 1923) • 2012 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1909) • 2012 – Carl Woese, American microbiologist and biophysicist (born 1928) • 2012 – Dennis Ferguson, Australian sex offender (born 1948) • 2013 – Kinnaird R. McKee, American admiral (born 1929) • 2013 – José María Maguregui, Spanish footballer and manager (born 1934) • 2013 – Eiichi Ohtaki, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer (born 1948) • 2013 – Johnny Orr, American basketball player and coach (born 1927) • 2013 – Paul Sally, American mathematician and academic (born 1933) • 2014 – Terry Becker, American actor, director, and producer (born 1921) • 2014 – Jim Galloway, Scottish-Canadian clarinet player and saxophonist (born 1936) • 2014 – Luise Rainer, German-born American-British actress (born 1910) • 2015 – Doug Atkins, American football player (born 1930) • 2015 – Howard Davis, Jr., American boxer and trainer (born 1956) • 2015 – Mangesh Padgaonkar, Indian poet, playwright, and translator (born 1929) • 2015 – Howard Pawley, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Premier of Manitoba (born 1934) • 2017 – Erica Garner, American civil rights activist (born 1990) • 2020 – Dawn Wells, American actress, (born 1938) • 2022 – Barbara Walters, American journalist, producer, and author (born 1929) • 2023 – Bryan Ansell, British role-playing and wargame designer (born 1955) • 2023 – Tom Wilkinson, English actor (born 1948) • 2023 – Aki Yashiro, Japanese singer (born 1950) • 2025 – Khaleda Zia, Bangladeshi Politician, Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh ==Holidays and observances==

• Christian feast day: • Abraham the Writer • Anysia of Salonika • Egwin of Evesham • Frances Joseph-Gaudet (Episcopal Church) • Liberius of Ravenna • Pope Felix I • Ralph of Vaucelles • Roger of Cannae • December 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) • Day of the Declaration of Slovakia as an Independent Ecclesiastic Province (Slovakia) • Rizal Day (Philippines) • The fifth day of Kwanzaa (United States) • The sixth of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity) ==References==