January 30 is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 335 days remaining until the end of the year (336 in leap years).
- 1648 - Eighty Years' War: The Treaty of Münster and Osnabrück is signed, ending the conflict between the Netherlands and Spain.
- 1649 - King Charles I of England is beheaded.
- 1661 - Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is ritually executed after having been dead for two years.
- 1790 - The first boat specializing as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne.
- 1806 - The original Lower Trenton Bridge (also called the Trenton Makes the World Takes Bridge), which spans the Delaware River between Morrisville, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey, is opened.
- 1820 - Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica.
- 1826 - The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales is opened.
- 1835 - In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson.
- 1841 - A fire destroys two-thirds of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
- 1847 - Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco.
- 1858 - The first Hallé concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of the Hallé Orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra.
- 1862 - The first American ironclad warship, the USS MonitorTemplate:WP Ships USS instances is launched.
- 1889 - Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in Mayerling.
- 1911 - The destroyer USS Terry (DD-25)Template:WP Ships USS instances makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of James McCurdy 10 miles from Havana, Cuba.
- 1911 - The Canadian Naval Service becomes the Royal Canadian Navy.
- 1913 - The United Kingdom's House of Lords rejects the Irish Home Rule Bill.
- 1925 - The Government of Turkey throws Patriarch Constantine VI out of Istanbul.
- 1930 - The world's first radiosonde is launched in Pavlovsk, USSR.
- 1933 - Adolf Hitler is sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.
- 1943 - World War II: Second day of the Battle of Rennell Island. TheUSS Chicago (CA-29)Template:WP Ships USS instances is sunk and a U.S. destroyer is heavily damaged by Japanese torpedoes.
- 1943 - Holocaust in Letychiv, Ukraine: The Nazi Gestapo commences mass shootings of Jews from Letychiv Ghetto. 200 surviving Jews from Letychiv slave labor camp are ordered to undress and are shot with a machine-gun into a ravine. Some 7,000 Jews were murdered in Letychiv.
- 1944 - World War II: United States troops land on Majuro.
- 1945 - The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, leading to the deadliest maritime disaster in known history, killing roughly 9,000 people.
- 1945 - World War II: Raid at Cabanatuan: 126 American Rangers and Filipino resistance liberate 500 prisoners from the Cabanatuan POW camp.
- 1945 - World War II: Hitler gives his last ever public address, a radio address on the 12th anniversary of his coming to power. (A subsequent address on February 24 was not read by Hitler.)
- 1948 - Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist.
- 1956 - American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- 1960 - The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties.
- 1962 - Two of the high-wire Flying Wallendas are killed when their seven-person pyramid collapses during a performance in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1964 - Ranger program: Ranger 6 is launched.
- 1968 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive begins when Viet Cong forces launch a series of surprise attacks in South Vietnam.
- 1969 - The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.
- 1972 - Bloody Sunday: British Paratroopers kill fourteen civil rights/anti internment marchers in Northern Ireland.
- 1972 - Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.
- 1976 - George H. W. Bush becomes the 11th director of the CIA.
- 1979 - Varig 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.
- 1982 - Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called "Elk Cloner".
- 1989 - The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan closes.
- 1994 - Péter Lékó becomes the youngest chess grand master.
- 1995 - Workers from the National Institutes of Health announce the success of clinical trials testing the first preventive treatment for sickle-cell disease.
- 1996 - Gino Gallagher, the suspected leader of the Irish National Liberation Army, is killed while waiting in line for his unemployment benefit.
- 1996 - Comet Hyakutake is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake.
- 2000 - Off the coast of Ivory Coast, Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 169.
- 2003 - Belgium legally recognizes same-sex marriage.
