April 30

Events

311 – The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.

313 – Battle of Tzirallum: Emperor Licinius defeats Maximinus II and unifies the Eastern Roman Empire.

642 – Chindasuinth is proclaimed king by the Visigothic nobility and bishops.

1315 – Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged on the public gallows at Montfaucon.

1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.

1513 – Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the orders of Henry VIII.

1517 – Evil May Day xenophobic riots in London begin

1557 – Mapuche leader Lautaro is killed by Spanish forces at the Battle of Mataquito in Chile.

1598 – Juan de Oñate makes a formal declaration of his Conquest of New Mexico. Henry IV of France issues the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots.

1636 – Eighty Years' War: Dutch Republic forces recapture a strategically important fort from Spain after a nine-month siege.

1671 – Petar Zrinski, the Croatian Ban from the Zrinski family, is executed.

1789 – On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected President of the United States.

1803 – Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.

1812 – The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana.

1838 – Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation.

1863 – A 65-man French Foreign Legion infantry patrol fights a force of nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers to nearly the last man in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico.

1871 – The Camp Grant massacre takes place in Arizona Territory.

1885 – Governor of New York David B. Hill signs legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, New York's first state park, ensuring that Niagara Falls will not be devoted solely to industrial and commercial use.

1897 – J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London.

1900 – Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.

1904 – The Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair opens in St. Louis, Missouri.

1907 – Honolulu, Hawaii becomes an independent city.

1925 – Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc is sold to Dillon, Read & Co. for US$146 million plus $50 million for charity.

1927 – The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women's federal prison in the United States.

1927 – Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

1937 – The Commonwealth of the Philippines holds a plebiscite for Filipino women on whether they should be extended the right to suffrage; over 90% would vote in the affirmative.

1938 – The animated cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt debuts in movie theaters, introducing Happy Rabbit (a prototype of Bugs Bunny).

1939 – The 1939-40 New York World's Fair opens.

1939 – NBC inaugurates its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's N.Y. World's Fair opening day ceremonial address.

1943 – World War II: Operation Mincemeat: The submarine HMS Seraph surfaces in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain to deposit a dead man planted with false invasion plans and dressed as a British military intelligence officer.

1945 – World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for less than 40 hours. Soviet soldiers raise the Victory Banner over the Reichstag building.

1947 – In Nevada, Boulder Dam is renamed Hoover Dam for the second time.

1948 – In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established.

1956 – Former Vice President and Democratic Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia. He collapses after proclaiming "I'm glad to sit on the back row, for I would rather be a servant in the house of the lord than sit in the seats of the mighty."

1957 – Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery entered into force.

1961 – K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned.

1963 – The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.

1973 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that White House Counsel John Dean has been fired and that other top aides, most notably H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, have resigned.

1975 – Fall of Saigon: Communist forces gain control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Dương Văn Minh.

1980 – The Iranian Embassy siege begins in London.

1982 – The Bijon Setu massacre occurs in Calcutta.

1993 – CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free.

1994 – Formula One racing driver Roland Ratzenberger is killed in a crash during the qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix run at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari outside Imola, Italy.

1998 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 1165 relating to Rwanda Tribunal is adopted.

2000 – Canonization of Faustina Kowalska in the presence of 200,000 people and the first Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated worldwide.

2004 – U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

2008 – Two skeletal remains found near Yekaterinburg, Russia are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei and Anastasia, two of the children of the last Tsar of Russia, whose entire family was executed at Yekaterinburg by the Bolsheviks.

2009 – Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

2009 – Seven people are killed and another ten injured at a Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands in an attempted assassination on Queen Beatrix.

2012 – An overloaded ferry capsizes on the Brahmaputra River in India killing at least 103 people.

2013 – Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicates and Willem-Alexander becomes King of the Netherlands.

2014 – A bomb blast in Ürümqi kills three people and injures 79 others.

