September 30

Historic Events

2016

Hurricane Matthew becomes a Category 5 hurricane, making it the strongest hurricane to form in the Caribbean Sea since 2007. ›

2016

Two paintings with a combined value of $100 million are recovered after having been stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in 2002. ›

2009

The 7.6 Mw Sumatra earthquake leaves 1,115 people dead. ›

2005

Controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in a Danish newspaper. ›

2000

Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Twelve-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah is shot and killed on the second day of the Second Intifada. ›

1999

The Tokaimura nuclear accident causes the deaths of two technicians in Japan's second-worst nuclear accident. ›

1994

Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-68. ›

1993

The 6.2 Mw Latur earthquake shakes Maharashtra, India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) killing 9,748 and injuring 30,000. ›

1980

Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation. ›

1978

Finnair Flight 405 is hijacked by Aarno Lamminparras in Oulu, Finland. ›

1975

Malév Flight 240 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while on approach to Beirut International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 60. ›

1970

Jordan makes a deal with the PFLP for the release of the remaining hostages from the Dawson's Field hijackings. ›

1968

The Boeing 747 is rolled out and shown to the public for the first time. ›

1966

Bechuanaland declares its independence, and becomes the Republic of Botswana. ›

1960

The Flintstones animated sitcom premieres on ABC television. ›

1954

The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world's first nuclear-powered vessel. ›

1949

The Berlin Airlift ends. ›

1947

The 1947 World Series begins. It is the first to be televised, to include an African-American player, to exceed $2 million in receipts, to see a pinch-hit home run, and to have six umpires on the field. ›

1947

Pakistan joins the United Nations. ›

1945

The Bourne End rail crash, in Hertfordshire, England, kills 43. ›

1944

World War II: the Germans commence a counter offensive to retake the Nijmegen salient, this having been captured by the allies during Operation Market Garden. ›

1943

The United States Merchant Marine Academy is dedicated by President Roosevelt. ›

1941

World War II: The Babi Yar massacre comes to an end. ›

1939

NBC broadcasts the first televised American football game. ›

1938

Britain, France, Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement, whereby Germany annexes the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. ›

1938

The League of Nations unanimously outlaws "intentional bombings of civilian populations". ›

1936

American journalists Herbert R. Ekins, reporter for the New York World-Telegram, Dorothy Kilgallen of the New York Journal and Leo Kieran of The New York Times start the race to travel around the world on commercial airline flights. The race takes 18 ½ days. ›

1935

The Hoover Dam, astride the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, is dedicated. ›

1919

The Elaine massacre in Arkansas commences. ›

1918

Ukrainian War of Independence: Insurgent forces led by Nestor Makhno defeats the Central Powers at the battle of Dibrivka. ›

1915

World War I: Radoje Ljutovac becomes the first soldier in history to shoot down an enemy aircraft with ground-to-air fire. ›

1909

The Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania makes a record-breaking westbound crossing of the Atlantic, that will not be bettered for 20 years. ›

1907

The McKinley National Memorial, the final resting place of assassinated U.S. President William McKinley and his family, is dedicated in Canton, Ohio. ›

1906

The Royal Galician Academy, the Galician language's biggest linguistic authority, is established in La Coruña, Spain. ›

1888

Jack the Ripper kills his third and fourth victims, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes. ›

1882

Thomas Edison's first commercial hydroelectric power plant, the Vulcan Street Plant, begins operation. ›

1863

Georges Bizet's opera Les pêcheurs de perles, premieres in Paris. ›

1791

The first performance of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute takes place two months before his death. ›

1791

France's National Constituent Assembly is dissolved, to be replaced the next day by the National Legislative Assembly. ›

1744

War of the Austrian Succession: France and Spain defeat Sardinia at the Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo, but soon have to withdraw from Sardinia. ›

1736

The Lebanese Council of 1736 begins, a major turning point in the reform of the Maronite Church. In the following three days, the assembled Maronite and Latin clergy presided by Yusuf ibn Siman as-Simani discuss various reforms and elaborate rules and canons. ›

1551

A coup by the military establishment of Japan's Ōuchi clan forces their lord to commit suicide, and their city is burned. ›

1541

Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto and his forces enter Tula territory in present-day western Arkansas, encountering fierce resistance. ›

1520

Suleiman the Magnificent becomes sultan of the Ottoman Empire. ›

1399

Henry IV is proclaimed king of England. ›

1342

Battle of Morlaix is fought in the Hundred Years' War. ›

1139

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes the Caucasus mountains in the Seljuk Empire, causing mass destruction and killing up to 300,000 people. ›

737

The Turgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their baggage train. ›

489

The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time. ›