- 133 - Marcus Severus Didius Julianus, Roman Emperor (d. 193)
- 1505 - Thomas Tallis, English composer (d. 1585)
- 1563 - Franciscus Gomarus, Dutch theologian (d. 1641)
- 1615 - Thomas Rolfe, American colonial settler and only child of Pocahontas and John Rolfe (d. 1675)
- 1661 - Charles Rollin, French historian (d. 1741)
- 1687 - Johann Balthasar Neumann, German architect (d. 1753)
- 1697 - Johann Joachim Quantz, German flautist and composer (d. 1773)
- 1720 - Charles De Geer, Swedish industrialist and entomologist (d. 1778)
- 1754 - John Lansing, Jr., American statesman (d. 1829)
- 1781 - Adelbert von Chamisso, German writer (d. 1838)
- 1816 - Nathaniel Prentice Banks, 24th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1894)
- 1822 - Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist (d. 1899)
- 1832 - Infanta Luisa Fernanda, Duchess of Montpensier (d. 1897)
- 1841 - Félix Faure, 6th President of the French Third Republic (d. 1899)
- 1859 - Tony Mullane, Irish-born American baseball player (d. 1944)
- 1861 - Charles Martin Loeffler, German-born composer (d. 1935)
- 1873 - Georges Ricard-Cordingley, painter (d. 1939)
- 1878 - Anton Hansen Tammsaare, Estonian author (d. 1940)
- 1882 - Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (d. 1945)
- 1889 - Jaishankar Prasad, Hindi poet, dramatist and novelist (d. 1937)
- 1894 - Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria (d. 1943)
- 1899 - Max Theiler, South African virologist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1972)
- 1901 - Rudolf Caracciola, German race car driver (d. 1959)
- 1902 - Nikolaus Pevsner, German-born art historian (d. 1983)
- 1910 - C Subramaniam, Indian politician (d. 2000)
- 1911 - Roy Eldridge, American musician (d. 1989)
- 1912 - Werner Hartmann, German physicist (d. 1988)
- 1912 - Francis Schaeffer, American Evangelical theologian and pastor (d. 1984)
- 1912 - Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian (d. 1989)
- 1913 - Percy Thrower, British Television Gardener (d. 1988)
- 1914 - John Ireland, Canadian actor (d. 1992)
- 1914 - David Wayne, American actor (d. 1995)
- 1915 - Joachim Peiper, German SS officer (d. 1976)
- 1915 - John Profumo, British cabinet minister (d. 2006)
- 1917 - Paul Frère, Belgian racing driver and motorsport journalist (d. 2008)
- 1918 - David Opatoshu, American television actor (d. 1996)
- 1919 - Nikolay Glazkov, Russian poet (d. 1979)
- 1920 - Carwood Lipton, American WWII veteran (d. 2001)
- 1920 - Delbert Mann, American film director
- 1922 - Dick Martin, American comedian
- 1924 - Lloyd Alexander, American writer (d. 2007)
- 1925 - Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist
- 1925 - Dorothy Malone, American actress
- 1927 - Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1986)
- 1927 - Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana, Indian dermatologist (d. 2005)
- 1928 - Hal Prince, American stage producer and director
- 1929 - Lucille Teasdale-Corti, Canadian surgeon and international aid worker (d. 1996)
- 1930 - Sandy Amorós, Cuban baseball player (d. 1992)
- 1930 - Samuel J. Byck, American attempted assassin of Richard Nixon (d. 1974)
- 1930 - Gene Hackman, American actor
- 1930 - Magnus Malan, South African politician
- 1931 - John Crosbie, Canadian politician
- 1931 - Allan W. Eckert, American historian, naturalist, and author
- 1931 - Shirley Hazzard, Australian-born author
- 1932 - Knock Yokoyama, Japanese comedian and politician
- 1933 - Louis Rukeyser, American journalist (d. 2006)
- 1935 - Richard Brautigan, American writer and poet (d. 1984)
- 1936 - F. Vernon Boozer, American politician
- 1936 - Patrick Caulfield, British painter and printmaker (d. 2005)
- 1936 - Horst Jankowski, German popular pianist (d. 1998)
- 1937 - Ed Hansen, American film director and editor (d. 2005)
- 1937 - Vanessa Redgrave, English actress
- 1937 - Boris Spassky, Russian chess player
- 1938 - Islom Karimov, President of Uzbekistan
- 1941 - Gregory Benford, American author and scientist
- 1941 - Dick Cheney, 46th Vice President of the United States
- 1941 - Tineke Lagerberg, Dutch swimmer
- 1942 - Marty Balin, American musician
- 1943 - Davey Johnson, American baseball player and manager
- 1945 - Michael Dorris, American author (d. 1997)
- 1947 - Les Barker, English poet
- 1947 - Steve Marriott, English musician (The Small Faces) (d. 1991)
- 1948 - Nick Broomfield, English film- and documentary-maker
- 1948 - Paul Magee, Provisional Irish Republican Army member
- 1949 - Peter Agre, American biologist, Nobel laureate
- 1950 - Trinidad Silva, American actor (d. 1988)
- 1951 - Phil Collins, English musician
- 1951 - Charles S. Dutton, American actor
- 1951 - Bobby Stokes, English former footballer (d. 1995)
- 1952 - Doug Falconer, Canadian football player
- 1955 - Curtis Strange, American golfer
- 1955 - John Baldacci, American politician, governor of Maine
- 1955 - Judith Tarr, American author
- 1956 - Jeremy Gittins, English actor
- 1956 - Keiichi Tsuchiya, Japanese racing driver
- 1957 - Payne Stewart, American golfer (d. 1999)
- 1958 - Brett Butler, American actress and comedian
- 1959 - Mark Eitzel, American singer and musician (American Music Club)
- 1959 - Jody Watley, American singer
