Today is Saturday, March 30, the 89th day of 2013. There are 276 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight:
On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan escaped an attempt on his life outside a Washington D.C. hotel, where he was shot and seriously wounded by John W. Hinckley Jr. Also wounded were White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy, and District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty.
On this date:
In 1135, the Jewish philosopher Maimonides was born in Cordoba in present-day Spain.
In 1822, Florida became a United States 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.
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. Texas was readmitted to the Union.
In 1909, the Queensboro Bridge, linking the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, opened.
In 1923, the Cunard liner RMS Laconia became the first passenger ship to circle the globe as it arrived in New York.
In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded Austria during World War II.
In 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.
In 1963, singer Lesley Gore, age 16, recorded her hit “It’s My Party” for Mercury Records in New York.
In 1972, North Vietnamese forces launched their three-pronged Easter Offensive against South Vietnam; the fighting lasted until the following October.
In 1986, actor James Cagney died at his farm in Stanfordville, N.Y., at age 86.
In 2002, Britain’s Queen Mother Elizabeth died at Royal Lodge, Windsor, outside London; she was 101 years old.
Associated Press
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