Today in History
March 30
1855 - Britain and Afghanistan form an alliance against Persia.
1856 - The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.
1867 - US purchases Alaska from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million (Dh26.48 million).
1870 - The 15th amendment to the US Constitution, giving black men the right to vote, officially takes effect.
1909 - Queensboro Bridge, linking the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, opens. 1917 - US takes possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark.
1945 - Soviet Union invades Austria during the Second World War. 1949 - Syrian General Hosni Al Zaim seizes power in CIA-backed coup. 1967 - Nato formally closes its military headquarters in France. 1974 - Chinese jetliner arrives in New York in what is described as the first civilian flight from the Chinese mainland to the US.
1981 - US President Ronald Reagan is shot and wounded outside a Washington hotel.
1993 - Israel closes the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 1997 - A grenade attack at a political rally in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, kills 10 people.
1998 - German automaker BMW buys Rolls-Royce for $570 million (Dh2.09 billion).
2002 - Britain’s Queen Mother dies at the age of 101.
2006 - A ferry carrying up to 150 people capsizes and sinks off the coast of Bahrain.
2007 - Nepal’s seven ruling political parties and the country’s former Maoist rebels agree to form a joint government.
2009 - The Arab League rejects an international arrest warrant issued against Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir.
2010 - The world’s largest atom smasher sets a record for highenergy collisions in a tunnel below the Swiss-French border at Geneva.
2013 - Kenya’s Supreme Court upholds the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the country’s next President.
2016 - Htin Kyaw sworn in as President of Myanmar.
2017 - Ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye is arrested for a corruption scandal. 1998- The Carpet Oasis was officially opened by General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence. Shaikh Mohammad visited several stalls at the exhibition where 90,000 hand-made carpets were being displayed over a large area at the Dubai World Trade Centre. He said Dubai had an edge over Hamburg as a carpet centre as it was located close to all the major hand-made carpet producing countries and would attract European carpet dealers. Traders said that the emphasis on quality and the inclusion of only local traders in thr Carpet Oasis had improved the display this year. Shaikh Mohammad was accompanied by Ahmad Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of Communications, and other dignitaries and officials.