TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – APRIL 30
0030 Jesus of Nazareth was crucified.
0313 Licinius unifies the whole of the eastern Roman Empire under his own rule.
0711 Islamic conquest of Iberia: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus)
1250 King Louis IX of France is ransomed.
1563 All Jews are expelled from France by order of Charles VI.
1789 George Washington is inaugurated as the first U.S. president
1798 Department of the Navy is established
1803 The United States doubles in size through the Louisiana Purchase, which was sold by France for $15 million.
1812 Louisiana is admitted into the Union as a state.
1859 Charles Dickens’ “A Tale Of Two Cities” is first published in literary periodical “All the Year Round” (weekly installments until Nov 26)
1861 President Abraham Lincoln ordered Federal Troops to evacuate Indian Territory
1889 1st US national holiday, on centennial of Washington’s inauguration
1900 USA annexes Hawaii
1904 Ice cream cone makes its debut
1931 The George Washington Bridge, linking New York City and New Jersey, opens.
1939 U.S. commercial television made its official debut at the New York World’s Fair.The signal was transmitted from the Empire State Building.
1945 Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide. They had been married for one day. One week later Germany surrendered unconditionally.
1947 Boulder Dam renamed in honor of Herbert Hoover
1952 Mr. Potato Head became the first toy to be advertised on network television.
1973 President Richard Nixon announces the resignation of Harry Robbins Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and other top aides.
1975 The fall of Saigon marks the end of the Vietnam War
1975 Last US helicopter leaves US embassy groundsin Vietnam, Saigon surrenders
1980 Terrorists seize the Iranian Embassy in London.
1984 U.S. President Reagan signed cultural and scientific agreements with China. He also signed a tax accord that would make it easier for American companies to operate in China.
1993 CERN announces that World Wide Web protocols will remain free
2003 Libya accepted responsibility for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
