Saddam Executed

December 30, 2006

Saddam Hussein is hanged to death for crimes against humanity for the 1982 actions against the residents of Dujail, which included the execution of 148 people. These actions were in retaliation to an assassination attempt against him.

Inter-American Foundation

December 30, 1969

Inter-American Foundation is established, supports social and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

First Nuclear Submarine Capable of Launching Missiles

December 30, 1959

The USS George Washington (SSBN-598) is commissioned.
She was decommissioned in 1985.

Founding of Soviet Union

December 30, 1922

The Soviet Union is established with the union of the Russian, Ukrainian, Byelorussian, and Transcaucasian Soviet republics.

Baseball

December 30, 1907

A commission chaired by the president of the National League issues a report crediting Abner Doubleday with the invention of baseball. However, modern historians now dispute their findings - which were in part based on the testimony of a man who two years later was committed for life to an institute for the criminally insane.

Civil War

December 30, 1862

The Union's first iron-clad warship, USS Monitor, sinks off the coast of North Carolina in a storm. It had participated in the Battle of the Ironclads.

Gadsden Purchase

December 30, 1853

U.S. signs the first draft of the treaty to buy a 29,670-square-mile (76,800 km2) territory in what is now present-day New Mexico and southern Arizona from Mexico and formed part of the border between Mexico and the U.S.
It went into effect the following June.
The U.S. wanted to build a transcontinental railroad along a deep southern route, which was completed in 1883.

Tiger Woods (Eldrick Tont Woods)

Born December 30, 1975

American golfer (PGA Player of the Year - 11 times). He has been World #1 golfer for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any golfer.

Ben Johnson

Born December 30, 1961

Canadian track athlete. He was stripped of his 1988 Olympic gold medals for using steroids.

Tracey Ullman

Born December 30, 1959

English pop singer, Emmy-winning actress. TV: The Tracey Ullman Show (1988), on which The Simpsons made their debut.

Michael Burns

Born December 30, 1947

American actor. TV: Wagon Train (orphan Barnaby West).

Michael Nesmith

Born December 30, 1942 d. 2021

American Grammy-winning singer, producer, actor. He was the wool hat-wearing guitar player "Mike" of The Monkees (1966-68).
When Nesmith was 13, his mother invented the typewriter correction fluid known as Liquid Paper. She built the Liquid Paper Corporation into a multimillion-dollar international company, which she sold in 1979 for $48 million.
Nesmith shares his birthday with Monkees bandmate Davy Jones.

Sandy Koufax

Born December 30, 1935

American baseball Hall of Famer, sportscaster.

Del Shannon (Charles Westover)

Born December 30, 1934 d. 1990

American singer. Music: Runaway (1961, #1).

Bo Diddley (Ellas Otha Bates)

Born December 30, 1928 d. 2008

American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rhythm and blues singer, composer. He played a key roll in the transition from blues to rock and roll.

Jack Lord (John Joseph Ryan)

Born December 30, 1920 d. 1998

American actor. TV: Hawaii Five-O (1968-80, detective Steve McGarrett) and Stoney Burke (1962-63, title role). Film: Dr. No (1962, CIA Agent Felix Leiter).
According to William Shatner, in 1966 Lord was offered the role of Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek, but Lord asked for 50% ownership of the show, so the role was given Shatner.

Bert Parks (Bert Jacobson)

Born December 30, 1914 d. 1992

American emcee. Host of the Miss America pageant (1954-79). While Parks was host of the TV game show County Fair, a contestant was badly burned when a stunt backfired. The stunt involved lighting a long fake firecracker fuse that the contestant's blindfolded wife was supposed to stamp out. To simulate the explosion, a mixture of flour and sawdust was dumped the contestant's head. But, the simulated explosion turned into a real one when the mixture was ignited by the match flame. The contestant was hospitalized with first and second degree burns on the face, neck, and arms.
Parks also played salesman Herb Tarlek's father in an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati (1980).

Jeanette Nolan

Born December 30, 1911 d. 1998

American actress. TV: The Virginian (Holly Grainger).

Sergei Korolev

Born December 30, 1906 d. 1966

Soviet scientist, rocket pioneer. He designed the rocket systems used for launching the first Soviet satellites and rockets to the Moon.

Simon Guggenheim

Born December 30, 1867 d. 1941

American philanthropist. He and his wife created the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (1925) in memory of their son.