Births

1245 – Philip III of France (d. 1285)

1310 – King Casimir III of Poland (d. 1368)

1331 – Gaston III, Count of Foix (d. 1391)

1383 – Anne of Gloucester, granddaughter of King Edward III of England (d. 1438)

1425 – William III, Landgrave of Thuringia (d. 1482)

1553 – Louise of Lorraine (d. 1601)

1623 – François de Laval, French-Canadian bishop and saint (d. 1708)

1651 – Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, French priest and saint (d. 1719)

1662 – Mary II of England (d. 1694)

1664 – François Louis, Prince of Conti (d. 1709)

1710 – Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (d. 1795)

1723 – Mathurin Jacques Brisson, French zoologist and philosopher (d. 1806)

1758 – Emmanuel Vitale, Maltese commander and politician (d. 1802)

1770 – David Thompson, English-Canadian cartographer and explorer (d. 1857)

1777 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1855)

1803 – Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and politician, 10th Minister President of Prussia (d. 1879)

1829 – Ferdinand von Hochstetter, Austrian geologist and academic (d. 1884)

1857 – Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist (d. 1940)

1857 – Walter Simon, German banker and philanthropist (d. 1920)

1865 – Max Nettlau, German historian and academic (d. 1944)

1869 – Hans Poelzig, German architect, designed the IG Farben Building and Großes Schauspielhaus (d. 1936)

1870 – Franz Lehár, Slovak-Austrian composer (d. 1948)

1870 – Dadasaheb Phalke, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1944)

1874 – Cyriel Verschaeve, Flemish priest and author (d. 1949)

1876 – Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist and politician (d. 1937)

1877 – Léon Flameng, French cyclist (d. 1917)

1877 – Alice B. Toklas, American memoirist (d. 1967)

1880 – Charles Exeter Devereux Crombie, Scottish cartoonist (d. 1967)

1883 – Jaroslav Hašek, Czech soldier and author (d. 1923)

1883 – Luigi Russolo, Italian painter and composer (d. 1947)

1884 – Olof Sandborg, Swedish actor (d. 1965)

1888 – John Crowe Ransom, American poet, critic, and academic (d. 1974)

1893 – Harold Breen, Australian public servant (d. 1966)

1893 – Joachim von Ribbentrop, German soldier and politician, 14th German Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1946)

1895 – Philippe Panneton, Canadian physician, academic, and diplomat (d. 1960)

1896 – Reverend Gary Davis, American singer and guitarist (d. 1972)

1896 – Hans List, Austrian scientist and businessman, founded the AVL Engineering Company (d. 1996)

1897 – Humberto Mauro, Brazilian director and screenwriter (d. 1983)

1900 – Erni Krusten, Estonian author and poet (d. 1984)

1901 – Simon Kuznets, Belarusian-American economist, statistician, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)

1902 – Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)

1905 – Sergey Nikolsky, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 2012)

1908 – Eve Arden, American actress (d. 1990)

1908 – Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic journalist and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1970)

1908 – Frank Robert Miller, Canadian air marshal and politician (d. 1997)

1909 – F. E. McWilliam, Irish sculptor and educator (d. 1992)

1909 – Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)

1910 – Levi Celerio, Filipino pianist, violinist, and composer (d. 2002)

1914 – Charles Beetham, American middle-distance runner (d. 1997)

1914 – Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter, actor, and painter (d. 2008)

1916 – Claude Shannon, American mathematician and engineer (d. 2001)

1916 – Paul Kuusberg, Estonian journalist and author (d. 2003)

1916 – Robert Shaw, American conductor (d. 1999)

1917 – Bea Wain, American singer

1920 – Duncan Hamilton, Irish-English race car driver and pilot (d. 1994)

1921 – Roger L. Easton, American scientist, co-invented the GPS (d. 2014)

1922 – Anton Murray, South African cricketer (d. 1995)

1923 – Percy Heath, American bassist (d. 2005)

1923 – Kagamisato Kiyoji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 42nd Yokozuna (d. 2004)

1923 – Francis Tucker, South African race car driver (d. 2008)

1924 – Uno Laht, Estonian KGB officer and author (d. 2008)

1925 – Corinne Calvet, French actress (d. 2001)

1925 – Johnny Horton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1960)

1926 – Shrinivas Khale, Indian composer (d. 2011)

1926 – Cloris Leachman, American actress and comedian

1928 – Hugh Hood, Canadian author and academic (d. 2000)

1928 – Orlando Sirola, Italian tennis player (d. 1995)

1930 – Félix Guattari, French psychotherapist and philosopher (d. 1992)

1933 – Charles Sanderson, Baron Sanderson of Bowden, English politician

1934 – Jerry Lordan, English singer-songwriter (d. 1995)

1934 – Don McKenney, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1937 – Tony Harrison, English poet and playwright

1938 – Gary Collins, American actor and talk show host (d. 2012)

1938 – Juraj Jakubisko, Slovak director and screenwriter

1938 – Larry Niven, American author and screenwriter

1940 – Jeroen Brouwers, Dutch journalist and writer

1940 – Michael Cleary, Australian rugby player and politician

1941 – Stavros Dimas, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs

1943 – Frederick Chiluba, Zambian politician, 2nd President of Zambia (d. 2011)

