In the Gregorian calendar, December 30 is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years); one day remains till the end of the year.

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1. 30th December 1922 Establishment of the USSR.
2. 1903 U.S.A – Theater Fire in Chicago
3. 1986 England – Canaries made redundant
4. 1934 Switzerland – U.S Refuses to Join League of Nations
5. 1965 Philippines – Ferdinand Marcos
6. 2006 Iraq – Saddam Hussein Hanged

1922 Establishment of the USSR

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From 1922 to 1991, the Soviet Union, formally known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) occupied a large portion of Eurasia. It was a model communist state that was ostensibly a federal union of fifteen national republics, but in reality, up until its closing years, both its government and its economy were heavily centralised. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union ruled this one-party state, which had Moscow as its capital as well as the capital of its biggest and most populous republic, the Russian SFSR. Leningrad (Russian SFSR), Kiev (Ukrainian SSR), Minsk (Byelorussian SSR), Tashkent (Uzbek SSR), Alma-Ata (Kazakh SSR), and Novosibirsk were among the other significant cities (Russian SFSR).

Significant social and technological advancements and inventions were produced by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Armed Forces made up the largest standing force in the world and had the second-largest economy in the world. It was a signatory to the NPT and has the biggest nuclear arsenal in the world. It was one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and a founder member of the organisation. The nation had remained one of the world’s two superpowers before to the collapse due to its predominance in Eastern Europe, military and economic prowess, assistance to underdeveloped nations, and scientific development.

History:

The Decembrist insurrection of 1825 marked the beginning of modern revolutionary action in the Russian Empire. Even after serfdom was abolished in 1861, the conditions were unfavourable to farmers, which inspired revolutionaries. After the Russian Revolution of 1905, a parliament (the State Duma) was set up, but Tsar Nicholas II rejected attempts to transition from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. Military loss and food shortages in key cities during World War I contributed to and exacerbated social unrest.

The February Revolution, which saw the overthrow of Nicholas II and the imperial government, began on March 8, 1917, when a spontaneous public demonstration in Petrograd called for peace and bread.   The Russian Provisional Government, which had the intention of holding elections for the Russian Constituent Assembly and continuing to support the Entente in World War I, succeeded the tsarist dictatorship.

The Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, the most significant of them, shared power with the Provisional Government at the same time that workers’ councils, also known as “Soviets,” sprung up all over the nation. Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks promoted a socialist revolution in the Soviet Union and on the streets. The Provisional Government was overthrown by the Red Guards on November 7, 1917, handing complete political control to the Soviet Union.The Great October Socialist Revolution would eventually become the recognised name for this event in Soviet bibliographies. The Bolsheviks negotiated an armistice with the Central Powers in December, but by February 1918, hostilities had broken out once more. The Soviet Union withdrew from the conflict and signed the Brest-Litovsk Treaty in March.

The Reds and the Whites engaged in a protracted and brutal Civil War that lasted from 1917 until 1923, when the Reds were victorious. It included foreign interference, the old tsar and his family’s execution, and the 1921 famine, which claimed the lives of roughly five million people. The Peace of Riga, which divided disputed territory in Belarus and Ukraine between the Republic of Poland and Soviet Russia, was concluded in March 1921, amid a related conflict with Poland. Similar disputes with the newly formed republics of Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania had to be resolved by Soviet Russia.

Treaty on Establishing the USSR:

The Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR were approved by a conference of plenipotentiary delegations from the Russian SFSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, and the Byelorussian SSR on December 28, 1922, creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. On December 30, 1922, the chiefs of the delegations, Mikhail Kalinin, Mikhail Tskhakaya, Mikhail Frunze, Grigory Petrovsky, and Alexander Chervyakov, signed these two documents after they had been approved by the USSR’s first Congress of Soviets. The Bolshoi Theatre’s stage served as the location for the official announcement.

