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1137 - Battle of Rignano between Ranulf of Apulia and Roger II of Sicily.

1270 - The Eighth Crusade and siege of Tunis end by an agreement between Charles I of Sicily (brother to King Louis IX of France, who had died months earlier) and the sultan of Tunis.

1340 - Battle of Rio Salado

1470 - Henry VI of England returns to the English throne after Earl of Warwick defeats Yorkists in battle.

1831 - In Southampton County, Virginia, escaped slave Nat Turner is captured and arrested for leading the bloodiest slave revolt in United States history.

1864 - Second war of Schleswig ends: Duke Frederick and the Danish Crown recognize Prussia's and Austria's annexation of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg.

1864 - Helena, Montana is founded after four prospectors discover gold at "Last Chance Gulch."

1894 - Domenico Melegatti obtains a patent for a procedure to be applied in producing pandoro industrially.

1905 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia grants Russia's first constitution, creating a legislative assembly.

1918 - The Ottoman Empire signs an armistice with the Allies, ending the First World War in the Middle East

1920 - The Communist Party of Australia founded in Sydney.

1922 - Benito Mussolini was made Prime Minister of Italy

1925 - John Logie Baird creates Britain's first television transmitter.

1929 - The Stuttgart Cable Car is constructed in Stuttgart, Germany.

1938 - Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing a nationwide panic.

1941 - World War II: Franklin Delano Roosevelt approves US$1 billion in Lend-Lease aid to the Allied nations.

1941 - 1.500 Jews from Pidhaytsi (in western Ukraine) were sent by Nazis to Belzec extermination camp.

1944 - Anne Frank is deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

1946 - Muffin the Mule, the first major British children's television star, makes his début on BBC Television.

1947 - The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which is the foundation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is founded.

1950 - Pope Pius XII witnesses the "Miracle of the Sun" while at the Vatican"

1953 - Cold War: US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally approves the top secret document National Security Council Paper No. 162/2, which states that the United States' arsenal of nuclear weapons must be maintained and expanded to counter the communist threat.

1960 - Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

1961 - Nuclear testing: The Soviet Union detonates the hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya; at 58 megatons of yield, it is still the largest nuclear device ever detonated. Nikita Kruschev announces that the scientists had planned to make it 100 megatons, but had reduced the yield so as to avoid breaking all the windows in Moscow.

1961 - Due to "violations of Lenin's precepts", it is decreed that Josef Stalin's body be removed from its place of honour inside Lenin's tomb and buried near the Kremlin wall with a plain granite marker instead.

1965 - Vietnam War: Just miles from Da Nang, United States Marines repel an intense attack by wave after wave of Viet Cong forces, killing 56 guerrillas. Among the dead, a sketch of Marine positions was found on the body of a 13-year-old Vietnamese boy who sold drinks to the Marines the day before.

1966 - The Zodiac Killer kills his first victim, 18-year old Cheri Jo Bates, in Riverside, California.

1968 - The film The Lion in Winter, starring Katharine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole and Anthony Hopkins debuts.

1970 - In Vietnam, the worst monsoon to hit the area in six years causes large floods, kills 293, leaves 200,000 homeless and virtually halts the Vietnam War.

1972 - US President Richard Nixon approves legislation to increase Social Security spending by US$5.3 billion.

1974 - "The Rumble in the Jungle": Muhammad Ali knocks out George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire to regain the World Heavyweight Boxing championship.

1975 - Prince Juan Carlos becomes Spain's acting head of state, taking over for the country's ailing dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco.

1980 - El Salvador and Honduras sign a peace treaty to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's Football War before the International Court of Justice.

1983 - The first democratic elections in Argentina after seven years of military rule are held.

1985 - Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off for mission STS-61-A, its final successful mission.

1987 - In Japan, NEC releases the first 16-bit home entertainment system, the PC-Engine.

1988 - Philip Morris buys Kraft Foods for US$13.1 billion.

1991 - The Madrid Conference for Middle East peace talks opens.

1995 - Quebec sovereignists narrowly lose a referendum for a mandate to negotiate independence from Canada (vote was 50.6% to 49.4%).

1997 - British au pair Louise Woodward is found guilty of the baby-shaking death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen.

1999 - Miss Saigon closes in London after 4264 performances.

2001 - George W. Bush throws out the first pitch at Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, in what was intended to be a defiant gesture, coming just weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks.

