Today in History

Today in History

Today is Friday, April 30, the 120th day of 2021. There are 245 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On April 30, 1975, the Vietnam War ended as the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces.

On this date:

In 1517, Londoners began attacking foreign residents in rioting that carried over into the next day; no deaths were reported from what came to be known as “Evil May Day,” but about a dozen rioters, maybe more, ended up being executed.

In 1789, George Washington took the oath of office in New York as the first president of the United States.

In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for 60 million francs, the equivalent of about $15 million.

In 1945, as Soviet troops approached his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler took his own life along with that of his wife of one day, Eva Braun.

In 1968, New York City police forcibly removed student demonstrators occupying five buildings at Columbia University.

In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon announced the U.S. was sending troops into Cambodia, an action that sparked widespread protest.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon announced the resignations of top aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst and White House counsel John Dean, who was actually fired.

In 1983, blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters died in Westmont, Ill., at age 68.

In 1993, top-ranked women’s tennis player Monica Seles was stabbed in the back during a match in Hamburg, Germany, by a man who described himself as a fan of second-ranked German player Steffi Graf. (The man, convicted of causing grievous bodily harm, was given a suspended sentence.)

In 2004, Arabs expressed outrage at graphic photographs of naked Iraqi prisoners being humiliated by U.S. military police; President George W. Bush condemned the mistreatment of prisoners, saying “that’s not the way we do things in America.”

In 2010, heavy winds and high tides complicated efforts to hold back oil from a blown-out BP-operated rig that threatened to coat bird and marine life in the Gulf of Mexico; President Barack Obama halted any new offshore projects pending safeguards to prevent more explosions like the one that unleashed the spill.

In 2019, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó took to the streets to call for a military uprising against Nicolas Maduro; street battles erupted in the Venezuelan capital. The Trump administration quickly declared enthusiastic support for the Venezuelan opposition effort.

Ten years ago: A Libyan official said Moammar Gadhafi had escaped a NATO missile strike in Tripoli that killed one of his sons and three young grandchildren.

Five years ago: Anti-government protesters tore down walls and poured into the Iraqi capital’s heavily fortified Green Zone, where they stormed parliament in a major escalation of a political crisis that had simmered for months. The Rev. Daniel Berrigan, 94, a Roman Catholic priest and peace activist who was imprisoned for burning draft files in a protest against the Vietnam War, died in New York.

One year ago: The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits soared past 30 million in the six weeks since the virus outbreak took hold. The Republican-led Michigan legislature refused to extend the state’s emergency declaration and voted to authorize a lawsuit challenging the authority of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to deal with the pandemic; Whitmer responded by declaring a new 28-day state of emergency. Hundreds of conservative activists, some openly carrying assault rifles, returned to the Michigan state Capitol to denounce the governor’s stay-home order. President Donald Trump continued to speculate on the origins of the coronavirus, saying China could have unleashed it on the world due to some kind of “mistake” or that it might have been released intentionally. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York City subways would be shut down from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. each day for cleaning of trains and stations.

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Willie Nelson is 88. Actor Burt Young is 81. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is 75. Movie director Allan Arkush is 73. Actor Perry King is 73. Singer-musician Wayne Kramer is 73. Singer Merrill Osmond is 68. Movie director Jane Campion is 67. Movie director Lars von Trier is 65. Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is 62. Actor Paul Gross is 62. Basketball Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas is 60. Actor Adrian Pasdar is 56. Rock singer J.R. Richards (Dishwalla) is 54. Rapper Turbo B (Snap) is 54. Rock musician Clark Vogeler is 52. R&B singer Chris “Choc” Dalyrimple (Soul For Real) is 50. Rock musician Chris Henderson (3 Doors Down) is 50. Country singer Carolyn Dawn Johnson is 50. Actor Lisa Dean Ryan is 49. R&B singer Akon is 48. R&B singer Jeff Timmons (98 Degrees) is 48. Actor Johnny Galecki is 46. Actor Sam Heughan is 41. Actor Kunal Nayyar is 40. Rapper Lloyd Banks is 39. Actor Kirsten Dunst is 39. Actor Dianna Agron is 35. Country singer Brandon Lancaster is 32. Rapper/producer Travis Scott is 30.