July 30 in history — What Happened Today in History

Ian Gow, Conservative Member of Parliament, is assassinated at his home by the IRA in a car bombing after he assured the group that the British government would never surrender to them.

As many as 50,000 demonstrators, mostly women and children, take to the streets in Łódź to protest food ration shortages in Communist Poland.

Vanuatu gains independence.

Israel's Knesset passes the Jerusalem Law.

The 730: Okinawa Prefecture changes its traffic on the right-hand side of the road to the left-hand side.

Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. He is never seen or heard from again.

Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon releases subpoenaed White House recordings after being ordered to do so by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Apollo program: On Apollo 15, David Scott and James Irwin in the Apollo Lunar Module Falcon land on the Moon with the first Lunar Rover.

An All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 and a Japanese Air Force F-86 collide over Morioka, Iwate, Japan, killing 162.

Vietnam War: U.S. president Richard Nixon makes an unscheduled visit to South Vietnam and meets with President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and U.S. military commanders.

England defeats West Germany to win the FIFA World Cup at Wembley Stadium 4–2 after extra time.

U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.

The Trans-Canada Highway, the then-longest national highway in the world, is officially opened.

A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing In God We Trust as the U.S. national motto.

World War II: Japanese submarine I-58 sinks the USS Indianapolis, killing 883 seamen. Most die during the following four days, until an aircraft notices the survivors.

Premiere of Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first Academy Award winning cartoon short.

In Montevideo, Uruguay wins the first FIFA World Cup by beating Argentina.

The Black Tom explosion in New York Harbor kills several people and destroys some $20,000,000 worth of military goods.

Japan's Emperor Meiji dies and is succeeded by his son Yoshihito, who is now known as the Emperor Taishō.

The Staten Island Ferry Westfield's boiler explodes, killing over 85 people.

Armed Confederate veterans in New Orleans riot against a meeting of Radical Republicans, killing 48 people and injuring another 100.

The steamboat Brother Jonathan sinks off the coast of Crescent City, California, killing 225 passengers, the deadliest shipwreck on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. at the time.

American Civil War: Battle of the Crater: Union forces attempt to break Confederate lines at Petersburg, Virginia by exploding a large bomb under their trenches.

American Indian Wars: Representatives of the United States and tribal leaders including Chief Pocatello (of the Shoshone) sign the Treaty of Box Elder.

The Valuev Circular bans the publication of religious, educational and training books in Ukrainian in the Russian Empire.

First ascent of Grand Combin, one of the highest summits in the Alps.

Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leader of the Mexican insurgency, is executed by the Spanish in Chihuahua City, Mexico.

In Saint Petersburg, Bartolomeo Rastrelli presents the newly built Catherine Palace to Empress Elizabeth and her courtiers.

Diana Vickers, English singer-songwriter

Chris Maxwell, Welsh footballer

Tom Morris, Australian journalist

Shekinna Stricklen, American basketball player

Aleix Espargaró, Spanish motorcycle racer

Wayne Parnell, South African cricketer

Wen Chean Lim, Malaysian rhythmic gymnast

Anton Fink, German footballer

Sam Saunders, American golfer

Tiago Alencar, Brazilian footballer

William Zillman, Australian rugby league player

Chris Guccione, Australian tennis player

Daniel Fredheim Holm, Norwegian footballer

Stuart Baggs, English businessman (born 1988)

Endel Lippmaa, Estonian physicist (born 1930)

Francis Paul Prucha, American historian and academic (born 1921)

Alena Vrzáňová, Czech figure skater (born 1931)

Robert Drew, American director and producer (born 1924)

Harun Farocki, German director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1944)

Julio Grondona, Argentinian businessman (born 1931)

Peter Hall, English geographer, author, and academic (born 1932)

Dick Smith, American make-up artist (born 1922)

Dick Wagner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1942)

Cecil Alexander, American architect, designed the State of Georgia Building (born 1918)

Berthold Beitz, German businessman (born 1913)

Robert Neelly Bellah, American sociologist and author (born 1927)