July 30, 2012

2012Maeve Binchy, Irish author, playwright, and journalist (born 1939)^[†]

Anne Maeve Binchy Snell was an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, columnist, and speaker. Her novels were characterised by a sympathetic and often humorous portrayal of small-town life in Ireland, and surprise endings. Her novels, which were translated into 37 languages, sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Her death at age 73, announced by Vincent Browne on Irish television late on 30 July 2012, was mourned as the death of one of Ireland's best-loved and most recognisable writers.

2012Bill Doss, American singer and guitarist (born 1968)^[†]

Bill Doss was an American rock musician. He co-founded The Elephant 6 Recording Company in Athens, Georgia, and was a key member of the Olivia Tremor Control. Following the band's breakup, he led the Sunshine Fix and later became a member of the Apples in Stereo. Doss was married to freelance photographer Amy Hairston Doss, whom he met while both were attending Louisiana Tech University.

2012Stig Ossian Ericson, Swedish actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1923)^[†]

Stig Ossian Ericson was a Swedish actor, director, and screenwriter.

2012Les Green, English footballer and manager (born 1941)^[†]

Leslie Green was an English footballer and manager.

2012Jonathan Hardy, New Zealand-Australian actor and screenwriter (born 1940)^[†]

Jonathan Hardy was a New Zealand-Australian film and television actor, writer and director.

2012Bill Kitchen, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1960)^[†]

William Percy Kitchen was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played 41 games in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs between 1982 and 1985. He was born in Schomberg, Ontario and was the younger brother of Mike Kitchen.

2012A train fire kills 32 passengers and injures 27 on the Tamil Nadu Express in Andhra Pradesh, India.^[†]

The Nellore train fire occurred on 30 July 2012, when the Chennai-bound Tamil Nadu Express train caught fire at 4:22 am near Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India. At least 32 passengers died and 27 were injured. The fire gutted the S-11 sleeper coach in 20 minutes. A railway emergency crew prevented the fire from spreading to the other coaches.

2012A power grid failure in Delhi leaves more than 300 million people without power in northern India.^[†]

Two severe power outages affected most of northern and eastern India on 30 and 31 July 2012. The 30 July 2012 blackout affected over 400 million people and lasted about 13.5 hrs. During that period, it was the largest power outage in history by number of people affected, beating the January 2001 blackout in Northern India. Similar conditions caused a blackout on the next day, which remained the largest power outage in history as of May 2025. The outage on 30 July affected more than 620 million people, spread across 22 states in Northern, Eastern, and Northeast India. An estimated 32 gigawatts of generating capacity was taken offline. Of the affected population, 320 million initially had power, while the rest lacked direct access. Electric service was restored in the affected locations between 31 July and 1 August 2012.