Today In History [30th April, 2015]

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

April 30

313           Licinius unifies the whole of the eastern Roman Empire under his own rule.
1250           King Louis IX of France is ransomed.
1527           Henry VIII of England and King Francis of France sign treaty of Westminster.
1563           All Jews are expelled from France by order of Charles VI.
1725           Spain withdraws from the Quadruple Alliance.
1789           George Washington is inaugurated as the first U.S. president.
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.
1849           Giuseppe Garabaldi, the Italian patriot and guerrilla leader, repulses a French attack on Rome.
1864           Work begins on the Dams along the Red River, which will allow Union General Nathaniel Banks' troops to sail over the rapids above Alexandria, Louisiana.
1930           The Soviet Union proposes a military alliance with France and Great Britain.
1931           The George Washington Bridge, linking New York City and New Jersey, opens.
1943           The British submarine HMS Seraph drops 'the man who never was,' a dead man the British planted with false invasion plans, into the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain.
1945           Adolf Hitler commits suicide in his bunker. Karl Donitz becomes his successor.
1968           U.S. Marines attack a division of North Vietnamese troops in the village of Dai Do.
1970           U.S. troops invade Cambodia to disrupt North Vietnamese Army base areas.
1972           The North Vietnamese launch an invasion of the South.
1973           Nixon announces the resignation of H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and other top aides.
1975           North Vietnamese troops enter the Independence Palace of South Vietnam in Saigon ending the Vietnam War.
1980           Terrorists seize the Iranian Embassy in London.

Born on April 30
1777           Karl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician.
1858           Mary Scott Lord Dimmick, First Lady to President Benjamin Harrison .
1870           Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer (The Merry Widow, The Land of Smiles).
1909           Juliana, Queen of the Netherlands.
1912           Eve Arden (Eunice Quedens), actress.
1933           Willie Nelson, country singer.
1945           Annie Dillard, writer (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek).
1954           Jane Campion, New Zealand film director (The Piano, A Portrait of a Lady).