September 30 in History

Hurricane Matthew becomes a Category 5 hurricane, making it the strongest hurricane to form in the Caribbean Sea since 2007.

Two paintings with a combined value of $100 million are recovered after having been stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in 2002.

The 7.6 Mw Sumatra earthquake leaves 1,115 people dead.

Controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in a Danish newspaper.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Twelve-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah is shot and killed on the second day of the Second Intifada.

The Tokaimura nuclear accident causes the deaths of two technicians in Japan's second-worst nuclear accident.

Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-68.

The 6.2 Mw Latur earthquake shakes Maharashtra, India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) killing 9,748 and injuring 30,000.

Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation.

Finnair Flight 405 is hijacked by Aarno Lamminparras in Oulu, Finland.

Malév Flight 240 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while on approach to Beirut International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 60.

Jordan makes a deal with the PFLP for the release of the remaining hostages from the Dawson's Field hijackings.

The Boeing 747 is rolled out and shown to the public for the first time.

Bechuanaland declares its independence, and becomes the Republic of Botswana.

The Flintstones animated sitcom premieres on ABC television.

The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world's first nuclear-powered vessel.

The Berlin Airlift ends.

The 1947 World Series begins. It is the first to be televised, to include an African-American player, to exceed $2 million in receipts, to see a pinch-hit home run, and to have six umpires on the field.

Pakistan joins the United Nations.

The Bourne End rail crash, in Hertfordshire, England, kills 43.

World War II: the Germans commence a counter offensive to retake the Nijmegen salient, this having been captured by the allies during Operation Market Garden.

The United States Merchant Marine Academy is dedicated by President Roosevelt.

World War II: The Babi Yar massacre comes to an end.

World War II: General Władysław Sikorski becomes prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile.

NBC broadcasts the first televised American football game.

Britain, France, Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement, whereby Germany annexes the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.

The League of Nations unanimously outlaws "intentional bombings of civilian populations".

American journalists Herbert R. Ekins, reporter for the New York World-Telegram, Dorothy Kilgallen of the New York Journal and Leo Kieran of The New York Times start the race to travel around the world on commercial airline flights. The race takes 18 ½ days.

The Hoover Dam, astride the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, is dedicated.

The Elaine massacre in Arkansas commences.

Ukrainian War of Independence: Insurgent forces led by Nestor Makhno defeats the Central Powers at the battle of Dibrivka.

World War I: Radoje Ljutovac becomes the first soldier in history to shoot down an enemy aircraft with ground-to-air fire.

The Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania makes a record-breaking westbound crossing of the Atlantic, that will not be bettered for 20 years.

The McKinley National Memorial, the final resting place of assassinated U.S. President William McKinley and his family, is dedicated in Canton, Ohio.

The Royal Galician Academy, the Galician language's biggest linguistic authority, is established in La Coruña, Spain.

Jack the Ripper kills his third and fourth victims, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes.

Thomas Edison's first commercial hydroelectric power plant, the Vulcan Street Plant, begins operation.

Georges Bizet's opera Les pêcheurs de perles, premieres in Paris.

The first performance of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute takes place two months before his death.

France's National Constituent Assembly is dissolved, to be replaced the next day by the National Legislative Assembly.

War of the Austrian Succession: France and Spain defeat Sardinia at the Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo, but soon have to withdraw from Sardinia.

The Lebanese Council of 1736 begins, a major turning point in the reform of the Maronite Church. In the following three days, the assembled Maronite and Latin clergy presided by Yusuf ibn Siman as-Simani discuss various reforms and elaborate rules and canons.

A coup by the military establishment of Japan's Ōuchi clan forces their lord to commit suicide, and their city is burned.

Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto and his forces enter Tula territory in present-day western Arkansas, encountering fierce resistance.

Suleiman the Magnificent becomes sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Henry IV is proclaimed king of England.

Battle of Morlaix is fought in the Hundred Years' War.

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes the Caucasus mountains in the Seljuk Empire, causing mass destruction and killing up to 300,000 people.

The Turgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their baggage train.

The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time.

