On This Day in History - January 30th - Almanac

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 30, the 30th day of 2019 with 335 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd president of the United States in 1882; historian Barbara Tuchman in 1912; Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, who was assassinated in 1986, in 1927; theatrical producer Hal Prince in 1928 (age 91); actor Gene Hackman in 1930 (age 89); actor Vanessa Redgrave in 1937 (age 82); chess champion Boris Spassky in 1937 (age 82); former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney in 1941 (age 78); author Gregory Benford in 1941 (age 78); singer/Jefferson Airplane founder Marty Balin in 1942; musician Steve Marriott (Small Faces) in 1947; musician/songwriter Phil Collins (Genesis) in 1951 (age 68); actor Charles Dutton in 1951 (age 68); hall of fame golfer Curtis Strange in 1955 (age 64); hall of fame golfer Payne Stewart in 1957; Jordanian King Abdullah II in 1962 (age 57); actor Christian Bale in 1974 (age 45); actor Andy Milonakis in 1976 (age 43); actor Wilmer Valderrama in 1980 (age 39); rapper Kid Cudi, born Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, in 1984 (age 35); actor Eiza Gonzalez in 1990 (age 29); actor Danielle Campbell in 1995 (age 24).

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 Herman Goering 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 2000, Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashed into the sea off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire, killing 169 people.

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 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 2016, Boko Haram militants attacked the Nigerian villages of Dalori and Walori, killing at least 86 people and injuring dozens.

In 2017, scientists reveal humans' earliest known relative -- Saccorhytus coronarius -- was a 540 million-year-old small, deep-sea creature resembling a shrunken grocery sack.

A thought for the day: "You can judge a man's true character by the way he treats his fellow animals." -- Paul McCartney