December 30

© 1997, 1998 by Paul A. Schons

December 30, 1777

Death of Maximilian III in Munich, Germany. Maximilian was the son of the Holy Roman Emperor, Karl VII. He was the Elector (Holy Roman Empire) of Bavaria. He gained his position in Bavaria by the Peace of Füssen of April 22, 1745. He fostered science and industry in Bavaria. He founded the Academy of Sciences in Munich.

December 30, 1783

Immanuel Kant, professor of philosophy at the University of Königsberg buys a house. Prior to that date he had rented housing. He would remain in his home until his death in 1804.

December 30, 1819

Birth of Theodor Fontana in Neuruppin, Germany. Fontana was a journalist and novelist. Works by Fontana include Vor dem Sturm (1878), Irrungen, Wirrungen (1888) and Effi Briest (1895).

December 30, 1847

Birth of John Peter Altgeld in Niederselters, Germany. Altgeld immigrated to the U.S. as a youth. In 1893 he was elected governor of Illinois where he did much to reform the penal system and control child labor. In 1886 there had been a riot at Haymarket Square in Chicago. Labor leaders and attorney Clarence Darrow urged him to grant clemency to three of the men who had been convicted of murder at the death of seven Chicago police officers who were killed in the 1886 riot. He did so and was severely criticized for being in league with anarchists. (Since that time his decision has been praised in judicial circles.) Later he protested to President Grover Cleveland against the use of federal troops in the Pullman Strike. He was defeated for reelection in 1896 whereafter he returned to the practice of law as a partner of Clarence Darrow.

December 30, 1855

Birth of Heinrich Hart in Wesel, Germany. He and his brother, Julius were key figures among Berlin literary leaders introducing Naturalism into German literature. They edited Kritische Waffengänge, Berliner Monatshefte, Kritisches Jahrbuch and Die Freie Bühne.