1944 – Jon Bing, Norwegian author, scholar, and academic (d. 2014)

1944 – Jill Clayburgh, American actress (d. 2010)

1945 – J. Michael Brady, British radiologist

1945 – Annie Dillard, American novelist, essayist, and poet

1945 – Mimi Fariña, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist (d. 2001)

1945 – Michael J. Smith, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1986)

1946 – King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden

1946 – Bill Plympton, American animator, producer, and screenwriter

1946 – Don Schollander, American swimmer

1947 – Paul Fiddes, English theologian and academic

1947 – Finn Kalvik, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist

1947 – Tom Køhlert, Danish footballer and manager

1947 – Mats Odell, Swedish economist and politician, Swedish Minister for Financial Markets

1948 – Alexander Onassis, American-Greek businessman (d. 1973)

1948 – Pierre Pagé, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1948 – Margit Papp, Hungarian athlete

1949 – Phil Garner, American baseball player and manager

1949 – António Guterres, Portuguese academic and politician, 114th Prime Minister of Portugal

1949 – Karl Meiler, German tennis player (d. 2014)

1952 – Jacques Audiard, French director and screenwriter

1952 – Jack Middelburg, Dutch professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer (d. 1984)

1954 – Jane Campion, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter

1954 – Kim Darroch, English diplomat, UK Permanent Representative to the European Union

1954 – Frank-Michael Marczewski, German footballer

1955 – Nicolas Hulot, French journalist and environmentalist

1955 – David Kitchin, English lawyer and judge

1955 – Zlatko Topčić, Bosnian writer and screenwriter

1956 – Lars von Trier, Danish director and screenwriter

1958 – Charles Berling, French actor, director, and screenwriter

1958 – Wonder Mike, American rapper and songwriter

1959 – Stephen Harper, Canadian economist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada

1959 – W. Thomas Smith, Jr., American journalist and author

1960 – Geoffrey Cox, English lawyer and politician

1960 – Kerry Healey, American academic and politician, 70th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts

1961 – Isiah Thomas, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster

1963 – Andrew Carwood, English tenor and conductor

1963 – Michael Waltrip, American race car driver and sportscaster

1964 – Tony Fernandes, Malaysian-Indian businessman, co-founded Tune Group

1964 – Ian Healy, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster

1964 – Lorenzo Staelens, Belgian footballer and manager

1965 – Daniela Costian, Romanian-Australian discus thrower

1966 – Jeff Brown, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1966 – Dave Meggett, American football player and coach

1968 – Dave Halili, American illustrator and graphic designer

1969 – Warren Defever, American bass player and producer

1969 – Justine Greening, English accountant and politician, Secretary of State for International Development

1969 – Paulo Jr., Brazilian bass player and songwriter

1972 – J. R. Richards, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1974 – Christian Tamminga, Dutch athlete

1975 – Johnny Galecki, American actor

1975 – Tomi Joutsen, Finnish singer-songwriter

1975 – Elliott Sadler, American race car driver

1976 – Davian Clarke, Jamaican sprinter

1976 – Amanda Palmer, American singer-songwriter and pianist

1976 – Daniel Wagon, Australian rugby league player

1977 – Jeannie Haddaway, American politician

1977 – Meredith L. Patterson, American technologist, journalist, and author

1979 – Gerardo Torrado, Mexican footballer

1980 – Atsushi, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer

1980 – Luis Scola, Argentinian basketball player

1980 – Jeroen Verhoeven, Dutch footballer

1981 – Nicole Kaczmarski, American basketball player

1981 – John O'Shea, Irish footballer

1981 – Kunal Nayyar, British-Indian actor

1982 – Lloyd Banks, American rapper and actor

1982 – Kirsten Dunst, American actress

1982 – Drew Seeley, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor

1983 – Chris Carr, American football player

1983 – Tatjana Hüfner, German luger

1983 – Marina Tomić, Slovenian hurdler

1983 – Troy Williamson, American football player

1984 – Shawn Daivari, American wrestler and manager

1984 – Risto Mätas, Estonian javelin thrower

1984 – Lee Roache, English footballer

1985 – Brandon Bass, American basketball player

1985 – Ashley Dupré, former American escort who gained notoriety through the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal

1985 – Gal Gadot, Israeli actress and model

1986 – Dianna Agron, American actress and singer

1986 – Martten Kaldvee, Estonian biathlete

1987 – Alipate Carlile, Australian footballer

1987 – Chris Morris, South African cricketer

1987 – Rohit Sharma, Indian cricketer

1988 – Andy Allen, Australian chef

1988 – Sander Baart, Dutch field hockey player

1989 – Jang Wooyoung, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor

1990 – Jonny Brownlee, English triathlete

1990 – Mac DeMarco, Canadian singer-songwriter

1990 – Kaarel Kiidron, Estonian footballer

1991 – Chris Kreider, American ice hockey player

1991 – Kaarel Nurmsalu, Estonian ski jumper

1992 – Travis Scott, American rapper and producer

1992 – Marc-André ter Stegen, German footballer

1993 – Dion Dreesens, Dutch swimmer

1994 – Wang Yafan, Chinese tennis player

1997 – Adam Ryczkowski, Polish footballer

Deaths

AD 65 – Lucan, Roman poet (b. 39)

125 – Emperor An of Han of the Chinese Han Dynasty (b. 94)

535 – Amalasuntha, Italian daughter of Theoderic the Great (b. 495)

783 – Hildegard of the Vinzgau (b. 758)

1002 – Eckard I, Margrave of Meissen, assassinated

1030 – Mahmud of Ghazni (b. 971)

1063 – Emperor Renzong of Song (b. 1010)

1131 – Adjutor, French knight and saint

1305 – Roger de Flor, Italian military adventurer

1341 – John III, Duke of Brittany (b. 1285)

1439 – Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, English commander (b. 1382)

1524 – Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard, French soldier (b. 1473)

1544 – Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1488)

1550 – Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (b. 1516)

1632 – Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, Bavarian general (b. 1559)

1632 – Sigismund III Vasa, Swedish-Polish son of John III of Sweden (b. 1566)

1637 – Niwa Nagashige, Japanese daimyo (b. 1571)

1655 – Eustache Le Sueur, French painter (b. 1617)

1660 – Petrus Scriverius, Dutch historian and scholar (b. 1576)

1672 – Marie of the Incarnation, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Ursulines of Quebec (b. 1599)

1696 – Robert Plot, English chemist and academic (b. 1640)

1712 – Philipp van Limborch, Dutch theologian and author (b. 1633)

1736 – Johann Albert Fabricius, German scholar and author (b. 1668)

1758 – François d'Agincourt, French organist and composer (b. 1684)

1792 – John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, English politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (b. 1718)

1795 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French archaeologist and author (b. 1716)

1806 – Onogawa Kisaburō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 5th Yokozuna (b. 1758)

1841 – Peter Andreas Heiberg, Danish philologist and author (b. 1758)

1847 – Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen (b. 1771)

1863 – Jean Danjou, French captain (b. 1828)

1865 – Robert FitzRoy, English admiral, meteorologist, and politician, 2nd Governor of New Zealand (b. 1805)

1870 – Thomas Cooke, Canadian bishop and missionary (b. 1792)

1875 – Jean-Frédéric Waldeck, French explorer, lithographer, and cartographer (b. 1766)

1879 – Emma Smith, American religious leader (b. 1804)

1883 – Édouard Manet, French painter (b. 1832)

1891 – Joseph Leidy, American paleontologist and author (b. 1823)

1900 – Casey Jones, American engineer (b. 1863)

1903 – Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and activist (b. 1831)

1910 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (b. 1856)

1936 – A. E. Housman, English poet and scholar (b. 1859)

1939 – Frank Haller, American boxer (b. 1883)

1943 – Otto Jespersen, Danish linguist and academic (b. 1860)

1943 – Beatrice Webb, English sociologist and economist (b. 1858)

1953 – Jacob Linzbach, Estonian linguist and author (b. 1874)

1956 – Alben W. Barkley, American lawyer and politician, 35th Vice President of the United States (b. 1877)

1970 – Jacques Presser, Dutch historian, writer and poet (b. 1899)

1970 – Inger Stevens, Swedish-American actress (b. 1934)

1972 – Gia Scala, English-American model and actress (b. 1934)

1973 – Václav Renč, Czech poet and playwright (b. 1911)

1974 – Agnes Moorehead, American actress (b. 1900)

1980 – Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican journalist and politician, 1st Governor of Puerto Rico (b. 1898)

1982 – Lester Bangs, American journalist and author (b. 1949)

1983 – George Balanchine, Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1904)

1983 – Muddy Waters, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and bandleader (b. 1913)

