Today in History

On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously wounded by John Hinckley Jr. outside a Washington, D.C., hotel. Also wounded were White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and a District of Columbia police officer, Thomas Delahanty. (Hinckley would be found not guilty by reason of insanity and held at a psychiatric hospital until his supervised release in 2016. James Brady died in 2014 as a result of his injuries.)

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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, a deal ridiculed by critics as “Seward’s Folly” but later recognized as advantageous to the U.S.

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 1923, the Cunard liner RMS Laconia became the first passenger ship to circle the globe as it arrived back in New York after a 130-day voyage.

In 1939, Detective Comics issue #27 was released, featuring the first appearance of the superhero character Batman.

In 1975, as the Vietnam War neared its end, Communist forces occupied the city of Da Nang.

In 2009, heavily armed militants stormed a police training academy near Lahore, Pakistan, taking hostages and killing cadets and others before being overpowered after several hours. Authorities reported at least 20 deaths, including several attackers.

In 2023, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald Trump on charges involving payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter, the first ever criminal case against a former U.S. president.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor John Astin is 96. Actor-director Warren Beatty is 89. Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry Lucas is 86. Musician Eric Clapton is 81. Actor Paul Reiser is 70. Rap artist MC Hammer is 64. Singer Tracy Chapman is 62. Actor Ian Ziering is 62. TV personality Piers Morgan is 61. Singer Celine Dion is 58. Actor Mark Consuelos is 55. Singer Norah Jones is 47. Country musician Justin Moore is 42. Country musician Thomas Rhett is 36. Actor Gideon Adlon is 29.