Happy birthday Sky HISTORY! Historical moments featuring the number 30
It’s now 30 years since Sky HISTORY first burst onto TV screens. How apt, then, that the number 30 has played a major part in quite a few historical events…
Image: Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden at the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631, one of the most important battles from the Thirty Years' War | Public Domain
Here at Sky HISTORY, we’ve just lit the 30th candle on our birthday cake. Yes, it’s now been three decades since Sky HISTORY started airing on British TV.
30 feels like a milestone age - for people and brands alike. It’s a number with historical significance, too. Napoleon Bonaparte was aged 30 when he became France’s ruler, while Jesus Christ’s crucifixion is often thought to have taken place in 30 AD.
To celebrate Sky HISTORY’s 30th birthday, here are some other historical events where that nice round number has proved especially meaningful.
The Thirty Tyrants rule Athens (404-403 BC)
Ancient Athens was a beacon of democracy by the standards of the time. It was a culture that gave birth to maverick thinkers like philosopher Socrates.
However, the city’s progressive government was overthrown in 404 BC after a failed war against rival Greek power Sparta. An oligarchy took over in Athens and executed hundreds of Athenians opposed to the new regime.
Athens was now governed by 30 commissioners — the ‘Thirty Tyrants’. Though democracy returned eight months later, about 1,500 locals — or 5% of the Athenian population — lost their lives in the meantime.
Octavian wins Battle of Alexandria, annexes Egypt (30 BC)
Why do we all instantly recognise the name Cleopatra? It’s not just because of Elizabeth Taylor. Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (to use her full regal name) ruled Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, masterfully keeping the threat of Rome at bay.
She harnessed her impressive diplomatic skills by ingratiating herself with powerful Roman figures. She did, though, make a rare misstep by allying with Roman general Marc Antony, provoking Roman ruler Octavian’s ire. In 30 BC, his forces invaded Egypt, culminating in Antony’s military downfall at the Battle of Alexandria.
The oft-told legend is that Cleopatra died of an asp bite - the term ‘asp’ referring to a venomous snake. Academics believe it more likely that she either poisoned herself or was killed at Octavian’s behest. In any case, she was Egypt’s last active Ptolemaic pharaoh, with her country becoming a province of the Roman Empire in 30 BC.
Thirty Years’ War rages in Europe (1618-48 AD)
What was the Holy Roman Empire? It’s easier to say what it wasn’t. Voltaire famously quipped that it was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.
Whatever the Holy Roman Empire was, its rather disjointed structure does help to explain the emergence of the Thirty Years’ War. The HRE was riven by religious divisions, with Catholic states and Protestant powers repeatedly coming to blows starting in 1618.
These overflowing tensions were eventually diffused by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. This document set the stage for France’s later dominance of the continent under Louis XIV. As for the HRE and Spain, their best days were now firmly behind them.
Calvin Coolidge serves as 30th President of the United States (1923-29)
Nicknamed ‘Silent Cal’ due to his restrained demeanour, Calvin Coolidge didn’t have the most auspicious rise to the top. He became POTUS when the 29th, Warren G Harding, died (most likely of a heart attack) during his term of office in 1923.
It’s ironic, then, that while Harding’s posthumous image was ravaged by scandal, Coolidge saw the United States reach new economic heights. It’s not for nothing that this era became known as the 'Roaring Twenties'.
Nonetheless, many historians today consider Coolidge more a lucky president than an effective one. Though 1920s America financially prospered, the Wall Street crash at the end of the decade revealed the Coolidge-built economy to be a house of cards.
The 30-year-old Steve Jobs leaves Apple (1985)
After co-founding tech company Apple in 1975 and co-creating the landmark Macintosh computer in 1984, Steve Jobs was a bona fide celebrity.
So, it felt like an ignominious end to a glittering career when, in 1985, tussles with Apple’s management led him to leave the company altogether. He was still only 30 when he founded another tech firm, NeXT, before 1985 was out.
Jobs would eventually return to Apple, however. In 1997, Apple acquired NeXT, bringing Jobs with it. Later that year, Jobs replaced Gil Amelio as Apple’s CEO.
The software Jobs had developed at NeXT helped him to give the Macintosh the modernising overhaul it had long been waiting for. Then there’s the matter of another device you might have heard of, called the iPhone.
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