- 1961 - Dexter Scott King, American actor and son of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King
- 1962 - King Abdullah II of Jordan
- 1962 - Mary Kay Letourneau, American convicted statutory rapist
- 1963 - Tina Malone, English actress
- 1965 - Julie McCullough, American model and actress
- 1966 - Danielle Goyette, Quebec female ice hockey player
- 1967 - Jay Gordon, American musician
- 1968 - Trevor Dunn, American musician (Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, Secret Chiefs 3)
- 1968 - Prince Felipe of Spain
- 1969 - Carolyn Kepcher, American businesswoman and reality TV show star
- 1971 - Darren Boyd, British actor
- 1971 - Kimo von Oelhoffen, American football player
- 1972 - Lupillo Rivera, Mexican singer
- 1972 - Chris Simon, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1973 - Jalen Rose, American basketball player
- 1974 - Christian Bale, Welsh actor
- 1974 - Olivia Colman, English actress
- 1974 - Jemima Khan, English socialite
- 1975 - Juninho Pernambucano, Brazilian footballer
- 1975 - Yumi Yoshimura, Japanese singer (Puffy Amiyumi)
- 1976 - Andy Milonakis, American comedian
- 1977 - Dan Hinote, American ice hockey player
- 1977 - Deltha O'Neal, American football player
- 1978 - John Patterson, American baseball player
- 1980 - Leilani Dowding, British glamour model
- 1980 - Wilmer Valderrama, American actor
- 1980 - Pavel Ponomaryov, Russian-Estonian actor
- 1980 - Joãozinho, Brazilian footballer
- 1981 - Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer
- 1981 - Peter Crouch, English footballer
- 1981 - Josh Kelley, American musician
- 1981 - Mathias Lauda, Austrian racing driver
- 1982 - Jorge Cantu, Mexican baseball player
- 1984 - Jeremy Hermida, American baseball player
- 1985 - Aaadietya Pandey, Indian astrologer
- 1985 - Trae Williams, American football player
- 1986 - Sam Duckworth, British singer-songwriter
- 1986 - Nick Evans, American baseball player
- 1987 - Rebecca Knox, Irish professional wrestler
- 1987 - Arda Turan, Turkish footballer
- 1988 - Heather Baker, American socialite
- 1988 - Rob Pinkston, American actor
- 1989 - Khleo Thomas, American actor and rapper
- 1990 - Jake Thomas, American actor
- 1990 - Luca Sbisa, Swiss ice hockey player
- 1990 - Eiza Gonzalez, Mexican actress/singer
- 1991 - Matthew Werkmeister, Australian actor
- 2005 - Prince Hashem bin Al Abdullah II, of Jordan
- 1030 - William V, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 969)
- 1181 - Emperor Takakura of Japan (b. 1161)
- 1384 - Louis II of Flanders (b. 1330)
- 1574 - Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher (b. 1502)
- 1606 - Everard Digby, English conspirator (b. 1578)
- 1649 - King Charles I of England (executed) (b. 1600)
- 1730 - Tsar Peter II of Russia (b. 1715)
- 1836 - Betsy Ross, American seamstress (b. 1752)
- 1858 - Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist (b. 1778)
- 1867 - Emperor Kōmei of Japan (b. 1831)
- 1869 - William Carleton, Irish novelist (b. 1794)
- 1889 - Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria (b. 1858)
- 1926 - Barbara La Marr, American actress (b. 1896)
- 1928 - Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger, Danish scientist, Nobel laureate (b. 1867)
- 1929 - La Goulue, French Cancan dancer (b. 1866)
- 1934 - Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher (b. 1862)
- 1948 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1869)
- 1948 - Orville Wright, American aviation pioneer (b. 1871)
- 1951 - Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian automotive engineer (b. 1875)
- 1958 - Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (b. 1878)
- 1958 - Ernst Heinkel, German aviation engineer (b. 1888)
- 1962 - Manuel de Abreu, Brazilian physician (b. 1894)
- 1963 - Francis Poulenc, French composer (b. 1899)
- 1969 - Georges Pire, Belgian monk, Nobel laureate (b. 1910)
- 1980 - Professor Longhair, American musician (b. 1918)
- 1982 - Lightnin' Hopkins, American musician (b. 1912)
- 1991 - John Bardeen, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1908)
- 1991 - Clifton C. Edom, American photojournalism educator (b. 1907)
- 1991 - John McIntire, American actor (b. 1907)
- 1994 - Pierre Boulle, French author (b. 1912)
- 1995 - Gerald Durrell, British naturalist, zookeeper, author, and television presenter (b. 1925)
- 1998 - Richard Cassilly, American tenor (b. 1927)
- 1999 - Huntz Hall, American actor (b. 1919)
- 1999 - Ed Herlihy, American broadcaster (b. 1909)
- 2001 - Jean-Pierre Aumont, French actor (b. 1911)
- 2001 - Johnnie Johnson, British fighter pilot (b. 1915)
- 2001 - Joseph Ransohoff, the father of modern neurosurgery (b. 1915)
- 2005 - Martyn Bennet, Canadian musician (b. 1971)
- 2005 - Wes Wehmiller, American musician (b. 1971)
- 2006 - Coretta Scott King, American activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1927)
- 2007 - Nikos Kourkoulos, Greek actor and artistic director (b. 1934)
- 2007 - Sidney Sheldon, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1917)
- 2008 - Jeremy Beadle, British television host, (b. 1948)
- 2008 - Roland Selmeczi, Hungarian actor (b. 1969)
- 2008 - Marcial Maciel, Mexican religious leader (b. 1920)
