September 30 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day
It is the last day of the third quarter, the midway point of the second half of the year.
- 489 – The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time.
- 737 – The Turgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their baggage train.
- 1399 – Henry IV is proclaimed king of England.
- 1520 – Suleiman the Magnificent is proclaimed sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
- 1541 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto and his forces enter Tula territory in present-day western Arkansas, encountering fierce resistance.
- 1551 – A coup by the military establishment of Japan’s Ōuchi clan forces their lord to commit suicide, and their city is burned.
- 1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: France and Spain defeat Sardinia at the Battle of Madonna dell’Olmo, but soon have to withdraw from Sardinia anyway.
- 1791 – The first performance of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute takes place two months before his death.
- 1791 – France’s National Constituent Assembly is dissolved, to be replaced the next day by the National Legislative Assembly
- 1882 – Thomas Edison’s first commercial hydroelectric power plant (later known as Appleton Edison Light Company) begins operation.
- 1888 – Jack the Ripper kills his third and fourth victims, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes.
- 1906 – The Royal Galician Academy, the Galician language’s biggest linguistic authority, starts working in La Coruña, Spain.
- 1907 – The McKinley National Memorial, the final resting place of assassinated U.S. President William McKinley and his family, is dedicated in Canton, Ohio.
- 1909 – The Cunard Line’s RMS Mauretania makes a record-breaking westbound crossing of the Atlantic, that will not be bettered for 20 years.
- 1915 – World War I: Radoje Ljutovac becomes the first soldier in history to shoot down an enemy aircraft with ground-to-air fire.
- 1922 – The University of Alabama opens the American football season with a 110–0 victory over the Marion Military Institute, which still stands as Alabama’s record for largest margin of victory and as their only 100 point game.
- 1927 – Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 60 home runs in a season.
- 1931 – Start of “Die Voortrekkers” youth movement for Afrikaners in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
- 1935 – The Hoover Dam, astride the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, is dedicated.
- 1938 – Britain, France, Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement, whereby Germany annexes the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.
- 1938 – The League of Nations unanimously outlaws “intentional bombings of civilian populations”.
- 1939 – World War II: General Władysław Sikorski becomes prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile.
- 1939 – NBC broadcasts the first televised American football game.
- 1941 – World War II: The Babi Yar massacre comes to an end.
- 1943 – The United States Merchant Marine Academy is dedicated by President Roosevelt.
- 1945 – The Bourne End rail crash, in Hertfordshire, England, kills 43
- 1947 – The 1947 World Series is the first to be televised, to include an African-American player, to exceed $2 million in receipts, to see a pinch-hit home run, and to have six umpires on the field.
- 1947 – Pakistan joins the United Nations.
- 1949 – The Berlin Airlift ends.
- 1954 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world’s first nuclear-powered vessel.
- 1962 – Mexican-American labor leader César Chávez founds the National Farm Workers Association.
- 1962 – James Meredith enters the University of Mississippi, defying racial segregation rules.
- 1965 – The Lockheed L-100, the civilian version of the C-130 Hercules, is introduced.
- 1965 – In Indonesia, a coup by the 30 September Movement is crushed, leading to a mass anti-communist purge, with over 500,000 people killed.
- 1966 – Bechuanaland declares its independence, and becomes the Republic of Botswana.
- 1967 – The BBC Light Programme, Third Programme and Home Service are replaced with BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4 Respectively, BBC Radio 1 is also launched.
- 1968 – The Boeing 747 is rolled out and shown to the public for the first time.
- 1970 – Jordan makes a deal with the PFLP for the release of the remaining hostages from the Dawson’s Field hijackings.
- 1972 – Roberto Clemente records the 3,000th and final hit of his career.
- 1975 – The AH-64 Apache makes its first flight. Eight years later, the first production model rolled out of the assembly line.
- 1977 – Because of NASA budget cuts and dwindling power reserves, the Apollo program’s ALSEP experiment packages left on the Moon are shut down.
- 1980 – Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation.
- 1990 – The Dalai Lama unveils the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa.
