What happened in history today? On December 30, an important duke was killed during an iconic English war.
1460: The Death of Richard, Duke of York
On this day, the Duke of York and father of Edward IV of England, Richard Plantagenet, died. He was killed at the Battle of Wakefield, along with his second son Edmund. They were fighting against the House of Lancaster during the iconic English Wars of the Roses. Richard’s eldest son Edward would eventually go on to defeat Henry VI of England, deposing him to become Edward IV.
1853: The Southern U.S. Border Established
America and Mexico agreed on the Southern U.S. border, after the United States acquired an extra 30,000 square miles of land for $10m (down from the original $15m). President of Mexico, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, and U.S. Mexico minister James Gadsen signed the purchase agreement in Mexico City. The land bought is now known as southern Arizona and New Mexico.
1903: The Chicago Theater Fire
More than 600 people died on this day in history, during the Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago. The lack of plan in the event of a fire and the exits being blocked contributed to the high number of deaths, and made it U.S. history’s deadliest theater fire. Teenage ushers panicked so much that while fleeing immediately upon seeing the fire, they forgot to unlock the emergency doors. Those on the balconies were unable to get to fire escapes, with some jumping to take a chance on their lives. The theater owner was convicted of manslaughter since he failed to have safety provisions, but the conviction was reversed upon appeal.
1916: The Murder of Rasputin
Between December 29 and December 30, 1916, Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was murdered. Russian nobles had wanted to stop his influence over the royal family at the time, after he had won their favor by saving their haemophiliac son, Alexei eight years earlier. There were rumors that he was the lover of Tsarina Alexandra, and had a hand in ruling the country with her when Tsar Nicholas II left to lead forces during World War I. It was not long after Rasputin’s murder that the royal family would be murdered.
Famous Birthdays on December 30
10th Roman Emperor Titus–39
Composer William Croft–1678
Author of Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling—1865
Japanese Prime Minister Tojo Hideki—1884
L.A. Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax—1935
Golfer Tiger Woods–1975
Basketball player LeBron James–1984
Singer Leon Jackson–1988
Featured image from Deposit Photos
Birthdays from HistoryNet.com and OnThisDay.com
Image of Richard, Duke of York from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_of_York,_3rd_Duke_of_York#/media/File:Richard_Plantagenet,_3rd_Duke_of_York.jpg) used under the CC-1.0 Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0/)
Image of Rasputin in the public domain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Rasputin#/media/File:Rasputin_pt.jpg)
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