January 30th

Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system went on sale.

Coretta Scott King, the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died at age 78.

Iraqis voted in their country's first free election in a half-century.

Richard Reid, a British citizen and al-Qaida follower, was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge in Boston for trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoes.

The first computer virus is released “into the wild”. Elk Cloner was created by 15-year-old Richard Skrenta as a practical joke.

The Iranian civilian government announced that the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini would be allowed to return.

Thirteen Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as 'Bloody Sunday.'.

The Beatles performed in public for the last time in a 45-minute gig on the roof of their Apple Records headquarters in London.

The Tet offensive began as Communist forces launched surprise attacks against South Vietnamese provincial capitals.

State funeral of Winston Churchill at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Largest ever state funeral.

Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi was murdered by a Hindu extremist.

9,400 people die in the deadliest maritime disaster in history. The “Wilhelm Gustloff” was sunk by a Soviet submarine during World War II.

Hitler threatens the Jews during his speech to the German Reichstag (Parliament).

President Paul von Hindenburg appoints Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor of Germany who forms a government with Franz von Papen.

James Ritty and John Birch received a U.S. patent for the first cash register.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, was born in Hyde Park, N.Y.

Burned US Library of Congress re-established with Thomas Jefferson's 6,500 volumes.

Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is ritually executed after having been dead for two years.

King Charles I of England was beheaded.