1983 – Edouard Wyss-Dunant, Swiss physician and mountaineer (b. 1897)

1986 – Robert Stevenson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1905)

1989 – Sergio Leone, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1929)

1993 – Tommy Caton, English footballer (b. 1962)

1994 – Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian race car driver (b. 1960)

1994 – Richard Scarry, American author and illustrator (b. 1919)

1995 – Maung Maung Kha, Burmese colonel and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma (b. 1920)

1998 – Nizar Qabbani, Syrian-English poet, publisher, and diplomat (b. 1926)

1999 – Darrell Sweet, English drummer (b. 1947)

2000 – Poul Hartling, Danish politician, 36th Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1914)

2002 – Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, German philanthropist, founded the Gründerzeit Museum (b. 1928)

2003 – Mark Berger, American economist and academic (b. 1955)

2003 – Possum Bourne, New Zealand race car driver (b. 1956)

2005 – Phil Rasmussen, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1918)

2006 – Lawrence Patrick, American mechanic and educator (b. 1920)

2006 – Jean-François Revel, French philosopher (b. 1924)

2006 – Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesian author and academic (b. 1925)

2007 – Kevin Mitchell, American football player (b. 1971)

2007 – Tom Poston, American actor, comedian, and game show panelist (b. 1921)

2008 – John Cargher, English-Australian journalist and author (b. 1919)

2008 – Juancho Evertsz, Dutch Antillean politician (b. 1923)

2009 – Henk Nijdam, Dutch cyclist (b. 1935)

2011 – Dorjee Khandu, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh (b. 1955)

2011 – Evald Okas, Estonian painter (b. 1915)

2011 – Ernesto Sabato, Argentinian physicist, author, and painter (b. 1911)

2012 – Tomás Borge, Nicaraguan poet and politician, co-founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front (b. 1930)

2012 – Alexander Dale Oen, Norwegian swimmer (b. 1985)

2012 – Giannis Gravanis, Greek footballer (b. 1958)

2012 – Benzion Netanyahu, Russian-Israeli historian and academic (b. 1910)

2012 – Sicelo Shiceka, South African politician (b. 1966)

2013 – Roberto Chabet, Filipino painter and sculptor (b. 1937)

2013 – Shirley Firth, Canadian skier (b. 1953)

2013 – Viviane Forrester, French author and critic (b. 1925)

2013 – Mike Gray, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1935)

2014 – Khaled Choudhury, Indian painter and set designer (b. 1919)

2014 – Julian Lewis, English biologist and academic (b. 1946)

2014 – Carl E. Moses, American businessman and politician (b. 1929)

2014 – Ian Ross, Australian journalist (b. 1940)

2015 – Lennart Bodström, Swedish politician (b. 1928)

2015 – Steven Goldmann, Canadian director and producer (b. 1961)

2015 – Patachou, French singer and actress (b. 1918)

2016 – Daniel Berrigan, American priest, poet, and activist (b. 1921)

2016 – Harry Kroto, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1939)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

Adjutor

Aimo

Amator, Peter and Louis

Eutropius of Saintes

Blessed Miles Gerard

Marie Guyart (Anglican Church of Canada)

Marie of the Incarnation (Ursuline)

Maximus of Rome

Pomponius of Naples

Pope Saint Pius V

Quirinus of Neuss

Sarah Josepha Hale (Episcopal Church)

Suitbert the Younger

April 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Earliest day on which Ascension Day can fall, while June 3 is the latest; celebrated 40 days after Easter (Christianity), and its related observances:

Father's Day (Germany)

Festa della Sensa (Venice)

Global Day of Prayer (Western Christianity)

Sheep Festival (Cameroon)

Armed Forces Day (Georgia (country))

Birthday of the King Carl XVI Gustaf, one of the official flag days of Sweden.

Camarón Day (French Foreign Legion)

Children's Day (Mexico)

Consumer Protection Day (Thailand)

Honesty Day (United States)

International Jazz Day (UNESCO)

Martyr's Day (Pakistan)

May Eve, the eve of the first day of summer in the Northern hemisphere (see May 1):

Beltane begins at sunset in the Northern hemisphere, Samhain begins at sunset in the Southern hemisphere. (Neo-Druidic Wheel of the Year)

Carodejnice (Czech Republic and Slovakia)

Walpurgis Night (Central and Northern Europe)

National Persian Gulf Day (Iran)

Reunification Day (Vietnam)

Russian State Fire Service Day (Russia)

Teachers' Day (Paraguay)