Alberto Moleiro, Spanish footballer

Levi Miller, Australian actor and model

Maddie Ziegler, American dancer and actress

Landon Dickerson, American football player

Yui Imaizumi, Japanese actress, singer, model, and television personality

Trevi Moran, American YouTuber and singer

Yana Kudryavtseva, Russian gymnast

Max Verstappen, Dutch race car driver

Aaron Holiday, American basketball player

Aliya Mustafina, Russian gymnast

Bria Hartley, French-American basketball player

Ezra Miller, American actor and singer

David Bakhtiari, American football player

Joffrey Lauvergne, French basketball player

Thomas Röhler, German javelin thrower

Jasmine Thomas, American basketball player

Natalie Eggermont, Belgian politician

Aida Garifullina, Russian operatic soprano

Kenley Jansen, Curaçaoan baseball player

Olivier Giroud, French footballer

Martin Guptill, New Zealand cricketer

Ben Lovett, Welsh musician and songwriter

Cristián Zapata, Colombian footballer

Adam Cooney, Australian footballer

Téa Obreht, Serbian-American author

Cristian Rodríguez, Uruguayan footballer

T-Pain, American rapper, producer, and actor

Adam Jones, American football player and analyst

Andreea Răducan, Romanian gymnast

Lacey Chabert, American actress

Ryane Clowe, Canadian ice hockey player

Kieran Culkin, American actor

Andrew Hastie, Australian politician

Seth Smith, American baseball player

Cecelia Ahern, Irish author

Dominique Moceanu, American gymnast

Martina Hingis, Swiss tennis player

Milagros Sequera, Venezuelan tennis player

Toni Trucks, American actress

Cameron Bruce, Australian footballer and coach

Andy van der Meyde, Dutch footballer

Małgorzata Glinka-Mogentale, Polish volleyball player

Candice Michelle, American wrestler

Roy Carroll, Northern Irish goalkeeper and manager

Nick Curran, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2012)

Jay Asher, American author

Ta-Nehisi Coates, American author and journalist

Marion Cotillard, French actress and singer

Carlos Guillén, Venezuelan baseball player

Laure Pequegnot, French skier

Christopher Jackson, American actor, singer, musician, and composer

Jeremy Giambi, American baseball player (died 2022)

Tom Greatrex, English politician

Daniel Wu, American–born Hong Kong actor, director, and producer

Rubén Wolkowyski, Argentine basketball player

Jamal Anderson, American football player and sportscaster

Ari Behn, Danish-Norwegian author and playwright (died 2019)

Mayumi Kojima, Japanese singer-songwriter

José Lima, Dominican baseball player (died 2010)

Jenna Elfman, American actress and producer

Tony Hale, American actor and producer

Damian Mori, Australian footballer and manager

Eric Piatkowski, American basketball player

Gintaras Einikis, Lithuanian basketball player

Amy Landecker, American actress

Silas Weir Mitchell, American actor

Chris von Erich, American wrestler (died 1991)

Emmanuelle Houdart, Swiss-French author and illustrator

Gibby Haynes, American musician, radio personality and painter

Andrea Roth, Canadian actress

Gary Armstrong, Scottish rugby player

Markus Burger, German pianist, composer, and educator

Club Chalamet, American social media personality

Angus Taylor, Australian politician

Omid Djalili, English comedian, actor, and producer

Trey Anastasio, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and composer

Monica Bellucci, Italian actress and fashion model

David Barbe, American bass player and producer

Marley Marl, American record producer and rapper

Crystal Bernard, American actress and singer-songwriter

Gary Coyne, Australian rugby league player

Eric Stoltz, American actor, director, and producer

Mel Stride, English politician

Eric van de Poele, Belgian race car driver

Julia Adamson, Canadian-English keyboard player, composer, and producer

Nicola Griffith, English-American author

Miki Howard, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

Blanche Lincoln, American politician

Ettore Messina, Italian basketball player and coach

Marty Stuart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Fran Drescher, American actress, producer, and screenwriter

Trevor Morgan, English footballer and manager

Andy Bechtolsheim, German engineer, co-founded Sun Microsystems

Frankie Kennedy, Northern Irish flute player (died 1994)

Basia, Polish singer-songwriter and record producer

John Drew, American basketball player (died 2022)