- 1993 – The 6.2 Mw Latur earthquake shakes Maharashtra, India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) killing 9,748 and injuring 30,000.
- 1994 – Aldwych tube station (originally Strand Station) of the London Underground closes after eighty-eight years in service.
- 1994 – Ongar railway station, the furthest London Underground from central London, closes.
- 1999 – The Tokaimura nuclear accident causes the deaths of two technicians in Japan’s second-worst nuclear accident.
- 2000 – Israeli-Palestinian conflict: 12-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah is shot and killed on the second day of the Second Intifada.
- 2004 – The AIM-54 Phoenix, the primary missile for the F-14 Tomcat, is retired from service. Almost two years later, the Tomcat itself is retired.
- 2005 – Controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in a Danish newspaper.
- 2009 – The 7.6 Mw Sumatra earthquake leaves 1,115 people dead.
- 2016 – Hurricane Matthew becomes a Category 5 hurricane, making it the strongest hurricane to form in the Caribbean Sea since 2007.
- 2016 – Two paintings with a combined value of $100 million are recovered after having been stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in 2002.
Births on September 30
- 1207 – Rumi, Persian mystic and poet (d. 1273)
- 1227 – Pope Nicholas IV (d. 1292)
- 1530 – Girolamo Mercuriale, Italian philologist and physician (d. 1606)
- 1550 – Michael Maestlin, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1631)
- 1622 – Johann Sebastiani, German composer (d. 1683)
- 1689 – Jacques Aubert, French violinist and composer (d. 1753)
- 1700 – Stanisław Konarski, Polish monk, poet, and playwright (d. 1773)
- 1710 – John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1771)
- 1714 – Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, French epistemologist and philosopher (d. 1780)
- 1732 – Jacques Necker, Swiss-French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1804)
- 1743 – Christian Ehregott Weinlig, German cantor and composer (d. 1813)
- 1765 – José María Morelos, Mexican priest and general (d. 1815)
- 1800 – Decimus Burton, English architect, designed the Pharos Lighthouse (d. 1881)
- 1813 – John Rae, Scottish physician and explorer (d. 1893)
- 1814 – Lucinda Hinsdale Stone, American feminist, educator, and philanthropist (d. 1900)
- 1827 – Ellis H. Roberts, American journalist and politician, 20th Treasurer of the United States (d. 1918)
- 1832 – Ann Jarvis, American activist, co-founded Mother’s Day (d. 1905)
- 1836 – Remigio Morales Bermúdez, Peruvian politician, 56th President of Peru (d. 1894)
- 1852 – Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer, conductor, and educator (d. 1924)
- 1861 – William Wrigley, Jr., American businessman, founded Wrigley Company (d. 1932)
- 1863 – Reinhard Scheer, German admiral (d. 1928)
- 1870 – Thomas W. Lamont, American banker and philanthropist (d. 1948)
- 1870 – Jean Baptiste Perrin, French-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1942)
- 1882 – Hans Geiger, German physicist and academic (d. 1945)
- 1883 – Bernhard Rust, German educator and politician (d. 1945)
- 1883 – Nora Stanton Blatch Barney, American civil engineer, architect, and suffragist (d. 1971)
- 1887 – Lil Dagover, Indonesian-German actress (d. 1980)
- 1893 – Lansdale Ghiselin Sasscer, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (d. 1964)
- 1895 – Lewis Milestone, Moldovan-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1980)
- 1897 – Gaspar Cassadó, Spanish cellist and composer (d. 1966)
- 1897 – Alfred Wintle, Russian-English soldier and politician (d. 1966)
- 1897 – Charlotte Wolff, German-English physician and psychotherapist (d. 1986)
- 1898 – Renée Adorée, French-American actress (d. 1933)
- 1898 – Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois (d. 1977)
- 1898 – Edgar Parin d’Aulaire, German-American author and illustrator (d. 1986)
- 1901 – Thelma Terry, American bassist and bandleader (d. 1966)
- 1904 – Waldo Williams, Welsh poet and academic (d. 1971)
- 1905 – Nevill Francis Mott, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
