This Day in History on December 30 - History and Headlines

December 30, 2018: People We Lost in 2018

By Major Dan on December 30, 2018 Cinema & TV, December 30, Fashion, Food, Lists, Literature, Military, Music, Politics, Sports

A Brief History On December 30, 2018, we at History and Headlines take a moment to remember some of the notable people that died this year. (Yes, we know there is an entire day left in the year, so we will update the article to include any last minute deaths of note.) As always, we invite you, the reader, to nominate any other worthy people that died in 2018 that we neglected to mention, especially as we are not trying to name every single person of minimal celebrity that died. If you choose to mention a person that died, please…

December 30, 2006: 10 Leaders of Countries That Were Executed

By Major Dan on December 30, 2017 December 30, Lists, Politics

A Brief History On December 30, 2006, former dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, was hanged in a gruesome execution that nearly severed his head from his body. In the aftermath of the terror attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the US alleged Iraqi involvement with those attacks and by 2003 the US led a coalition of nations in an invasion of Iraq, eventually arresting Hussein in December of 2003, with the newly installed Iraqi government executing the reviled dictator 3 years later. Many national leaders have been executed throughout history, usually by their own people. Today, we…

December 30, 1970: Mysterious Death of Sonny Liston

By Major Dan on December 30, 2016 December 30, Sports, The Unexplained

A Brief History On December 30, 1970, former heavyweight boxing champion Charles L. “Sonny” Liston lay dead on the bedroom floor of his Las Vegas home. There he would stay until his wife found his dead body on January 5, 1971, almost a week later. Officially, the Coroner said heart failure (your heart always fails when you die, just sayin’) and lung congestion. The body was already somewhat decomposed, making definitive analysis of cause of death difficult, and rumors started almost immediately. Digging Deeper Liston had won the heavyweight championship by beating Floyd Patterson in 1962 at the age of…

December 30, 530 BC: Tomyris, a “Worthy Woman”, Kills Cyrus the Great

By Major Dan on October 6, 2016 December 30, Military

A Brief History On December 30, 530 BC, an ancient Massagetean (Central Asian) queen named Tomyris led her armies to victory against the First Persian Empire led by Cyrus the Great, defeating the Persians and Tomyris personally killing Cyrus herself (historical accounts vary). Digging Deeper Not only did this warrior woman kill the great king, she had him beheaded and then crucified (overkill has a new definition!) and then thrust his head into a goatskin full of human blood! Tomyris (numerous spellings of her name exist) ruled an area that is now parts of modern Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.…

December 30, 1999: Ex-Beatle George Harrison Attacked in his Own Home

By Major Dan on December 30, 2015 Crime, December 30, Music

A Brief History On December 30, 1999, 56 year old former Beatle George Harrison was attacked in his own home by a stranger, later identified as Michael Abram, age 36. Harrison was stabbed more than 40 times in the head and body, and suffered a punctured lung. All that kept Harrison from being killed was his heroic wife, Olivia, who disabled Abram by beating him with a poker and a lamp. Digging Deeper Harrison had already been diagnosed with throat cancer in 1997, and later died of lung and brain cancer in 2001, something he attributed to his long habit…