In 1917, during the early years of Soviet dominance, the nation’s economy, industry, and politics underwent a thorough makeover. The Bolshevik Initial Decrees, official documents that Vladimir Lenin signed, guided much of this. The GOELRO plan, which called for a significant restructuring of the Soviet economy based on complete electrification of the nation, was one of the most notable innovations.The plan was completed by 1931 and served as a model for following five-year plans. In the 1920s, the Soviet government allowed some private enterprise to coexist alongside nationalised industry as a prelude to fully developing socialism in the country. Additionally, the complete food requisition in the countryside was replaced by a food tax, following the economic policy of “War communism” during the Russian Civil War.

1903 U.S.A – Theater Fire in Chicago

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On December 30, 1903, a fire broke out at the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago. With 602 fatalities, it is one of the deadliest single-building fires in American history.

At 24-28 West Randolph Street, between State Street and Dearborn Street, the Iroquois Theatre was situated. The syndicate that funded its construction choose the location particularly to draw day-trippers from out of town who, it was believed, would feel more secure attending a theatre close to the police-patrolled Loop shopping zone. The theatre finally opened on November 23, 1903, following a number of delays brought on by worker unrest and, according to one writer, the mysterious failure of architect Benjamin Marshall to finish necessary designs by the deadline. Drama reviewers praised the theatre when it first opened; Walter K. Hill claimed that it was “the most magnificent in Chicago, and qualified judges remark that few theatres in America can rival its architectural perfections” in the New York Clipper (a forerunner of Variety).

After the fire, the Iroquois Theatre was reopened in September 1904 under the name Hyde & Behman’s Music Hall. It was renamed the Colonial Theatre in October 1905. It was still in use when the building was destroyed in 1925. The Oriental Theatre was erected there in 1926. The Nederlander Theatre replaced the Oriental Theatre as of 2019.

Before the fire there were gaps in fire readiness:

Despite being advertised as “Absolutely Fireproof” in playbills and marketing, the theatre structure had various flaws that made it less fire-ready. “The absence of an intake, or stage ventilation shaft; the exposed reinforcement of the (proscenium) arch; the presence of wood trim on everything and the inadequate availability of exits,” the editor of Fireproof Magazine observed while touring the Iroquois during construction. Days before the theater’s official debut, Chicago Fire Department (CFD) captain Patrick Jennings took an unofficial tour and reported that there were no sprinklers, alarms, phones, or water hookups.William Sallers, the theater’s fireman, and the captain talked about the shortcomings. For fear of having him fired by the syndicate that owned the theatre, Sallers refrained from bringing the issue up directly with fire chief William Musham. Captain Jennings brought the situation to the attention of his commanding officer, battalion head John J. Hannon, who informed him that nothing could be done because the theatre already had a fireman.

Six “Kilfyre” fire extinguishers made up the onsite firefighting apparatus. Kilfyre was a type of dry chemical extinguisher that was also marketed for putting out chimney fires in residences. A tin tube of 2 inches by 24 inches (5.1 centimetres by 61.0 centimetres) was filled with around 3 pounds (1.4 kilogrammes) of white powder, primarily sodium bicarbonate. The user was told to “forcefully hurl” the tube’s contents onto the flames’ base. The fire started high above the stage, so when the Kilfyre was thrown, it fell to the ground ineffectively.

1986 England – Canaries made redundant

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According to new government plans, more than 200 canary birds will eventually leave Britain’s mining shafts.
In order to identify any dangerous gases that might be present beneath, modern equipment is preferred over the miner’s trusted yellow-feathered companion.

The bird will be replaced with new electronic detectors since they are allegedly less expensive over the long term and better at alerting miners to the presence of airborne contaminants.The hand-held gas detectors will have a digital reading that is displayed on a screen to inform miners of the quantity of the gases.Next year, the birds’ replacements will be progressively introduced.

The most recent round of layoffs in the mining sector have reportedly disappointed miners, but they have no plans to challenge the decision.The removal of the canaries will put an end to a British mining tradition that dates back to 1911 and calls for the use of two canaries by each pit.

According to new government plans, more than 200 canary birds will eventually leave Britain’s mining shafts.
In order to identify any dangerous gases that might be present beneath, modern equipment is preferred over the miner’s trusted yellow-feathered companion.The bird will be replaced with new electronic detectors since they are allegedly less expensive over the long term and better at alerting miners to the presence of airborne contaminants.

