May Eve (the eve of the first day of summer in the Northern hemisphere; Beltane begins at sunset in the Northern hemisphere, Samhain begins at sunset in the Southern hemisphere; Carodejnice in Czech Republic and Slovakia; Walpurgis Night - Central and Northern Europe)
2004 – U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
2000 – Canonization of Faustina Kowalska in the presence of 200,000 people and the first Divine Mercy Sunday celebrated worldwide.
1997 – Ellen DeGeneres came out as gay. Her sitcom, Ellen, became one of first major television shows featuring an openly gay main character.
1961 – K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned.
1948 – In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established.
1945 – World War II: Stalag Luft I prisoner-of-war camp near Barth, Germany is liberated by Soviet soldiers, freeing nearly 9000 American and British airmen.
1927 – Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
1927 – The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women's federal prison in the United States.
1900 – Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.
1897 – J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London.
1885 – Governor of New York David B. Hill signs legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, New York's first state park, ensuring that Niagara Falls will not be devoted solely to industrial and commercial use.
1838 – Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation.
1803 – Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.
1789 – On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected President of the United States.
Births
1992 – Travis Scott, American rapper and producer. Jacques Berman Webster II (born April 30, 1992), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer.
1991 – Chris Kreider, American ice hockey player. Christopher James Kreider (born April 30, 1991) is an American professional ice hockey winger and an alternate captain of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL).
1986 – Dianna Agron, American actress and singer. From 2006 to 2007, Agron had recurring roles on Veronica Mars as Jenny Budosh, and Heroes as Debbie Marshall.
1985 – Brandon Bass, American basketball player. Brandon Samuel Bass (born April 30, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the Liaoning Flying Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
1984 – Shawn Daivari, American wrestler and manager. He opened a wrestling school with Ken Anderson, brother Ariya Daivari, Molly Holly, and Arik Cannon in Minneapolis, Minnesota, called The Academy: School of Professional Wrestling.
1983 – Troy Williamson, American football player. Troy Williamson (born April 30, 1983) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League for five seasons.
1982 – Drew Seeley, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor. He danced as a child in Ontario until he was about preteen age and then moved to Florida.
1982 – Kirsten Dunst, American actress. At the age of twelve, Dunst gained widespread recognition as Claudia in Interview with the Vampire (1994), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
1981 – Justin Vernon, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. Vernon is also a member of the bands Volcano Choir, Big Red Machine, The Shouting Matches, and Gayngs.
1981 – Nicole Kaczmarski, American basketball player. Heavily recruited by colleges, Kaczmarski eventually enrolled at UCLA and played one season for their women's basketball team but took time off during her sophomore year to deal with health issues and personal problems.
1977 – Jeannie Haddaway, American politician. Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio (born April 30, 1977) is Maryland's Secretary of Natural Resources.
1977 – Meredith L. Patterson, American technologist, journalist, and author. She has spoken at numerous industry conferences on a wide range of topics.
1976 – Amanda Palmer, American singer-songwriter and pianist, was the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo The Dresden Dolls. She performs as a solo artist, and was also one-half of the duo Evelyn Evelyn, and the lead singer and songwriter of Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra.
1975 – Johnny Galecki, American actor. Galecki also appeared in the films National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Prancer (1989), Suicide Kings (1997), I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), Bookies (2003), In Time (2011), and Rings (2017).
1969 – Warren Defever, American bass player and producer. Warren Defever (first name often spelled Warn; born April 30, 1969) is a musician and producer originally from Livonia, Michigan now based in Detroit.
1966 – Dave Meggett, American football player and coach. David Lee Meggett (born April 30, 1966) is a former professional American football running back and convicted felon who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants (1989–1994), New England Patriots (1995–1997), and the New York Jets (1998).
1964 – Tony Fernandes, Malaysian-Indian businessman, co-founded Tune Group. Anthony Francis Fernandes PSM SSAP SPMP DPTJ CBE (born 30 April 1964) is a Malaysian entrepreneur.
1963 – Michael Waltrip, American race car driver and sportscaster. Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, and published author.
1961 – Isiah Thomas, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster. Isiah Lord Thomas III (born April 30, 1961) is an American former basketball player who played professionally for the Detroit Pistons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
1960 – Kerry Healey, American academic and politician, 70th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, was the President of Babson College. She was the 70th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 under Governor Mitt Romney.
1958 – Wonder Mike, American rapper and songwriter. Wonder Mike (born Michael Wright; April 30, 1957) is an American old school rapper and former member of the Sugarhill Gang.
1953 – Merrill Osmond, American singer and bass player. Merrill Davis Osmond (born April 30, 1953) is the lead singer and bassist of the 1970s pop-rock music group The Osmonds and its 1980s country music spinoff, The Osmond Brothers.
1949 – Phil Garner, American baseball player and manager. He was manager of the Astros from July 14, 2004 to August 27, 2007, leading Houston to a World Series appearance in 2005.
1946 – Bill Plympton, American animator, producer, and screenwriter. Bill Plympton (born April 30, 1946) is an American animator, graphic designer, cartoonist, and filmmaker best known for his 1987 Academy Awards-nominated animated short Your Face and his series of shorts Guard Dog, Guide Dog, Hot Dog, and Horn Dog.