- 1905 – Michael Powell, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1990)
- 1906 – Mireille Hartuch, French singer-songwriter and actress (d. 1996)
- 1908 – David Oistrakh, Ukrainian-Russian violinist and educator (d. 1974)
- 1910 – Jussi Kekkonen, Finnish captain (d. 1962)
- 1911 – Gustave Gilbert, American psychologist (d. 1977)
- 1912 – Kenny Baker, American singer and actor (d. 1985)
- 1913 – Bill Walsh, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1975)
- 1915 – Lester Maddox, American businessman and politician, 75th Governor of Georgia (d. 2003)
- 1917 – Yuri Lyubimov, Russian actor and director (d. 2014)
- 1917 – Buddy Rich, American drummer, bandleader, and actor (d. 1987)
- 1918 – Lewis Nixon, U.S. Army captain (d. 1995)
- 1918 – René Rémond, French historian and economist (d. 2007)
- 1919 – Roberto Bonomi, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1992)
- 1919 – Elizabeth Gilels, Ukrainian-Russian violinist and educator (d. 2008)
- 1919 – William L. Guy, American lieutenant and politician, 26th Governor of North Dakota (d. 2013)
- 1919 – Patricia Neway, American soprano and actress (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Deborah Kerr, Scottish-English actress (d. 2007)
- 1921 – Aldo Parisot, Brazilian-American cellist and educator (d. 2018)
- 1922 – Lamont Johnson, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2010)
- 1922 – Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Donald Swann, Welsh-English pianist and composer (d. 1994)
- 1924 – Truman Capote, American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1984)
- 1925 – Arkady Ostashev, Russian engineer and educator (d. 1998)
- 1926 – Heino Kruus, Estonian basketball player and coach (d. 2012)
- 1926 – Robin Roberts, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2010)
- 1927 – W. S. Merwin, American poet and translator (d. 2019)
- 1928 – Elie Wiesel, Romanian-American author, academic, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
- 1928 – Ray Willsey, Canadian-American football player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1929 – Carol Fenner, American author and illustrator (d. 2002)
- 1929 – Vassilis Papazachos, Greek seismologist and academic
- 1929 – Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Filipino politician, diplomat and writer (d. 2017)
- 1929 – Dorothee Sölle, German theologian and author (d. 2003)
- 1931 – Angie Dickinson, American actress
- 1931 – Teresa Gorman, English educator and politician (d. 2015)
- 1932 – Shintaro Ishihara, Japanese author, playwright, and politician, Governor of Tokyo
- 1932 – Johnny Podres, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)
- 1933 – Michel Aoun, Lebanese general and politician, President of Lebanon
- 1933 – Cissy Houston, American singer
- 1934 – Alan A’Court, English footballer and manager (d. 2009)
- 1934 – Udo Jürgens, Austrian-Swiss singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2014)
- 1934 – Anna Kashfi, Indian-American actress (d. 2015)
- 1935 – Johnny Mathis, American singer and actor
- 1936 – Jim Sasser, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Ambassador to China
- 1936 – Sevgi Soysal, Turkish author (d. 1976)
- 1937 – Jurek Becker, Polish-German author (d. 1997)
- 1937 – Valentyn Sylvestrov, Ukrainian pianist and composer
- 1937 – Gary Hocking, Rhodesian motorcycle racer (d. 1962)
- 1938 – Alan Hacker, English clarinet player and educator (d. 2012)
- 1939 – Len Cariou, Canadian actor
- 1939 – Anthony Green, English painter and academic
- 1939 – Jean-Marie Lehn, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1940 – Claudia Card, American philosopher and academic (d. 2015)
- 1940 – Harry Jerome, Canadian sprinter (d. 1982)
- 1940 – Dewey Martin, Canadian-American drummer (d. 2009)
- 1941 – Samuel F. Pickering, Jr., American author and educator
- 1941 – Kamalesh Sharma, Indian academic and diplomat, 5th Commonwealth Secretary General
- 1941 – Reine Wisell, Swedish race car driver
- 1942 – Gus Dudgeon, English record producer (d. 2002)
- 1942 – Frankie Lymon, American singer-songwriter (d. 1968)