1934 Switzerland – U.S Refuses to Join League of Nations

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The first global intergovernmental organisation whose major goal was to promote peace in the globe was the League of Nations. On January 10, 1920, the Paris Peace Conference, which put an end to World War One, established it. On April 20, 1946, the primary organisation ended operations, although many of its constituent parts were moved into the newly formed United Nations.

The Covenant of the League set forth the League’s main objectives. They included the averting of wars by means of disarmament and collective security as well as the resolving of international conflicts through negotiation and arbitration. Other issues it was concerned about included working conditions, fair treatment of indigenous people, drug and human trafficking, the arms trade, world health, detainees, and the safety of minorities in Europe.As Part I of the Treaty of Versailles, the Covenant of the League of Nations was signed on June 28, 1919, and it went into force on January 10, 1920, along with the rest of the Treaty. The League’s Assembly and Council both held their inaugural meetings on November 15, 1920, and January 16, 1920, respectively. President of the United States Woodrow Wilson received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 for his work as the League’s chief architect.

The general consensus among scholars today is that, despite the League’s failure to bring about world peace, it did manage to pave new paths for the expansion of the rule of law globally; strengthen the idea of collective security; give a voice to smaller nations; and, through its numerous commissions and committees, contribute to increasing awareness of issues like epidemics, slavery, child labour, colonial tyranny, refugee crises, and general working conditions.In contrast to the pre-First World War approaches to law and politics, Professor David Kennedy sees the League as a singular period when international relations were “institutionalised.”

1965 Philippines – Ferdinand Marcos

Philippine politician, lawyer, tyrant, and kleptocrat who served as the country’s 10th president from 1965 to 1986 (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989). He declared martial law in 1972 and maintained it until 1981, when he was overthrown. He described his administration as “constitutional authoritarianism 414 under his Kilusang Bagong Lipunan” (New Society Movement). Marcos, one of the most divisive leaders of the 20th century, was known for his brutality, luxury, and corruption.

Marcos claimed to have been the “most decorated combat hero in the Philippines,” but many of his assertions have been proven to be false, according to papers from the US Army, which label his claims about his military exploits as “fraudulent” and “absurd.” He practised law after the Second World War and was elected to the Philippine Senate in 1959 and the House of Representatives in 1949, respectively. His 20-year presidency began with an economy that was growing when he was elected president of the Philippines in 1965, but it would conclude with widespread unemployment, great poverty, and a crippling debt crisis.During his first tenure, he was well-liked for his aggressive infrastructure development programme, which was financed by foreign debt; nevertheless, it also caused an inflationary problem that resulted in societal upheaval during his second term. Shortly before the end of his second term, on September 23, 1972, Marcos declared martial law in the Philippines. 1973 saw the ratification of martial law following a false referendum. The Constitution was altered, media were muzzled, and the political opposition, Muslims, suspected communists, and common people were subjected to violence and oppression.

The Marcos family stole $5 billion to $10 billion from the Central Bank of the Philippines, according to source papers released by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). The PCGG further claimed that between 1965 and 1986, the Marcos family lived a lavish lifestyle and stole billions of dollars from the Philippines. The epithet “Imeldific” comes from his wife Imelda Marcos, who became notorious in her own right due to the excesses that marked their domestic tyranny.

2006 Iraq – Saddam Hussein Hanged

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Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, was executed on December 30, 2006 (Death’s Angels). After being found guilty of crimes against humanity in the 1982 Dujail massacre, which resulted in the murder of 148 Iraqi Shi’ites in the town of Dujail in reprisal for an assassination attempt against him, Saddam Hussein was given the death penalty by hanging.

An official video of his execution, which was made public by the Iraqi government, begins with him being carried to the gallows and ends with the hangman’s noose being tightened around his neck. Mobile phone footage of the execution that showed him being jeered at in Arabic by a group of his compatriots while being applauded by Shia preacher Muqtada al-Sadr and falling through the gallows’ trap door sparked outrage on a global scale.On December 31, Saddam Hussein’s body was brought back to his hometown of Al-Awja, which is close to Tikrit, and interred next to the graves of other family member