World History 1930

About the history of the world in 1930, Pluto is discovered, flash bulbs go on sale, Haile Selassie became emperor of Ethiopia.

TWO CENTURIES OF WORLD HISTORY: 1778-1978

1930

* Ras Tafari, 39, became Haile Selassie I, emperor of Ethiopia. Claiming to be a direct linear descendant of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Haile Selassie was educated in a French Catholic mission in his native province of Harar. His granduncle, the great Menelik, who early spotted the boy's leadership potential, steered him into a number of administrative roles. When Menelik's successor, Lij Yasu, stunned his Christian subjects by converting to the Muslim faith, Ras Tafari, himself a devout Coptic Catholic, made his move. He engineered a coup in 1916 and installed Menelik's daughter on the throne as Empress Zauditu, carefully setting himself up as regent and heir apparent. With Zauditu's death in 1930, Haile Selassie became emperor. He quickly sought to consolidate his kingdom, suppress slavery, and promote education. But all his well-laid plans went up in smoke when Mussolini's Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935. In its nearly 3,000-year history, Ethiopia had never before been under foreign domination. The emperor personally led his troops into battle against the Fascists, but in 1936 he fled the country and lived in exile in England and Sudan for five years before returning with British and Indian troops to liberate his homeland in 1941. Haile Selassie (Amharic for "Power of the Trinity") regained his throne and resumed his one-man rule of that country with little or no opposition.

* Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, 24, of the Lowell Observatory at Flagstaff, Ariz., discovered the planet Pluto.

* Photoflash bulbs, developed by Johannes Ostermeier of Germany, went on the market.

Mar. 6 The first packages of frozen food, developed by Clarence Birdseye, appeared on the shelves of 10 grocery stores in Springfield, Mass.

Sept. 15 The U.S. defeated Great Britain in the first international bridge tournament in London.

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