1946 – Don Schollander, American swimmer. Donald Arthur Schollander (born April 30, 1946) is an American former competition swimmer, five-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events.
1945 – Annie Dillard, American novelist, essayist, and poet. Annie Dillard (born 30 April 1945) is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and non-fiction.
1945 – Mimi Fariña, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist (d. 2001), was a singer-songwriter and activist, the youngest of three daughters to a Scottish mother and Mexican-American physicist Albert Baez. She was the younger sister of the singer and activist Joan Baez.
1944 – Jill Clayburgh, American actress (d. 2010), was an American actress known for her work in theater, television, and cinema. Known for portraying strong, independent women, she is a recipient of Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her breakthrough role in Paul Mazursky's comedy-drama An Unmarried Woman (1978).
1943 – Bobby Vee, American pop singer-songwriter (d. 2016), was an American singer, songwriter and musician who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to Billboard magazine, he had thirty-eight Hot 100 chart hits, ten of which reached the Top 20.
1938 – Larry Niven, American author and screenwriter. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named him the 2015 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.
1926 – Cloris Leachman, American actress and comedian. In a career spanning over seven decades she has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards, a Daytime Emmy Award, and an Academy Award for her role in The Last Picture Show (1971).
1925 – Johnny Horton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1960), was an American country music, honky tonk and rockabilly singer and musician, during the 1950s and early 1960s, best known for his international hits beginning with the 1959 single "The Battle of New Orleans", which was awarded the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song was awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award and in 2001 ranked No. 333 of the Recording Industry Association of America's "Songs of the Century".
1923 – Percy Heath, American bassist (d. 2005), was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet throughout their long history and also worked with Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, and Thelonious Monk.
1921 – Roger L. Easton, American scientist, co-invented the GPS (d. 2014), was an American scientist/physicist who was the principal inventor and designer of the Global Positioning System, along with Ivan A. Getting and Bradford Parkinson.
1917 – Bea Wain, American singer (d. 2017), was an American Big Band-era singer and radio personality born in the Bronx, New York City. She had a number of hits with Larry Clinton and his Orchestra.
1916 – Claude Shannon, American mathematician and engineer (d. 2001), was an American mathematician, electrical engineer, and cryptographer known as "the father of information theory". Shannon is noted for having founded information theory with a landmark paper, "A Mathematical Theory of Communication", that he published in 1948.
1914 – Charles Beetham, American middle-distance runner (d. 1997). He was United States champion in the 800-meter run in 1936, 1939, 1940 and 1941 and NCAA champion in 1936; he entered the 1936 United States Olympic Trials as one of the favorites, but fell in the final and failed to qualify for the Olympics.
1908 – Eve Arden, American actress (d. 1990), was an American film, radio, stage, and television actress, and comedienne. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades.
1902 – Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998), was an American economist and chairman of the University of Chicago Department of Economics. Schultz rose to national prominence after winning the 1979 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
1901 – Simon Kuznets, Belarusian-American economist, statistician, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985). Simon Smith Kuznets (/ˈkʌznɛts/; Russian: Семён Абра́мович Кузне́ц, IPA: ; April 30, 1901 – July 8, 1985) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1971 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences "for his empirically founded interpretation of economic growth which has led to new and deepened insight into the economic and social structure and process of development."
1896 – Hans List, Austrian scientist and businessman, founded the AVL Engineering Company (d. 1996), was a technical scientist and inventor and entrepreneur.
1896 – Reverend Gary Davis, American singer and guitarist (d. 1972). His fingerpicking guitar style influenced many other artists.
1888 – John Crowe Ransom, American poet, critic, and academic (d. 1974), was an American educator, scholar, literary critic, poet, essayist and editor. He is considered to be a founder of the New Criticism school of literary criticism.
1877 – Alice B. Toklas, American memoirist (d. 1967), was an American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century, and the life partner of American writer Gertrude Stein.
1869 – Hans Poelzig, German architect, designed the IG Farben Building and Großes Schauspielhaus (d. 1936). Hans Poelzig (30 April 1869 – 14 June 1936) was a German architect, painter and set designer.
1866 – Mary Haviland Stilwell Kuesel, American pioneer dentist (d. 1936), was a pioneer American dentist. She was the founder of the Women's Dental Association of the United States, which she founded in 1892 with 12 charter members.
Deaths
2016 – Daniel Berrigan, American priest and activist (b. 1921)
2014 – Carl E. Moses, American businessman and politician (b. 1929)
2013 – Mike Gray, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1935)
2012 – Tomás Borge, Nicaraguan poet and politician, co-founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front (b. 1930)
2007 – Kevin Mitchell, American football player (b. 1971)
2007 – Tom Poston, American actor, comedian, and game show panelist (b. 1921)
2005 – Phil Rasmussen, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1918)
2003 – Mark Berger, American economist and academic (b. 1955)
2002 – Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, German philanthropist, founded the Gründerzeit Museum (b. 1928)
1994 – Richard Scarry, American author and illustrator (b. 1919)
1983 – Muddy Waters, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and bandleader (b. 1913)
1982 – Lester Bangs, American journalist and author (b. 1949)
1974 – Agnes Moorehead, American actress (b. 1900)
1972 – Gia Scala, English-American model and actress (b. 1934)
Remind me of this day