Scott Fields, American guitarist and composer

Patrice Rushen, American singer-songwriter and producer

Barry Williams, American actor

Matt Abts, American drummer

Deborah Allen, American country music singer-songwriter, author, and actress

John Finn, American actor

John Lombardo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

John Lloyd, English screenwriter and producer

Barry Marshall, Australian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Simon White, English astrophysicist and academic

Laura Esquivel, Mexican author and screenwriter

Victoria Tennant, English actress and dancer

Michel Tognini, French pilot, engineer, military officer and astronaut

Craig Kusick, American baseball player and coach (died 2006)

Marc Bolan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1977)

Rula Lenska, English actress

Fran Brill, American actress, singer, and puppeteer

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, English academic and politician, Leader of the House of Lords

Héctor Lavoe, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter (died 1993)

Jochen Mass, German race car driver (died 2025)

Paul Sheahan, Australian cricketer and educator

Claude Vorilhon, French journalist, founded Raëlism

Richard Edwin Hills, English astronomer and academic (died 2022)

Ehud Olmert, Israeli lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Israel

Diane Dufresne, Canadian singer and painter

Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (died 2006)

Red Robbins, American basketball player (died 2009)

Johann Deisenhofer, German-American biochemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate

Marilyn McCoo, American singer

Philip Moore, English organist and composer

Ian Ogilvy, English-American actor, playwright, and author

Gus Dudgeon, English record producer (died 2002)

Frankie Lymon, American singer-songwriter (died 1968)

Samuel F. Pickering Jr., American author and educator

Kamalesh Sharma, Indian academic and diplomat, 5th Commonwealth Secretary General

Reine Wisell, Swedish race car driver (died 2022)

Claudia Card, American philosopher and academic (died 2015)

Harry Jerome, Canadian sprinter (died 1982)

Dewey Martin, Canadian-American drummer (died 2009)

Len Cariou, Canadian actor

Anthony Green, English painter and academic (died 2023)

Jean-Marie Lehn, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Alan Hacker, English clarinet player and educator (died 2012)

Jurek Becker, Polish-German author (died 1997)

Valentyn Sylvestrov, Ukrainian pianist and composer

Gary Hocking, Rhodesian motorcycle racer (died 1962)

Jim Sasser, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Ambassador to China (died 2024)

Sevgi Soysal, Turkish author (died 1976)

Johnny Mathis, American singer and actor

Alan A'Court, English footballer and manager (died 2009)

Udo Jürgens, Austrian-Swiss singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2014)

Anna Kashfi, Indian-American actress (died 2015)

Cissy Houston, American singer (died 2024)

Shintaro Ishihara, Japanese author, playwright, and politician, Governor of Tokyo (died 2022)

Johnny Podres, American baseball player and coach (died 2008)

Angie Dickinson, American actress

Teresa Gorman, English educator and politician (died 2015)

Carol Fenner, American author and illustrator (died 2002)

Vassilis Papazachos, Greek seismologist and academic (died 2022)

Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Filipino politician, diplomat and writer (died 2017)

Dorothee Sölle, German theologian and author (died 2003)

Elie Wiesel, Romanian-American author, academic, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2016)

Ray Willsey, Canadian-American football player and coach (died 2013)

W. S. Merwin, American poet and translator (died 2019)

Heino Kruus, Estonian basketball player and coach (died 2012)

Robin Roberts, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2010)

Arkady Ostashev, Russian engineer and scientist in the former Soviet space program (died 1998)

Truman Capote, American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter (died 1984)

Donald Swann, Welsh-English pianist and composer (died 1994)

Lamont Johnson, American actor, director, and producer (died 2010)

Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2006)

Deborah Kerr, Scottish-English actress (died 2007)

Aldo Parisot, Brazilian-American cellist and educator (died 2018)

Roberto Bonomi, Argentinian race car driver (died 1992)

Elizabeth Gilels, Ukrainian-Russian violinist and educator (died 2008)

William L. Guy, American lieutenant and politician, 26th Governor of North Dakota (died 2013)

Patricia Neway, American soprano and actress (died 2012)

Lewis Nixon, U.S. Army captain (died 1995)

René Rémond, French historian and economist (died 2007)