- 1943 – Johann Deisenhofer, German-American biochemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1943 – Marilyn McCoo, American singer
- 1943 – Philip Moore, English organist and composer
- 1943 – Ian Ogilvy, English-American actor, playwright, and author
- 1944 – Diane Dufresne, Canadian singer and painter
- 1944 – Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (d. 2006)
- 1944 – Red Robbins, American basketball player (d. 2009)
- 1945 – Richard Edwin Hills, English astronomer and academic
- 1945 – Ehud Olmert, Israeli lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Israel
- 1946 – Fran Brill, American actress, singer, and puppeteer
- 1946 – Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, English academic and politician, Leader of the House of Lords
- 1946 – Héctor Lavoe, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter (d. 1993)
- 1946 – Jochen Mass, German race car driver
- 1946 – Paul Sheahan, Australian cricketer and educator
- 1946 – Claude Vorilhon, French journalist, founded Raëlism
- 1947 – Marc Bolan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1977)
- 1947 – Rula Lenska, English actress
- 1948 – Craig Kusick, American baseball player and coach (d. 2006)
- 1950 – Laura Esquivel, Mexican author and screenwriter
- 1950 – Victoria Tennant, English actress and dancer
- 1951 – John Lloyd, English screenwriter and producer
- 1951 – Barry Marshall, Australian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1951 – Simon White, English astrophysicist and academic
- 1952 – John Lombardo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1953 – Matt Abts, American drummer
- 1953 – Deborah Allen, American country music singer-songwriter, author, and actress
- 1954 – Basia, Polish singer-songwriter and record producer
- 1954 – Scott Fields, American guitarist and composer
- 1954 – Patrice Rushen, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1955 – Andy Bechtolsheim, German engineer, co-founded Sun Microsystems
- 1955 – Frankie Kennedy, Northern Irish flute player (d. 1994)
- 1956 – Trevor Morgan, English footballer and manager
- 1957 – Fran Drescher, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1958 – Marty Stuart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1959 – Ettore Messina, Italian basketball player and coach
- 1960 – Julia Adamson, Canadian-English keyboard player, composer, and producer
- 1960 – Nicola Griffith, English-American author
- 1960 – Miki Howard, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1960 – Blanche Lincoln, American politician
- 1961 – Gary Coyne, Australian rugby league player
- 1961 – Eric Stoltz, American actor, director, and producer
- 1961 – Mel Stride, English politician
- 1961 – Eric van de Poele, Belgian race car driver
- 1963 – David Barbe, American bass player and producer
- 1964 – Trey Anastasio, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and composer
- 1964 – Monica Bellucci, Italian actress and fashion model
- 1965 – Omid Djalili, English comedian, actor, and producer
- 1966 – Gary Armstrong, Scottish rugby player
- 1966 – Markus Burger, German pianist, composer, and educator
- 1967 – Emmanuelle Houdart, Swiss-French author and illustrator
- 1969 – Gintaras Einikis, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1969 – Chris von Erich, American wrestler (d. 1991)
- 1970 – Tony Hale, American actor and producer
- 1970 – Damian Mori, Australian footballer and manager
- 1971 – Jenna Elfman, American actress and producer
- 1972 – Jamal Anderson, American football player and sportscaster
- 1972 – Ari Behn, Danish-Norwegian author and playwright (d. 2019)
- 1972 – John Campbell, American bass player and songwriter
- 1972 – Mayumi Kojima, Japanese singer-songwriter
- 1972 – José Lima, Dominican-American baseball player (d. 2010)
- 1974 – Jeremy Giambi, American baseball player
- 1974 – Tom Greatrex, English politician
- 1974 – Ben Phillips, English cricketer
- 1974 – Daniel Wu, American–born Hong Kong actor, director, and producer
- 1975 – Jay Asher, American author
- 1975 – Marion Cotillard, French-American actress and singer
- 1975 – Carlos Guillén, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1975 – Laure Pequegnot, French skier