2001 - Michael Jordan returns to the National Basketball Association with the Washington Wizards after 3½ years (the Wizards lose 93-91 to the New York Knicks).

2002 - Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC is shot and killed execution style in a Merrick Boulevard recording studio.

2002 - British Digital terrestrial television (DTT) Service Freeview starts transmitting throughout parts of the United Kingdom

2004 - A 163-metre (535 foot) radio mast in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK collapses in a fire.

2004 - In Punjab, India the expelled BSP leader Satnam Singh Kainth launches Bahujan Samaj Party (Kainth).

2005 - The rebuilt Dresden Frauenkirche (destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden during World War II) is reconsecrated after a thirteen-year rebuilding project.

2006 - The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex surpasses the 13,000 points mark for the first time in its history.

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1218 - Emperor Chukyo of Japan (d. 1234)

1513 - Jacques Amyot, French writer (d. 1593)

1624 - Paul Pellisson, French writer (d. 1693)

1735 - John Adams, American revolutionary leader and President of the United States (d. 1826)

1751 - Richard Sheridan, Irish playwright (d. 1816)

1762 - André Chénier, French writer (d. 1794)

1786 - Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé, French Canadian writer and politician (d. 1871)

1799 - Ignace Bourget, bishop of Montreal (d. 1885)

1821 - Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian writer (d. 1881)

1839 - Alfred Sisley, French artist (d. 1899)

1844 - Harvey W. Wiley, American chemist (d. 1930)

1847 - Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist (d. 1897)

1857 - Georges Gilles de la Tourette, French neurologist (d. 1904)

1861 - Antoine Bourdelle, French sculptor (d. 1929)

1871 - Paul Valery, French poet (d. 1945)

1871 - Buck Freeman, baseball player (d. 1949)

1882 - William Halsey, Jr, American admiral (d. 1959)

1882 - Günther von Kluge, German field marshal (d. 1944)

1885 - Ezra Pound, American poet (d. 1972)

1886 - Zoe Akins, American playwright (d. 1958)

1893 - Charles Atlas, Italian-born bodybuilder (d. 1972)

1893 - Roland Freisler, German Nazi politician (d. 1945)

1894 - Jean Rostand, French biologist and philosopher (d. 1977)

1895 - Gerhard Domagk, German bacteriologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (declined) (d. 1964)

1895 - Dickinson W. Richards, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1973)

1896 - Ruth Gordon, American actress (d. 1985)

1897 - Rex Cherryman, American actor (d. 1928)

1898 - Bill Terry, baseball player (d. 1989)

1900 - Ragnar Granit Finnish neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1991)

1906 - Giuseppe Farina, Italian race car driver (d. 1966)

1909 - Homi J. Bhabha, Indian physicist (d. 1966)

1911 - Ruth Hussey, American actress (d. 2005)

1914 - Richard E Holz, American composer

1915 - Fred Friendly, American journalist and network executive (d. 1998)

1916 - Leon Day, baseball player (d. 1995)

1917 - Nikolai Vasilievich Ogarkov, Soviet field marshal (d. 1994)

1917 - Maurice Trintignant, French race car driver (d. 2005)

1927 - Joe Adcock, Major League Baseball player (d. 1999)

1928 - Daniel Nathans, American microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1999)

1930 - Nestor Almendros, Spanish cinematographer (d. 1992)

1930 - Clifford Brown, noted and highly influential American jazz trumpeter (d. 1956)

1932 - Louis Malle, French film director (d. 1995)

1934 - Frans Brüggen, Dutch flutist, recorder player, and conductor

1935 - Agota Kristof, Hungarian writer

1935 - Michael Winner, British film director

1935 - Jim Perry, Major League Baseball pitcher

1935 - Robert Caro, American biographer

1936 - Polina Astakhova, Ukrainian gymnast (d. 2005)

1937 - Claude Lelouch, French film director

1939 - Leland H. Hartwell, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

1939 - Grace Slick, American singer (Jefferson Airplane)

1939 - Edward Holland, Jr., American singer and songwriter

1940 - Ed Lauter, American actor

1941 - Theodor W. Hänsch, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1941 - Otis Williams, American singer

1943 - Joanna Shimkus, Canadian actress

1945 - Henry Winkler, American actor

1947 - Timothy B. Schmit, bass guitarist (Eagles)

