Friday, January 30, 2026

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic to be a public health emergency of international concern.

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute launched Naro-1, South Korea's first carrier rocket and their first launch vehicle to achieve Earth orbit.

Forty-six years to the day after the sinking of the Danish ocean liner MS Hans Hedtoft, Queen Margrethe II unveiled a memorial in Copenhagen to the 95 passengers and crew who perished.

Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Ivory Coast shortly after takeoff, killing 169 on board.

Varig Flight 967 disappeared shortly after takeoff from Tokyo's Narita International Airport en route to Rio de Janeiro.

The Troubles: On Bloody Sunday, members of the British Parachute Regiment shot 26 civil-rights protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing at least 13 people.

Vietnam War: Forces of the Viet Cong and the Vietnamese People's Army launched the Tet Offensive to strike military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam.

In a bloodless coup, Nguyễn Khánh overthrew Dương Văn Minh's military junta in South Vietnam, less than three months after Minh's own coup.