TODAY IN HISTORY

WEDNESDAY MAR 30, 2022

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.

1822

Florida became a United States territory.

1842

Dr. Crawford W. Long of Jefferson, Georgia, first used ether as an anesthetic during an operation to remove a patient’s neck tumor.

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.”

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.

1923

The Cunard liner RMS Laconia became the first passenger ship to circle the globe as it arrived in New York.

1945

During World War II, the Soviet Union invaded Austria with the goal of taking Vienna, which it accomplished two weeks later.

1959

A narrowly divided U.S. Supreme Court, in Bartkus v. Illinois, ruled that a conviction in state court following an acquittal in federal court for the same crime did not constitute double jeopardy.

1975

As the Vietnam War neared its end, Communist forces occupied the city of Da Nang.

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.”

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Game show host Peter Marshall is 96. Actor John Astin is 92. Actor-director Warren Beatty is 85. Rock musician Eric Clapton is 77. Actor Justin Deas is 74. Actor Paul Reiser is 66. Rap artist MC Hammer is 60. Singer Tracy Chapman is 58. Actor Ian Ziering (EYE’-AN ZEER’-ING) is 58. TV personality Piers Morgan is 57. Rock musician Joey Castillo is 56. Actor Donna D’errico is 54. Singer Celine Dion is 54.