ON THIS DAY MARCH 30

1282 Throughout history various groups of people have been oppressed. On this day one such group decided that they had had enough and in a brutal uprising, known as the War of the Vespers, turned on their oppressors. The result was a conflict lasting 20 years. It all started when citizens of Sicily’s capital, Palermo, were flocking to vespers in the church of Santo Spirito (Church of the Holy Spirit), when, the story goes, a Sicilian woman was dragged from the crowd by a French soldier allegedly to be searched for weapons, and in the process, her breasts were fondled, causing a bloody riot.

1855 Origins of the American Civil War: “Border Ruffians” from Missouri invade Kansas and force election of a pro-slavery legislature.

1867 Alaska is bought for $7.2 million, about 2-cent/acre ($4.19/km²), from Russia by US Secretary of State William Seward.

1944 Of 795 bombers sent to attack Nuremberg, 95 do not return, making it the worst RAF loss of World War II.

1959 The Dalai Lama flees China and is granted political asylum in India.

1981 US President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington hotel by John Hinckley; three others are wounded. Hinckley believed the attack would impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was obsessed. 1995 Pope John Paul II issues the 11th encyclical of his papacy in which he condemns abortion and euthanasia as crimes that no human laws could legitimise.

2002 Britain’s Queen mother, widow of King George VI and mother of his successor to the throne, Queen Elizabeth II, dies at 101.

2012 Mastercard and Visa announce a massive breach in security with 10 million compromised credit card numbers.

2020 The IOC announces that the postponed 2020 Summer Olympic Games will be held July 23-August 8 in 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. | THE HISTORIAN