Updated December 29, 2011, 1:28 pm
On Dec. 30, 1972, the United States halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
On Dec. 30, 1873, Alfred Smith, the four-time governor of New York State and 1928 presidential candidate, was born. Following his death on Oct. 4, 1944, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1813 The British burned Buffalo, N.Y., during the War of 1812. 1865 Author Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India. 1903 About 600 people died when fire broke out at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago. 1911 Sun Yat-sen was elected the first president of the Republic of China. 1928 Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Bo Diddley was born Ellas Bates in McComb, Miss. 1940 California’s first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena, was officially opened. 1972 The United States halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam. 1978 Ohio State University fired Woody Hayes as its football coach, one day after Hayes punched a Clemson University player during a game. 1993 Israel and the Vatican agreed to recognize one another. 2003 The federal government announced it would ban the sale of ephedra, an herbal stimulant linked to 155 deaths and dozens of heart attacks and strokes. 2006 Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was hanged. 2010 Top-ranked Connecticut’s record 90-game winning streak in women’s basketball ended with a 71-59 loss to No. 9 Stanford. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Miami Heat forward LeBron James turns 27 years old today.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
TV host Meredith Vieira turns 58 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg
1934 Joseph Bologna, Actor, turns 77 1934 Russ Tamblyn, Actor, turns 77 1935 Jack Riley, Actor (“The Bob Newhart Show”), turns 76 1935 Sandy Koufax, Baseball Hall of Famer, turns 76 1937 Noel Paul Stookey, Folk singer (Peter, Paul and Mary), turns 74 1940 James Burrows, TV director (“Taxi,” “Cheers,” “Will and Grace”), turns 71 1942 Michael Nesmith, Rock singer, musician (The Monkees), turns 69 1945 Davy Jones, Rock singer (The Monkees), turns 66 1946 Patti Smith, Rock musician, turns 65 1947 Jeff Lynne, Rock singer, musician (ELO), turns 64 1957 Matt Lauer, TV host (“Today”), turns 54 1959 Tracey Ullman, Actress, comedian, turns 52 1961 Sean Hannity, TV host, turns 50 1975 Tiger Woods, Golfer, turns 36 1977 Laila Ali, Boxer, TV personality, turns 34 1978 Tyrese Gibson, R&B singer, actor, turns 33 1980 Eliza Dushku, Actress, turns 31
Historic Birthdays
Alfred Smith 12/30/1873 – 10/4/1944 American politician and four-time governor of New York State. Go to obituary »
77 Bert Parks 12/30/1914 – 2/2/1992
American game show host69 Sir Carol Reed 12/30/1906 – 4/25/1976
English film director71 Alfred Einstein 12/30/1880 – 2/13/1952
German-born American musicologist and critic70 Ramana Maharshi 12/30/1879 – 4/14/1950
Hindu philosopher and yogi70 Rudyard Kipling 12/30/1865 – 1/18/1936
English writer77 Asa Griggs Candler 12/30/1851 – 3/12/1929
American developer of Coca-Cola62 John Milne 12/30/1850 – 7/30/1913
English seismologist and geologist; inventor of the seismograph
