On This Day in History - October 30th - Almanac

Today is Friday, Oct. 30, the 304th day of 2020 with 62 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include John Adams, second president of the United States, in 1735; poet Ezra Pound in 1885; actor Ruth Gordon in 1896; baseball Hall of Fame member Bill Terry in 1898; journalist Robert Caro in 1935 (age 85); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Grace Slick in 1939 (age 81); actor/director Henry Winkler in 1945 (age 75); news correspondent Andrea Mitchell in 1946 (age 74); rock musician Chris Slade in 1946 (age 74); rock musician Timothy B. Schmit in 1947 (age 73); actor Harry Hamlin in 1951 (age 69); actor Kevin Pollak in 1957 (age 63); rock musician Gavin Rossdale in 1965 (age 55); actor Nia Long in 1970 (age 50); actor Matthew Morrison in 1978 (age 42); businesswoman/presidential adviser Ivanka Trump in 1981 (age 39); actor Clemence Poesy in 1982 (age 38); model/actor Eva Marcille in 1984 (age 36); model Ashley Graham in 1987 (age 33); actor Janel Parrish in 1988 (age 32); U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Nastia Liukin in 1989 (age 31).

On this date in history:

In 1534, the Act of Supremacy, making King Henry VIII head of the Church of England, is passed by Parliament.

In 1817, Simon Bolivar established the independent government of Venezuela.

In 1864, "Last Chance Gulch" delivered gold for four prospectors in Montana and the town of Helena was born.

In 1918, the Ottoman Empire signed an armistice with the Allies, ending the First World War in the Middle East and bringing about the dismantling of the more than 600-year-old kingdom.

In 1938, Orson Welles triggered some radio listeners to panic with a realistic dramatization of a martian invasion, based on H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds.

In 1953, National Security Council Paper No. 162/2 is signed by President Dwight Eisenhower. The top secret document affirmed that the nuclear arsenal of the United States was to maintained and expanded in an effort to counter the Soviet Union.

In 1961, the massive, 50 megaton hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba was detonated by the Soviet Union over Novaya Zemlya.

In 1974, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman slugged it out in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), in The Rumble in the Jungle.

In 1975, with dictator Francisco Franco near death, Prince Juan Carlos assumed power in Spain. Franco died three weeks later.

In 1983, the Rev. Jesse Jackson announced plans to become the first African American to mount a full-scale campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in the United States.

In 1995, by a narrow margin, Quebec voters decided to remain a part of Canada.

In 2005, Indian authorities sent army divers to look for people trapped in a derailed train near Veligonda during massive flooding. Officials said 112 died in the train wreck and another 100 in floods.

In 2008, the U.S. gross domestic product dropped 0.3 percent, government officials said. It was the first decrease in the GDP in 17 years.

In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama announced he would end the U.S. travel and immigration restrictions on people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

In 2010, security screening of cargo and air passengers in the United States, Britain and Canada was stepped up after bombs were found in packages from Yemen to two Chicago synagogues.

In 2018, notorious Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger was found dead at high-security USP Hazelton one day after he was transferred to the Brockton Mills, W.Va., prison. A medical examiner said he died from blunt-force injuries to his head -- likely from a fellow prisoner beating him with a prison lock inside a sock.

In 2019, the Washington Nationals defeated the Houston Astros 7-2 at Minute Maid Park in Houston to win the World Series four games to two.

A thought for the day: "Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumblebee, the small child and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams." -- Atlanta hostage heroine Ashley Smith