1951 - Harry Hamlin, American actor

1953 - Charles Martin Smith, American actor

1956 - Juliet Stevenson, English actress

1957 - Kevin Pollak, American actor

1958 - Joe Delaney, American football player (d. 1983)

1958 - Stefan Dennis, Australian actor

1960 - Diego Armando Maradona, Argentine footballer

1961 - Scott Garrelts, Baseball player

1962 - Courtney Walsh, West Indian cricketer

1963 - Kristina Wagner, American actress

1965 - Gavin Rossdale, English musician

1966 - Scott Innes, American voice actor

1970 - Maja Tatic, Bosnia singer

1970 - Nia Long, American actress

1973 - Adam "Edge" Copeland, Canadian professional wrestler

1973 - Silvia Corzo, Colombian newsreader

1976 - Stern John, Trinidadian footballer

1978 - Martin Dossett, American football player

1979 - Yukie Nakama, Japanese actress

1980 - Sarah Carter, Canadian actress

1981 - Ivanka Trump, American model and daughter of Donald Trump

1983 - Iain Hume, Canadian footballer

1984 - Eva Pigford, American model and actress

1989 - Nastia Liukin, American gymnast

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1459 - Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini, Italian humanist (b. 1380)

1522 - Jean Mouton, French composer

1553 - Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck, German statesman and reformer (b. 1489)

1602 - Jean-Jacques Boissard, French poet (b. 1528)

1611 - King Charles IX of Sweden (b. 1550)

1626 - Willebrord Snell, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (b. 1580)

1632 - Henri II de Montmorency, French naval officer and Governor of Languedoc (b. 1595)

1654 - Emperor Go-Komyo of Japan (b. 1633)

1680 - Antoinette Bourignon, Flemish mystic (b. 1616)

1685 - Michel le Tellier, French statesman (b. 1603)

1809 - William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1738)

1816 - Frederick I of Württemberg (b. 1754)

1842 - Allan Cunningham, Scottish poet and author (b. 1784)

1853 - Pietro Raimondi, Italian composer (b. 1786)

1883 - Robert Volkmann, German composer (b. 1815)

1893 - John Joseph Caldwell Abbott, third Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1821)

1894 - Honoré Mercier, politician, Premier of Quebec (b. 1840)

1899 - William Henry Webb, American industrialist and philanthropist (b. 1816)

1910 - Henry Dunant, Swiss founder of the Red Cross, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1828)

1912 - James S. Sherman, Vice President of the United States (b. 1855)

1915 - Charles Tupper, sixth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1821)

1923 - Andrew Bonar Law, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1858)

1957 - Fred Beebe, baseball player (b. 1880)

1968 - Rose Wilder Lane, American journalist and author (b. 1886)

1968 - Ramón Novarro, Mexican actor (b. 1899)

1968 - Conrad Richter, American writer (b. 1890)

1969 - Pops Foster, American musician (b. 1892)

1975 - Gustav Ludwig Hertz, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)

1978 - Edgar Bergen, American ventriloquist (b. 1903)

1979 - Barnes Wallis, British aeronautical engineer (b. 1887)

1979 - Donna Rachele Mussolini, Italian, wife of Benito Mussolini (b. 1890)

1985 - Kirby Grant, American actor (b. 1911)

1993 - Paul Grégoire, Archbishop of Montreal (b. 1911)

1997 - Samuel Fuller, American film director (b. 1912)

2000 - Steve Allen, American comedian, author, and composer (b. 1921)

2002 - Jam Master Jay, American rapper and musician (Run DMC) (murdered) (b. 1965)

2002 - Juan Antonio Bardem, Spanish director and screenwriter (b. 1922)

2004 - Peggy Ryan, American actress (b. 1924)

2005 - Al Lopez, baseball player and manager (b. 1908)

2005 - Shamsher Singh Sheri, Indian communist leader (b. 1942)

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Calendar of Saints - October 30th is the feast day of the following Roman Catholic Saints:

Bl. Angelus of Acri

St. Alfonso Rodríguez

St. Arilda

St. Artemas

St. Dorothy of Montau

St. Herbert

Bl. John Slade

St. Macarius

St. Marcel

St. Maximus

St. Saturninus

St. Serapion

St. Talacrian

St. Theonestus

St. Zenobius & Zenobia

Also see October 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

USA - Mischief Night in some areas (known as Devil's Night in Detroit)

International Orthopaedic Nurses Day