- 1975 – Christopher Jackson, American actor, singer, musician, and composer
- 1976 – Georgie Bingham, British radio and television presenter
- 1977 – Roy Carroll, Northern Irish goalkeeper and manager
- 1977 – Nick Curran, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2012)
- 1978 – Małgorzata Glinka-Mogentale, Polish female volleyball player
- 1979 – Cameron Bruce, Australian footballer and coach
- 1979 – Andy van der Meyde, Dutch footballer
- 1980 – Martina Hingis, Czechoslovakia-born Swiss tennis player
- 1980 – Milagros Sequera, Venezuelan tennis player
- 1981 – Cecelia Ahern, Irish author
- 1981 – Dominique Moceanu, American gymnast
- 1982 – Lacey Chabert, American actress
- 1982 – Ryane Clowe, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Yan Stastny, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Dmytro Boyko, Ukrainian footballer
- 1983 – Boniek Forbes, Guinea-Bissau footballer
- 1983 – Andreea Răducan, Romanian gymnast
- 1984 – Georgios Eleftheriou, Greek footballer
- 1985 – Adam Cooney, Australian footballer
- 1985 – David Gower, Australian rugby league player
- 1985 – Téa Obreht, Serbian-American author
- 1985 – Cristian Rodríguez, Uruguayan footballer
- 1985 – T-Pain, American rapper, producer, and actor
- 1986 – Olivier Giroud, French footballer
- 1986 – Martin Guptill, New Zealand cricketer
- 1986 – Ben Lovett, Welsh musician and songwriter
- 1986 – Cristián Zapata, Colombian footballer
- 1987 – Aida Garifullina, Russian operatic soprano
- 1988 – Eglė Staišiūnaitė, Lithuanian hurdler
- 1989 – André Weis, German footballer
- 1991 – Thomas Röhler, German javelin thrower
- 1992 – Ezra Miller, American actor and singer
- 1994 – Aliya Mustafina, Russian gymnast
- 1996 – Jacob Host, Australian rugby league player
- 1997 – Yana Kudryavtseva, Russian gymnast
- 1997 – Max Verstappen, Dutch Formula One driver
- 1998 – Trevor Moran, American youtuber and singer
- 2002 – Maddie Ziegler, American dancer and actress
- 2002 – Levi Miller, Australian actor and model
Deaths on September 30
- 420 – Jerome, Roman priest, theologian, and saint (b. 347)
- 653 – Honorius of Canterbury, Italian archbishop and saint
- 940 – Fan Yanguang, Chinese general
- 954 – Louis IV of France (b. 920)
- 1101 – Anselm IV, Italian archbishop
- 1246 – Yaroslav II of Vladimir (b. 1191)
- 1288 – Leszek II the Black, Polish prince, Duke of Łęczyca, Sieradz, Kraków, Sandomierz (b. 1241)
- 1440 – Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, Welsh soldier and politician (b. 1362)
- 1487 – John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1400)
- 1551 – Ōuchi Yoshitaka, Japanese daimyō (b. 1507)
- 1560 – Melchior Cano, Spanish theologian (b. 1525)
- 1572 – Francis Borgia, 4th Duke of Gandía, Spanish priest and saint, 3rd Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1510)
- 1581 – Hubert Languet, French diplomat and reformer (b. 1518)
- 1626 – Nurhaci, Chinese emperor (b. 1559)
- 1628 – Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, English poet and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1554)
- 1770 – Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham, English politician and diplomat, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (b. 1695)
- 1770 – George Whitefield, English-American priest and theologian (b. 1714)
- 1865 – Samuel David Luzzatto, Italian poet and scholar (b. 1800)
- 1891 – Georges Ernest Boulanger, French general and politician, French Minister of War (b. 1837)
- 1897 – Thérèse of Lisieux, French nun and saint (b. 1873)
- 1910 – Maurice Lévy, French mathematician and engineer (b. 1838)
- 1942 – Hans-Joachim Marseille, German captain and pilot (b. 1919)
- 1943 – Franz Oppenheimer, German-American sociologist and economist (b. 1864)
- 1946 – Takashi Sakai, Japanese general and politician, Governor of Hong Kong (b. 1887)
- 1955 – James Dean, American actor (b. 1931)
- 1959 – Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (b. 1877)
- 1961 – Onésime Gagnon, Canadian scholar and politician, 20th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1888)
- 1973 – Peter Pitseolak, Canadian photographer and author (b. 1902)
