127 things happened on 30 October, from AD 130 to 2014. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1632 · 394 years ago
Christopher Wren was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist, born in 1632. After the Great Fire of London in 1666, he was put in charge of rebuilding 52 churches in the City of London. His masterpiece is St Paul's Cathedral, with its gr…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
During a war between England and Spain, Spanish forces tried to win back the island of Jamaica from the English. They failed at the Battle of Ocho Rios. England and Spain were rivals in trade and religion, and each attacked the other's ships and colonies. Jamaica is the third-largest island in the Caribbean, after Cuba and Hispaniola.
UK story
The Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros, ending its fighting with the Allies in the Middle East during the First World War. An armistice is an agreement to stop fighting. It was signed aboard the British battleship HMS Agamemnon, in a harbour on the Greek island of Lemnos. The table it was signed on is now kept on board HMS Belfast in London.
UK story
Surgeon Michael Woodruff carried out the first successful kidney transplant in the UK, at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. In a transplant, a healthy organ from one person is given to someone whose own organ no longer works. Woodruff is best remembered for his research into transplants. The Royal Infirmary, founded in 1729, is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland.
UK story
English model Jean Shrimpton wore a short white dress to Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia. Its hem was 10 centimetres above the knee, partly because her dressmaker had not been given enough fabric. The dress caused a stir and was later seen as a key moment in bringing the miniskirt into women's fashion. Shrimpton is thought of as one of the world's first supermodels.
UK story
The Eighth Crusade ends by an agreement between Charles I of Anjou (replacing his deceased brother King Louis IX of France) and the Hafsid dynasty of Tunis, Tunisia.
UK story
Seventeen-year-old Vilhelm, Prince of Denmark, arrived in Athens to become King George I of Greece (pictured).
UK story
Lobengula, King of Matabeleland, granted the Rudd Concession (pictured) to agents of Cecil Rhodes, leading to the creation of the British South Africa Company.
Simón Bolívar became president of the Third Republic of Venezuela, which he had declared during Venezuela's war of independence. Bolívar was a soldier and statesman from Venezuela. He led the lands that are now Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela to independence from the Spanish Empire. He is known as El Libertador, which means the Liberator.
CBS Radio in the United States broadcast a live Halloween radio play of The War of the Worlds, based on the novel by H. G. Wells. It was directed and narrated by Orson Welles. The play described a Martian invasion, and some listeners were convinced it was really happening. Newspapers later accused the show of tricking people.
US President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved 1 billion dollars of Lend-Lease aid for the Allies in the Second World War. Under Lend-Lease, the United States sent food, oil and military equipment to countries including the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, France and China. The help was given free of charge, because America saw it as vital for its own defence.
The Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off on mission STS-61-A. It was a science mission using the Spacelab laboratory, paid for and directed by West Germany. Its crew of eight holds the record for the largest crew aboard a single spacecraft for a whole flight, from launch to landing.
The Frauenkirche, a Lutheran church in Dresden, Germany, was consecrated again, which means it was blessed and opened for worship once more. The church had been destroyed when Allied planes bombed Dresden near the end of the Second World War. It was rebuilt over 13 years, between 1994 and 2005. Dresden is the capital of the German state of Saxony.
Emperor Hadrian establishes the city of Antinoöpolis on the Nile in honour of his companion Antinous, creating a new Hellenizing foundation in Roman Egypt.
Arab–Byzantine wars: Antioch surrenders to the Rashidun Caliphate after the Battle of the Iron Bridge.
Reconquista: Portuguese and Castilian forces halt a Muslim invasion at the Battle of Río Salado.
War of the Fourth Coalition: Believing that they were outnumbered, the German garrison at Stettin surrendered to a much smaller French force without a fight.
Louis Napoleon launches the unsuccessful Strasbourg Coup to overthrow the July Monarchy in France
Second War of Schleswig: The Treaty of Vienna is signed, by which Denmark relinquishes one province each to Prussia and Austria.
Tsar Nicholas II issues the October Manifesto, nominally granting the Russian peoples basic civil liberties and the right to form a duma. (October 17 in the Julian calendar)
World War I: Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, a state union of Kingdom of Hungary and Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia is abolished with decisions of Croatian and Hungarian parliaments.
The Communist Party of Australia is founded in Sydney.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the foundation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), is founded.
President Eisenhower approves the top-secret document NSC 162/2 concerning the maintenance of a strong nuclear deterrent force against the Soviet Union.
Hungarian Revolution: The government of Imre Nagy recognizes newly established revolutionary workers' councils. Army officer Béla Király leads anti-Soviet militias in an attack on the headquarters of the Hungarian Working People's Party.
A squad of 120 North Korean Army commandos landed in boats along a 25-mile long section of the eastern coast of South Korea in a failed attempt to overthrow the dictatorship of Park Chung Hee and reunify Korea.
The Bosphorus Bridge in Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus for the second time.
El Salvador and Honduras agree to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's Football War before the International Court of Justice.
As the military dictatorship came to an end, Argentina's first democratic election in a decade resulted in Raúl Alfonsín being elected president.
The Madrid Conference, an attempt by the international community to revive the Israeli–Palestinian peace process through negotiations, convened.
Quebec citizens narrowly vote (50.58% to 49.42%) in favour of remaining a province of Canada in their second referendum on national sovereignty.
Michael Jackson released Invincible, his final studio album and the most expensive album ever produced.
After his terminal-cancer diagnosis, Warren Zevon made his last public appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, giving the advice to "enjoy every sandwich".
American comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert hosted the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, D.C.
Sweden becomes the first European Union member state to officially recognize Palestine as an independent and sovereign state.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Jean Shrimpton's short white dress causes a stir”?
C: 1965. 1965 — that’s 61 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “The UK's first successful kidney transplant takes place in Edinburgh”?
A: 1960. 1960 — that’s 66 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
A: The Armistice of Mudros ends the fighting with the Ottoman Empire. 1918: The Armistice of Mudros ends the fighting with the Ottoman Empire · 1960: The UK's first successful kidney transplant takes place in Edinburgh · 1965: Jean Shrimpton's short white dress causes a stir Find it on the page
“The Armistice of Mudros ends the fighting with the Ottoman Empire” happened in 1918. How many years ago was that?
A: 108 years. 2026 − 1918 = 108. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 30 October.
UK story
Christopher Wren was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist, born in 1632. After the Great Fire of London in 1666, he was put in charge of rebuilding 52 churches in the City of London. His masterpiece is St Paul's Cathedral, with its great dome, which was completed in 1710. He is one of the most admired architects in English history.
UK story
Alfred Sisley was an Impressionist painter, born in Paris to British parents in 1839. He painted almost nothing but landscapes, and he was devoted to painting outdoors, in the open air. Some of his most important paintings show Hampton Court on the River Thames. He also painted many riverside scenes along the Seine, west of Paris.
Well-known people who died on 30 October.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 30 October somewhere in the world.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “October 30” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.