Summary of the Day ✨ 30 April (30/04)
Tragedy struck multiple locations as 45 people died in a stampede at Israel’s Meron pilgrimage site while an overloaded ferry capsized on India’s Brahmaputra River, claiming at least 108 lives with 150 more missing. In political and economic news, Willem-Alexander was inaugurated as King of the Netherlands following Queen Beatrix’s abdication, while American automaker Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid financial difficulties.
Historical Events 📜
- 2021: Forty-five men and boys are killed in the Meron stampede in Israel.
- 2014: A bomb blast in Ürümqi, China kills three people and injures 79 others.
- 2013: Willem-Alexander is inaugurated as King of the Netherlands following the abdication of Beatrix.
- 2012: An overloaded ferry capsizes on the Brahmaputra River in India killing at least 108 people. At least 150 more are missing and presumed dead.
- 2009: Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- 2009: Seven civilians and the perpetrator are killed and another ten injured at a Queen’s Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands in an attempted assassination on Queen Beatrix.
- 2008: Two skeletal remains found near Yekaterinburg are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei and Anastasia, two of the children of the last Tsar of Russia, whose entire family was executed at Yekaterinburg by the Bolsheviks.
- 2004: U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers committing war crimes against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
- 2000: Canonization of Faustina Kowalska in the presence of 200,000 people and the first Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated worldwide.
- 1999: Neo-Nazi David Copeland carries out the last of his three nail bombings in London at the Admiral Duncan gay pub, killing three people and injuring 79 others.
- 1994: Formula One racing driver Roland Ratzenberger is killed in a crash during the qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix run at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari outside Imola, Italy.
- 1993: CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free.
- 1989: The Monkseaton shootings occur in Tyne and Wear, England. One killed, 16 injured.
- 1982: The Bijon Setu massacre occurs in Calcutta, India.
- 1980: Beatrix is inaugurated as Queen of the Netherlands following the abdication of Juliana.
Famous Births 👶
- 2003: Emily Carey, British actress
- 2003: Jung Yun-seok, South Korean actor
- 2002: Anna Cramling, Spanish-Swedish chess player
- 2002: Teden Mengi, English footballer
- 2000: Yui Hiwatashi, Japanese singer
- 2000: Dean James, Indonesian footballer
- 1999: Jorden van Foreest, Dutch chess grandmaster
- 1999: Krit Amnuaydechkorn, Thai actor and singer
- 1998: Georgina Amorós, Spanish actress
- 1997: Adam Ryczkowski, Polish footballer
- 1996: Luke Friend, English singer
- 1994: Chae Seo-jin, South Korean actress
- 1994: Wang Yafan, Chinese tennis player
- 1993: Dion Dreesens, Dutch swimmer
- 1993: Martin Fuksa, Czech canoeist
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Paul Auster, American writer and film director (born 1947)
- 2023: Jock Zonfrillo, Scottish television presenter and chef (born 1976)
- 2022: Naomi Judd, American singer-songwriter and actress (born 1946)
- 2022: Mino Raiola, Italian football agent (born 1967)
- 2021: Anthony Payne, English composer (born 1936)
- 2020: Tony Allen, Nigerian drummer and composer (born 1940)
- 2020: Rishi Kapoor, Indian actor, film director and producer (born 1952)
- 2019: Peter Mayhew, English-American actor (born 1944)
- 2017: Belchior, Brazilian singer and composer (born 1946)
- 2016: Daniel Berrigan, American priest and activist (born 1921)
- 2016: Harry Kroto, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1939)
- 2015: Ben E. King, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1938)
- 2014: Khaled Choudhury, Indian painter and set designer (born 1919)
- 2014: Julian Lewis, English biologist and academic (born 1946)
- 2014: Carl E. Moses, American businessman and politician (born 1929)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Armed Forces Day (Georgia)
- Camarón Day (French Foreign Legion)
- Children’s Day (Mexico)
- Christian feast day:
Adjutor - Christian feast day:
Aimo - Christian feast day:
Amator, Peter and Louis - Christian feast day:
Donatus of Evorea - Christian feast day:
Eutropius of Saintes - Christian feast day:
Marie Guyart (Anglican Church of Canada) - Christian feast day:
Marie of the Incarnation (Ursuline) - Christian feast day:
Maximus of Rome - Christian feast day:
Blessed Miles Gerard - Christian feast day:
Pomponius of Naples - Christian feast day:
Pope Pius V - Christian feast day:
Quirinus of Neuss