On this day...

1487 Bell chimes invented
1781 Articles of Confederation ratified by 13th state, Maryland
1790 Lifeboat first tested at sea
1800 US population: 5,308,483.
1804 Mungo Park leaves England seeking source of Niger River
1806 Prussia takes possession of Hanover
1815 Burned Library of Congress reestablished with Jefferson's 6,500 volumes
1818 Keats composes his sonnet, "When I Have Fears"
1820 Edward Bransfield aboard Williams discovers Antarctica (UK claim)
1847 Yerba Buena renamed San Francisco
1854 First election in Washington Territory; 1,682 votes cast
1862 US Navy's first ironclad warship (Monitor) launched
1894 Pneumatic hammer patented by Charles King of Detroit
1911 First rescue of an air passenger by a ship, near Havana, Cuba
1913 House of Lords rejects Irish Home Rule Bill
1917 First jazz record recorded (Dark Town Strutters Ball)
1933 "The Lone Ranger" premiers on ABC radio
1933 Adolph Hitler named German Chancellor
1935 Ezra Pound meets Mussolini, reads from a draft of the "Cantos"
1948 5th Winter Olympic games open in St Moritz, Switzerland
1950 "Robert Montgomery Presents" dramatic anthology premiers on NBC TV
1956 Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, home bombed
1958 First 2-way moving sidewalk in service, Dallas TX
1958 House of Lords passes bill allowing women in
1960 CIA OKs Lockheed to produce a new U-2 aircraft (Oxcart)
1973 Jury finds Watergate defendants Liddy & McCord guilty on all count
1976 George Bush becomes director of the CIA
1977 8th (final) part of "Roots" is most-watched entertainment show ever
1983 Super Bowl XVII-Washington Redskins-27, Miami Dolphins-17
1989 Joel Steinberg found guilty of first degree manslaughter of daughter
1989 Olympian, Bruce Kimball, is sentenced to 17 years in prison for killing 2 teenagers in a drunk driving accident

Birthdays which occurred on January 30th:

1616 William Sancroft, Archbishop (Canterbury)
1882 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, New Hyde Park NY, 32nd President (D) (1933-1945)
1885 John Henry Towers, aviator/naval hero
1894 Boris III, Tsar of Bulgaria (1918-43)
1898 Alfred Schlappi, Switzerland, 4 man bobsled (Olympic-gold-1924)
1902 Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, England, art historian (The Buildings of England)
1911 Hugh Marlowe, Philadelphia PA, actor (Ellery Queen)
1911 Roy Eldridge, Pittsburgh PA, jazz trumpeter (Gene Krupa, Artie Shaw)
1912 Barbara Tuchman, US, historian/author (Guns of August)
1914 David Wayne, Traverse City MI, actor (Andromeda Strain, Adams Rib)
1914 John Ireland, Vancouver BC, actor (Rawhide, Gunfight at OK Corral)
1918 David Opatoshu, New York NY, actor (Bonino, Secret Empire, Masada)
1921 Bernie Leighton, West Haven CT, orchestra leader (Chance of a Lifetime)
1922 Dick Martin, Detroit MI, actor/comedian (Laugh-In, Carbon Copy)
1926 Ruth Brown, Portsmouth VA, actress (Leona-Hello Larry, Checking In)
1931 Gene Hackman, California, actor (Bonnie & Clyde, Under Fire, Superman)
1934 Tammy Grimes, Lynn MA, actress (Can't Stop the Music)
1937 Boris Spassky, USSR, world chess champion (1969-72)
1937 Vanessa Redgrave, London, actress (Blow-Up, Julia, Orient Express)
1941 Dick Cheney, Bush's Secretary of Defense
1942 Marty Balin, Cincinnati, singer (Jefferson Starship-Miracles)
1943 Davey Johnson, baseball All Star and manager
1955 Curtis Strange, golfer
1959 Jody Watley, dancer (Solid Gold)/singer (Looking For a New Love)
1960 Tony O'Dell, Pasadena CA, actor (Alan Pinkard-Head of the Class)
1966 Daphne Ashbrook, Long Beach CA, actress (Liz-Our Family Honor)
1967 Bill Leverty, Richmond VA, guitarist (Firehouse-Love of a Lifetime)
1974 Christian Bale, actor (Empire of the Sun)

Deaths which occurred on January 30th:

1644 William Chillingworth, England theologian, Cambridge Platonist, dies
1649 Charles I, King of Great Britain, executed by Parliament
1948 Mahatma Gandhi, India spiritual and political leader, assassinated in New Delhi, at age 78
1956 Jane Seymour, actress (Young Mr Bobbin), dies at 56
1970 Malcolm Keen, actor (Uncle Chris-Mama), dies at 82
1982 Stanley Holloway, actor (Higgins-Our Man Higgins), dies at 91
1985 Ken Mayers, actor (Robbie Robertson-Space Patrol), dies at 67
1986 Ticker Freeman, pianist (Dinah Shore Show), dies at 74
1987 Angelo Rutherford, actor (Willie-Gentle Ben), dies at 32