What Happened On This Day – December 30
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2011Samoa and Tokelau skipped December 30
The South Pacific Ocean Islands changed their time zone and move west of the international dateline to align their time zone with their major trading partners, Australia and New Zealand. In doing so, they skipped December 30 and moved directly from December 29 to December 31. 119 years ago, Samoa had made a similar shift, eastwards of the dateline, to synchronize its time with the United States. Today, Samoa follows West Samoa Time, which is 13 hours ahead of UTC.
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2006Saddam Hussein executed
The deposed president of Iraq was hanged after he was found guilty of crimes against humanity. Hussein was the fifth president of Iraq and came to power after a coup in 1968.
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2004Highest barometric pressure recorded
At 2 am local time, the atmospheric pressure in Tosontsengel, Mongolia rose to 846.5 hPa (adjusted for height above sea level).
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1995Lowest temperature ever recored in the UK
Altnaharra, a small hamlet in northern Scotland, recorded a temperature of −27.2°C (-16.96 degrees Fahrenheit). The temperature had dipped this low once before in the UK - in Braemar, East Scotland on January 10, 1982
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1947Last king of Romania steps down
Michael I was forced to abdicate by the Communist Party of Romania. His first reign over the country was in 1927 as a 6-year old, and it lasted only 3 years until 1930. He was then reinstalled in 1940.
Births On This Day,
December 30
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1984LeBron James
American basketball player
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1975Tiger Woods
American golfer
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1946Patti Smith
American singer-songwriter, poet
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1865Rudyard Kipling
English author, poet, Nobel Prize laureate
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1853André Messager
French composer
Deaths On This Day,
December 30
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2009Abdurrahman Wahid
Indonesian politician, 4th President of Indonesia
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2006Saddam Hussein
Iraqi politician, 5th President of Iraq
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1970Sonny Liston
American boxer
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1947Alfred North Whitehead
English mathematician, philosopher
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1896José Rizal
Filipino polymath