NOW & THEN
30 DECEMBER
1460: The Duke of York was killed and his army routed by forces loyal to King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster at the Battle of Wakefield during the Wars of the Roses.
1703: Approximately 37,000 people were killed when an earthquake struck Tokyo, Japan.
1835: HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, set sail from New Zealand to Australia.
1879: Gilbert and Sullivan opera The Pirates Of Penzance was first performed at Paignton, Devon, and in New York. When Sullivan arrived in New York, he found he had left the only copy of the music at home. Through the nights of 28 and 29 December, he wrote it down again from memory.
1880: Transvaal Boers under Stephanus Kruger declared a republic.
1887: A petition addressed to Queen Victoria with more than one million names of women appealing for public houses to be closed on Sundays was handed to the home secretary.
1900: Flooding and violent gales hit Britain, causing 50 deaths.
1915: The British cruiser HMS Natal exploded in Cromarty Harbour with the loss of 405 lives.
1916: Rasputin, Russian religious fanatic who claimed to have magic healing powers, was killed aged 44.
1919: The first female law student was admitted at Lincoln’s Inn, London.
1922: Russia officially became the USSR, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
1944: King George II of Greece abdicated.
1947: King Michael of Romania abdicated in favour of a Communist republic.
1957: The Israeli government of David ben Gurion resigned.
1962: The worst snowstorms since 1881 hit Britain.
1964: United Nations Security Council resolved to call for end to all foreign intervention in the Congo, a ceasefire there, and withdrawal of mercenaries.
1966: The movie One Million Years BC, starring Raquel Welch, was released in the UK.
1968: Frank Sinatra first recorded My Way, the lyrics written by Paul Anka.
1988: The government announced it would give £150,000 to the Lockerbie air disaster appeal. 1996: Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu sparked protests from 250,000 workers, who shut down services across Israel.
2010: The top-selling toy of the year in the UK was Lego, underlining its popularity for more than 50 years.
BIRTHDAYS
David Bedford OBE, athlete, London Marathon organiser, 70; Michael Dods, Scottish international rugby player, 51; Jeff Lynne, rock musician (ELO), 72; Michael Nesmith, singer, instrumentalist and songwriter (The Monkeys), 77; Charlie Nicholas, Scottish footballer and television pundit, 58; Nick Skelton CBE, showjumper, 62; Patti Smith, singer, artist and poet, 73; Tiger Woods, golfer, 44; Ellie Goulding, singer, 33; Joe Root, England Test cricketer, 29; Russ Tamblyn, actor and dancer, 85; Leon Jackson, Scottish singer, 31
ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1851 Asa Griggs Candler, business tycoon who founded the Coca-cola Company; 1865 Rudyard Kipling, poet and writer; 1867 Simon Guggenheim, businessman, politician and philanthropist; 1895 LP Hartley, novelist and short story writer; 1919 Sir David Willcocks CBE, conductor, director, Royal College of Music 1974-84; 1928 Bo Diddley, rock’n’roll singer, songwriter and guitarist; 1933 Andy Stewart, entertainer, songwriter; 1934 Del Shannon, rock’n’roll singer-songwriter; 1937 Gordon Banks OBE, footballer; 1945 Davy Jones, singer (The Monkees).
Deaths: 1460 Duke of York (father of Edward IV and Richard III); 1691 Robert Boyle, physicist who formulated Boyle’s Law on gases; 1894 Amelia Bloomer, women’s rights and temperance activist after whom women’s bloomers are named; 1916 Grigori Rasputin, Russian peasant, faith healer and advisor to the Romanovs; 1970 Sonny Liston, world heavyweight boxing champion; 1979 Richard Rodgers, composer; 2002 Mary Wesley CBE, novelist; 2006 Saddam Hussein, fifth president of Iraq (executed); 2011 Ronald Searle CBE, artist and cartoonist.