On This Day in History - January 30th - Almanac

Today is Saturday, Jan. 30, the 30th day of 2016 with 336 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter and Saturn. Evening stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd president of the United States (elected to four consecutive terms) in 1882; historian Barbara Tuchman in 1912; comedian Dick Martin in 1922; Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, who was assassinated in 1986, in 1927; theatrical producer Hal Prince in 1928 (age 88); actor Gene Hackman in 1930 (age 86); actor Vanessa Redgrave in 1937 (age 79); chess champion Boris Spassky in 1937 (age 79); former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney in 1941 (age 75); author Gregory Benford in 1941 (age 75); singer and Jefferson Airplane founder Marty Balin in 1942 (age 73); musician Steve Marriott (Small Faces) in 1947; musician/songwriter Phil Collins (Genesis) in 1951 (age 65); actor Charles Dutton in 1951 (age 65); hall of fame golfer Curtis Strange in 1955 (age 61); hall of fame golfer Payne Stewart in 1957; actor Christian Bale in 1974 (age 42).

On this date in history:

In 1649, British King Charles I was beheaded by order of Parliament.

In 1798, the first fight to break out on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives began when one congressman spat in another's face.

In 1835, a gunman fired twice on Andrew Jackson, the first attempt on the life of a U.S. president. Jackson wasn't injured.

In 1933, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as chancellor of Germany.

In 1943, the British air force bombed Berlin in a daylight raid timed to coincide with a speech by Joseph Goebbels marking Adolf Hitler's 10th year in power.

In 1948, Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu extremist.

In 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces launched a massive attack, known as the Tet Offensive, against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies.

In 1969, the Beatles staged an impromptu concert on the roof of Apple Records in London. The event, which became part of the documentary film Let It Be, was the last public appearance by the band.

In 1972, in what became known as "Bloody Sunday," 13 Roman Catholics were killed by British troops during a banned civil rights march in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

In 1979, the Iranian government announced it would let Shiite Muslim leader Ayatollah Khomeini return from exile. Washington responded by ordering the evacuation of all U.S. dependents from Iran.

In 1993, parents donated portions of their own lungs to their daughter with cystic fibrosis in a pioneering transplant surgery in Los Angeles.

In 2003, a U.S. judge sentenced Richard Reid to life in prison for trying to set off plastic explosives in his shoes on a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001.

In 2009, U.S. stock exchanges reported their weakest January in more than a century, with the Dow Jones industrial average showing a one-month decline of 8.8 percent, closing at 8,000.86.

In 2011, international aid groups said red tape and corruption in Haiti were withholding a massive array of supplies a year after a catastrophic earthquake struck the country.

In 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama's favorability rating was 60 percent in a Washington Post-ABC News poll as he began his second term.

In 2014, U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said he would not seek re-election in November, ending 40 years in Congress.

Athought for the day: "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed." -- Mahatma Gandhi