Rudyard Kipling

Born December 30, 1865 d. 1936

English Nobel-winning author, poet. Writings: The Jungle Book (1894).

Barbara Walters

Died December 30, 2022 b. 1929

American Emmy-winning interviewer, commentator. The first woman co-anchor of a network TV evening news program (1976), in which she was given a 5-year contract at $1,000,000 a year. She became known for her interview specials with public figures from politicians and celebrities to dictators and criminals. Her Monica Lewinsky interview was the most-watched news interview in broadcast history, with an audience of nearly 50 million. TV: The View (1997-2023, co-creator, co-host).

Dawn Wells

Died December 30, 2020 b. 1938

American actress, Miss Nevada (1959). TV: Gilligan's Island (1964-67, Mary Ann Summers). Her character, Mary Ann, is said to be based on Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Both lived on a farm in Kansas with their aunt and uncle and had pigtails.
Film: Winterhawk (1975, a Western settler kidnapped by a Native American chief), The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976), and Return to Boggy Creek (1977).
She died in 2020 at the age of 82 due to COVID-19 complications.

Saddam Hussein

Died December 30, 2006 b. 1937

Iraqi president (1979-2003). Saddam became president of Iraq in 1979 by forcing the ailing president to resign. He then began purging out members of the government that he felt were disloyal. Hundreds of high-ranking Ba'ath party members were executed in the following weeks. Saddam was hanged to death for crimes against humanity for the 1982 actions against the residents of Dujail, which included the exectuion of 148 people. These actions were in retaliation to an assassination attempt against him.

Grigori Rasputin

Died December 30, 1916 b. 1869

Russian mystic, monk. Known as the Mad Monk, he held a hypnotic influence over the Russian emperor and empress, Nicholas II and Alexandra. Notoriously corrupt, he was killed by Russian noblemen.

Bloomers

Amelia Jenks Bloomer

Died December 30, 1894 b. 1818

American women's rights advocate. She advocated the wearing of bloomers in The Lily, the first major women's rights newspaper (1849), which she published and according to fashion legend, Bloomer introduces the new women's fashion in 1848 by wearing a pair to the first Women's Rights Convention in New York.
Bloomers are women's garments that are divided for the lower body. They were considered "not so harmful to women's health as the current fashion". They also represented unrestricted movement that allowed for greater freedom, both metaphorical and physical.

Luise Rainer

Died December 30, 2014 b. 1910

German Oscar-winning actress. Film: The Great Ziegfeld (1936, Oscar, Anna Held) and The Good Earth (1937, Oscar). She was the first actor to win consecutive Oscars (1936, 1937).

Carl Richard Woese

Died December 30, 2012 b. 1928

American microbiologist. He defined the Archaea (1977, a new domain or kingdom of life) and identified methanogens, a form of life that lives in oxygen-deprived environments and survive by reducing CO2 and oxidizing hydrogen, and releasing the resulting methane. He also originated the RNA world hypothesis (1967).

Artie Shaw (Arthur Arshawsky)

Died December 30, 2004 b. 1910

American band leader, Jazz clarinetist. Music: Begin the Beguine (1938, #1).
Quote: "I could never understand why people wanted to dance to my music. I made it good enough to listen to."

Lew Ayres (Lewis Frederick Ayre III)

Died December 30, 1996 b. 1908

American actor. Film: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and Young Dr. Kildare (1938, title role). He turned down a part in the television version of Dr. Kildare because he refused to work on a show with cigarette sponsorship.

Irving "Swifty" Lazar

Died December 30, 1993 b. 1907

American talent agent. Clients: Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway, Faye Dunaway, Michael Caine, Vladimir Nabokov, Truman Capote, U.S. President Richard Nixon, Tennessee Williams, and Neil Simon. He was known for his yearly star-studded parties on Oscar Awards night.

Richard Rodgers

Died December 30, 1979 b. 1902

American Oscar-winning composer, teamed with Oscar Hammerstein II to form Rodgers and Hammerstein. Music: Oklahoma! (1943), Carousel (1956), and The Sound of Music (1965).

Innocent IX (Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti)

Died December 30, 1591 b. 1519

Italian religious leader, 230th Pope (Oct. - Dec. 1591).

Saint Felix I

Died December 30, 274 b. ????

Italian religious leader, 26th Pope (269-274).