Today in Millitary History June 30

    
June 30 296  Pope Marcellinus begins his papacy.

June 30 350  Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed in Rome by troops of the usurper Magnentius.

June 30 763  The Byzantine army of emperor Constantine V defeats the Bulgarian forces in the Battle of Anchialus.

June 30 1422 Battle of Arbedo between the duke of Milan and the Swiss cantons.

June 30 1520 Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés fight their way out of Tenochtitlan.
  
June 30  1521  Spanish forces defeat a combined French and Navarrese army at the Battle of Noáin during the Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre.

June 30 1559  King Henry II of France is mortally wounded in a jousting match against Gabriel, comte de Montgomery.

June 30 1651 The Deluge: Khmelnytsky Uprising: The Battle of Berestechko ends with a Polish victory.    June 30 1688 – The Immortal Seven issue the Invitation to William, which would culminate in the Glorious Revolution.

June 30 1758 Seven Years' War: The Battle of Domstadtl takes place.

June 30 1794 Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery.

JUNE 30 1857  For his actions between 30 June and 22 November Robert Aitken was awarded the Victoria cross.  The citation reads

For various acts of gallantry performed during the defence of the Residency of Lucknow, from the 30th June to the 22nd of November 1857

1. On three different occasions, Lieutenant Aitken went into the garden under the enemy's loopholes in the "Captain's Bazaar. On two of these occasions, he brought out a number of bullocks which had been left in the garden; - subsequently, on the 3rd of July, the enemy having set fire to the Bhoosa Stock in the garden, and it being apprehended that the fire would reach the Powder Magazine which had been left there, Lieutenant Aitken, accompanied by other Officers, went into the garden, and cut down all the tents which might have communicated the fire to the powder. This was done, close to the enemy's loopholes, under a bright light from the flames. It was a most dangerous service.
2. On the night of the 20th of August, the Enemy having set fire to the Baillie Guard Gate, Lieutenant Aitken was the first man in the gateway, and, assisted by some sepoys and a water-carrier of his Regiment, he partially opened the gate under a heavy fire of musketry, and, having removed the burning wood and straw, saved the gate.
3. On the evening of the 25th of September, this Officer led on twelve sepoys of his Regiment for the purpose of attacking two guns opposite the gate referred to, in order to prevent their being turned on the late Major-General Havelock's second column. Having captured them, he attacked and took the Teree Kotee, with a small force.
4. On the morning of the 26th of September, with a small party of his Regiment, he assaulted and captured the barricaded gateway of the Furreed Buksh Palace, and the Palace itself. On this occasion, he sprang up against a small wicket gate on the right, and prevented the enemy from shutting it, until, with assistance, it was forced open, and the assaulting party were thus able to rush in. The complete success of the attack was solely owing to this Officer's distinguished bravery.
5. In a subsequent sortie on the 29th of September, Lieutenant Aitken volunteered to take a gun which still continued firing, taking with him four soldiers through the houses and lanes to the gun. The enemy fired on this party from the houses, but they held their ground, until a stronger party coming up, the gun was upset from its carriage, and taken into the Residency. Another gun was subsequently taken.

June 30 1934 The Night of the Long Knives, Adolf Hitler's violent purge of his political rivals in Germany, takes place.

June 30 1944 World War II: The Battle of Cherbourg ends with the fall of the strategically valuable port to American forces.

June 30 2015 A Hercules C-130 military aircraft with 113 people on board crashes in a residential area in Medan, Indonesia, resulting in at least 116 deaths.