December 30 belongs to Owner 365

On December 30, 1896, Spanish colonial authorities shot Filipino writer and physician José Rizal, aged 35, in Manila, accused of instigating the independence rebellion. Rizal, author of the novels Noli me tangere and El filibusterismo, became the martyr and national hero of the Philippines. December 30 is celebrated as Rizal Day in the country.

On December 30, 1922, the Congress of Soviets of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Transcaucasia formally proclaimed the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The new state, which would eventually encompass 15 republics, was the greatest political and social experiment of the twentieth century and existed for 69 years, until its dissolution on December 25, 1991.

On December 30, 2006, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging in Baghdad for crimes against humanity, convicted for the massacre of 148 Shia Muslims in Dujail in 1982. The execution, filmed on mobile phones and spread on the internet, generated worldwide controversy over the conditions in which it was carried out. Hussein had been captured by American forces in December 2003.