Today in History: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein executed

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 30, the 364th day of 2025. There is one day left in the year.

Today in history:

On Dec. 30, 2006, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging after being convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi High Tribunal. Hussein was captured in 2003 by U.S. forces while hiding near his hometown of Tikrit.

Also on this date:

In 1860, 10 days after South Carolina seceded from the Union, the state militia seized the United States Army arsenal in Charleston.

In 1896, José Rizal, whose writings inspired the Philippine Revolution, was executed by Spanish army troops after being convicted of rebellion, sedition and conspiracy.

In 1903, more than 600 people died when fire broke out at the recently opened Iroquois Theater in Chicago.

In 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) officially came into existence.

In 2009, seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer were killed by a suicide bomber at a U.S. base in Khost (hohst), Afghanistan.

In 2015, actor and comedian Bill Cosby was charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. (Cosby’s first trial ended in a mistrial after jurors deadlocked; he was convicted on three charges at his retrial in April 2018 and sentenced to three to 10 years in prison, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the conviction in June 2021, setting Cosby free.)