Yuri Lyubimov, Russian actor and director (died 2014)

Buddy Rich, American drummer, bandleader, and actor (died 1987)

Lester Maddox, American businessman and politician, 75th Governor of Georgia (died 2003)

Bill Walsh, American screenwriter and producer (died 1975)

Kenny Baker, American singer and actor (died 1985)

Gustave Gilbert, American psychologist (died 1977)

Jussi Kekkonen, Finnish captain (died 1962)

David Oistrakh, Ukrainian-Russian violinist and educator (died 1974)

Mireille Hartuch, French singer-songwriter and actress (died 1996)

Nevill Francis Mott, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1996)

Michael Powell, English director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1990)

Waldo Williams, Welsh poet and academic (died 1971)

Thelma Terry, American bassist and bandleader (died 1966)

Renée Adorée, French-American actress (died 1933)

Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois (died 1977)

Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, German-American author and illustrator (died 1986)

Alfred Wintle, Russian-English soldier and politician (died 1966)

Charlotte Wolff, German-English physician and psychotherapist (died 1986)

Lewis Milestone, Moldovan-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1980)

Lansdale Ghiselin Sasscer, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (died 1964)

Lil Dagover, Indonesian-German actress (died 1980)

Bernhard Rust, German educator and politician (died 1945)

Nora Stanton Blatch Barney, American civil engineer, architect, and suffragist (died 1971)

Hans Geiger, German physicist and academic (died 1945)

Thomas W. Lamont, American banker and philanthropist (died 1948)

Jean Baptiste Perrin, French-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1942)

Reinhard Scheer, German admiral (died 1928)

William Wrigley Jr., American businessman, founded Wrigley Company (died 1932)

Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer, conductor, and educator (died 1924)

Remigio Morales Bermúdez, Peruvian politician, President of Peru (died 1894)

Ann Jarvis, American activist, co-founded Mother's Day (died 1905)

Ellis H. Roberts, American journalist and politician, 20th Treasurer of the United States (died 1918)

Peter Ward, New York politician (died 1891)

Lucinda Hinsdale Stone, American feminist, educator, and philanthropist (died 1900)

John Rae, Scottish physician and explorer (died 1893)

Decimus Burton, English architect, designed the Pharos Lighthouse (died 1881)

José María Morelos, Mexican priest and general (died 1815)

Christian Ehregott Weinlig, German cantor and composer (died 1813)

Jacques Necker, Swiss-French politician, Prime Minister of France (died 1804)

Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, French epistemologist and philosopher (died 1780)

John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, English politician, Lord President of the Council (died 1771)

Stanisław Konarski, Polish monk, poet, and playwright (died 1773)

Jacques Aubert, French violinist and composer (died 1753)

Johann Sebastiani, German composer (died 1683)

Michael Maestlin, German astronomer and mathematician (died 1631)

Girolamo Mercuriale, Italian philologist and physician (died 1606)

Pope Nicholas IV (died 1292)

Rumi, Persian mystic and poet (died 1273)

Gavin Creel, American actor, singer and songwriter (born 1976)

Dikembe Mutombo, Congolese-American basketball player (born 1966)

Humberto Ortega, Nicaraguan military leader (born 1947)

Ken Page, American actor and cabaret singer (born 1954)

Pete Rose, American baseball player and manager (born 1941)

Koichi Sugiyama, Japanese composer and orchestrator (born 1931)

Victoria Braithwaite, British research scientist who proved fish feel pain (born 1967)

Kim Larsen, Danish rock musician (born 1945)

Geoffrey Hayes, British television presenter and actor (born 1942)

Sonia Orbuch, Polish resistance fighter during the Second World War and Holocaust educator. (born 1925)

Monty Hall, American game show host (born 1921)

Vladimir Voevodsky, Russian-American mathematician (born 1966)

Guido Altarelli, Italian-Swiss physicist and academic (born 1941)

Claude Dauphin, French businessman (born 1951)

Göran Hägg, Swedish author and critic (born 1947)

Martin Lewis Perl, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1927)

Janet Powell, Australian educator and politician (born 1942)

Turhan Bey, Austrian actor and producer (born 1922)

