January 30

Events - Economy & Industry

1920day.year

Japanese carmaker Mazda is founded, initially as a cork-producing company.

Japanese manufacturer Mazda was founded in 1920 in Hiroshima as a cork-producing company, later evolving into an automobile maker.
On January 30, 1920, Matsuda Cork Industry was established in Hiroshima, Japan by entrepreneur Jujiro Matsuda. Originally focused on manufacturing machine tools and cork products, the company diversified into motor vehicles in the 1930s. Renamed Mazda in 1931, it paid homage to both its founder's name and Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian god of light. Post-World War II, Mazda shifted its core business toward passenger cars and gained international recognition for its rotary engine designs in the 1960s. Over the decades, Mazda has grown into a global automaker known for blending performance, design, and engineering innovation. The company's origins in cork illustrate its adaptability and forward-thinking spirit.
1920 Mazda cork
1930day.year

The Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union orders the confiscation of lands belonging to the Kulaks in a campaign of Dekulakization, resulting in the executions and forced deportations of millions.

In 1930, the Soviet Politburo ordered the Dekulakization campaign, leading to mass land confiscations, executions, and deportations of millions of peasants.
Under Joseph Stalin’s collectivization drive, the Soviet government targeted the kulaks—peasant farmers deemed ‘wealthy enemies of the people.’ On January 30, 1930, the Politburo formally authorized the confiscation of kulak lands and assets across the USSR. This decree unleashed waves of arrests, summary executions, and forced deportations to remote labor camps in Siberia and Central Asia. Families were uprooted from their ancestral homes and subjected to harsh conditions that led to widespread famine and disease. Millions perished or endured years of hardship in the Gulag system. The campaign shattered rural communities and served as a brutal demonstration of the regime’s willingness to sacrifice lives for rapid agricultural transformation. Dekulakization remains one of the most notorious examples of state-led repression in Soviet history.
1930 Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Dekulakization