30 January in history

7 events that happened on 30 January, from 1649 to 1968.

  1. ✦ Anniversary of the day

    1649 CE 377 years ago

    Charles I is beheaded in Whitehall

    Convicted of treason, Charles I was executed on a scaffold outside the Banqueting House. England became a republic, and the monarchy was not restored until 1660.

    England

  2. 1835 CE 191 years ago

    Andrew Jackson survives an assassination attempt

    At the US Capitol, the house painter Richard Lawrence fired two pistols at Jackson, but both misfired. It was the first known attempt to kill a sitting American president.

  3. 1882 CE 144 years ago

    Franklin D. Roosevelt is born at Hyde Park, New York

    Roosevelt led the United States through the Great Depression and most of the Second World War. He is the only president elected four times.

    Second World WarUnited StatesNew York

  4. 1933 CE 93 years ago

    Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany

    President Hindenburg made the Nazi leader Chancellor, with conservatives expecting to control him. Within months Hitler had suspended civil liberties and established a one-party dictatorship.

  5. 1945 CE 81 years ago

    Soviet submarine sinks the Wilhelm Gustloff

    Torpedoes from submarine S-13 sank the overcrowded German liner in the Baltic as it evacuated refugees and military personnel. An estimated 9,000 died, the greatest loss of life in a single sinking.

  6. 1948 CE 78 years ago

    Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in New Delhi

    The Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse shot Gandhi at a prayer meeting at Birla House. The death of the leader of India's non-violent independence struggle was mourned across the world.

    British EmpireMahatma Gandhi

  7. 1968 CE 58 years ago

    Tet Offensive begins in South Vietnam

    North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attacked towns and bases across South Vietnam during the lunar new year truce. Though repelled, the offensive undermined American confidence in the war.

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