- 1974 – Carlos Prats, Chilean general and politician, Chilean Minister of Defense (b. 1915)
- 1977 – Mary Ford, American singer and guitarist (b. 1924)
- 1978 – Edgar Bergen, American actor and ventriloquist (b. 1903)
- 1985 – Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist and physicist (b. 1900)
- 1985 – Simone Signoret, French actress (b. 1921)
- 1986 – Nicholas Kaldor, Hungarian-British economist (b. 1908)
- 1987 – Alfred Bester, American author and screenwriter (b. 1913)
- 1988 – Al Holbert, American race car driver (b. 1946)
- 1989 – Virgil Thomson, American composer and critic (b. 1896)
- 1990 – Rob Moroso, American race car driver (b. 1968)
- 1990 – Alice Parizeau, Polish-Canadian journalist and author (b. 1930)
- 1990 – Patrick White, Australian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
- 1991 – Toma Zdravković, Serbian singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
- 1994 – André Michel Lwoff, French microbiologist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- 1998 – Marius Goring, English actor (b. 1912)
- 1998 – Dan Quisenberry, American baseball player and poet (b. 1953)
- 1998 – Robert Lewis Taylor, American soldier and author (b. 1912)
- 2002 – Göran Kropp, Swedish race car driver and mountaineer (b. 1966)
- 2002 – Hans-Peter Tschudi, Swiss lawyer and politician, 63rd President of the Swiss Confederation (b. 1913)
- 2003 – Yusuf Bey, American activist, founded Your Black Muslim Bakery (b. 1935)
- 2003 – Ronnie Dawson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1939)
- 2003 – Robert Kardashian, American lawyer and businessman (b. 1944)
- 2004 – Gamini Fonseka, Sri Lankan actor, director, and politician (b. 1936)
- 2004 – Jacques Levy, American director and songwriter (b. 1935)
- 2004 – Michael Relph, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1915)
- 2008 – J. B. Jeyaretnam, Singaporean lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
- 2010 – Stephen J. Cannell, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1941)
- 2011 – Anwar al-Awlaki, American-Yemeni terrorist (b. 1971)
- 2011 – Ralph M. Steinman, Canadian-American immunologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1943)
- 2012 – Turhan Bey, Austrian actor and producer (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Barry Commoner, American biologist, academic, and politician (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Bobby Jaggers, American wrestler and engineer (b. 1948)
- 2012 – Clara Stanton Jones, American librarian (b. 1913)
- 2012 – Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian-American figure skater (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Boris Šprem, Croatian lawyer and politician, 8th Speaker of the Croatian Parliament (b. 1956)
- 2013 – Janet Powell, Australian educator and politician (b. 1942)
- 2014 – Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Indian cleric and politician (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Martin Lewis Perl, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Guido Altarelli, Italian-Swiss physicist and academic (b. 1941)
- 2015 – Claude Dauphin, French businessman (b. 1951)
- 2015 – Göran Hägg, Swedish author and critic (b. 1947)
- 2017 – Monty Hall, American game show host (b. 1921)
- 2018 – Kim Larsen, Danish rock musician (b. 1945)
- 2018 – Geoffrey Hayes, British television presenter and actor (b. 1942)
- 2018 – Sonia Orbuch, Polish resistance fighter during the Second World War and Holocaust educator. (b. 1925)
- 2019 – Victoria Braithwaite, British research scientist who proved fish feel pain (b. 1967)
Holidays and observances on September 30
- Agricultural Reform (Nationalization) Day (São Tomé and Príncipe)
- Birth of Morelos (Mexico)
- Boy’s Day (Poland)
- Christian feast day:
- Gregory the Illuminator
- Honorius of Canterbury
- Jerome
- September 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Independence Day (Botswana) or Botswana Day, celebrates the independence of Botswana from United Kingdom in 1966.
- International Translation Day (International Federation of Translators)
- Orange Shirt Day (Canada)
