TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS TUESDAY, MARCH 30,
the 89th day of 2021. There are 276 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr.; also wounded were White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and a District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty.
In 1822, Florida became a U.S. territory.
In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward reached agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, a deal ridiculed by critics as “Seward’s Folly.”
In 1870, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibited denying citizens the right to vote and hold office on the basis of race, was declared in effect by Secretary of State Hamilton Fish.
In 1975, as the Vietnam War neared its end, Communist forces occupied the city of Da Nang.
In 1987, at the 59th Academy Awards, “Platoon” was named best picture; Marlee Matlin received best actress for “Children of a Lesser God;” and Paul Newman was honored as best actor for
“The Color of Money.” In 2004, in a reversal, President George W. Bush agreed to let National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice testify publicly and under oath before an independent panel investigating the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
In 2010, President Barack Obama signed a single measure sealing his health care overhaul and making the government the primary lender to students by cutting banks out of the process.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Game show host Peter Marshall is 95. Actor John Astin is 91. Actor-director Warren Beatty is 84. Rock musician Graeme Edge (The Moody Blues) is 80. Rock musician Eric Clapton is 76. Actor Justin Deas is 73. Actor Paul Reiser is 65. Rap artist MC Hammer is 59. Singer Tracy Chapman and actor Ian Ziering are 57. TV personality Piers Morgan is 56. Rock musician Joey Castillo is 55. TV personality/producer Richard Rawlings is 52. Actor Mark Consuelos is 50. Actor Bahar Soomekh is 46. Actor Jessica Cauffiel is 45. Singer Norah Jones is 42. Actor Fiona Gubelmann is 41. Actor Katy Mixon is 40. Actor Jason Dohring is 39. Country singer Justin Moore is 37. Actor Tessa Ferrer is 35. Country singer Thomas Rhett is 31. Rapper NF is 30.