Barry Commoner, American biologist, academic, and politician (born 1917)

Bobby Jaggers, American wrestler and engineer (born 1948)

Clara Stanton Jones, American librarian (born 1913)

Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian-American figure skater (born 1928)

Boris Šprem, Croatian lawyer and politician, 8th Speaker of the Croatian Parliament (born 1956)

Anwar al-Awlaki, American-Yemeni terrorist (born 1971)

Ralph M. Steinman, Canadian-American immunologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1943)

Stephen J. Cannell, American screenwriter and producer (born 1941)

J. B. Jeyaretnam, Singaporean lawyer and politician (born 1926)

Gamini Fonseka, Sri Lankan actor, director, and politician (born 1936)

Jacques Levy, American director and songwriter (born 1935)

Michael Relph, English director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1915)

Yusuf Bey, American activist, founded Your Black Muslim Bakery (born 1935)

Ronnie Dawson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1939)

Robert Kardashian, American lawyer and businessman (born 1944)

Göran Kropp, Swedish race car driver and mountaineer (born 1966)

Hans-Peter Tschudi, Swiss lawyer and politician, 63rd President of the Swiss Confederation (born 1913)

Marius Goring, English actor (born 1912)

Dan Quisenberry, American baseball player and poet (born 1953)

Robert Lewis Taylor, American soldier and author (born 1912)

André Michel Lwoff, French microbiologist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1902)

Toma Zdravković, Serbian singer-songwriter (born 1938)

Rob Moroso, American race car driver (born 1968)

Alice Parizeau, Polish-Canadian journalist and author (born 1930)

Patrick White, Australian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1912)

Drew Shafer, American LGBT rights activist (born 1936)

Virgil Thomson, American composer and critic (born 1896)

Al Holbert, American race car driver (born 1946)

Alfred Bester, American author and screenwriter (born 1913)

Nicholas Kaldor, Hungarian-British economist (born 1908)

Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist and physicist (born 1900)

Simone Signoret, French actress (born 1921)

Edgar Bergen, American actor and ventriloquist (born 1903)

Mary Ford, American singer and guitarist (born 1924)

Carlos Prats, Chilean general and politician, Chilean Minister of Defense (born 1915)

Peter Pitseolak, Canadian photographer and author (born 1902)

Onésime Gagnon, Canadian scholar and politician, 20th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (born 1888)

Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (born 1877)

James Dean, American actor (born 1931)

Takashi Sakai, Japanese general and politician, Governor of Hong Kong (born 1887)

Franz Oppenheimer, German-American sociologist and economist (born 1864)

Hans-Joachim Marseille, German captain and pilot (born 1919)

Fanya Baron, Lithuanian Jewish anarchist (born 1887)

Maurice Lévy, French mathematician and engineer (born 1838)

Thérèse of Lisieux, French nun and saint (born 1873)

Georges Ernest Boulanger, French general and politician, French Minister of War (born 1837)

Per Gustaf Svinhufvud af Qvalstad, treasurer of Tavastia province, manor host, and paternal grandfather of President of Finland P. E. Svinhufvud (born 1804)

Samuel David Luzzatto, Italian poet and scholar (born 1800)

Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham, English politician and diplomat, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (born 1695)

George Whitefield, English-American priest and theologian (born 1714)

Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, English poet and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1554)

Nurhaci, Chinese emperor (born 1559)

Hubert Languet, French diplomat and reformer (born 1518)

Francis Borgia, 4th Duke of Gandía, Spanish priest and saint, 3rd Superior General of the Society of Jesus (born 1510)

Melchior Cano, Spanish theologian (born 1525)

Ōuchi Yoshitaka, Japanese daimyō (born 1507)

John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (born 1400)

Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, Welsh soldier and politician (born 1362)

Adelaide of Vianden, German countess

Leszek II the Black, Polish prince, Duke of Łęczyca, Sieradz, Kraków, Sandomierz (born 1241)

Yaroslav II of Vladimir (born 1191)

Anselm IV, Italian archbishop

Louis IV of France (born 920)

Fan Yanguang, Chinese general

Honorius of Canterbury, Italian archbishop and saint

Jerome, Roman priest, theologian, and saint