President Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley Jr.
On March 30, 1939, Detective Comics No. 27 appears on the nation’s newsstands, introducing the world to a new superhero, the Batman. Dated May 1939, the comic book featured the caped crusader on its cover, swooping through the air on a rope, while holding a bad guy in a headlock. “Starting this issue,” the cover […]
Actor Robert Mitchum is released from a Los Angeles County prison farm after spending the final week of his two-month sentence for marijuana possession there. In the fall of 1948, Mitchum, the star of classics such as Cape Fear and Night of the Hunter, was smoking a joint at a small party in the Laurel […]
On March 30, 1974, the Ramones play their first New York City gig, launching a punk-rock revolution. Five months later, on August 16, the four young men from Forest Hills, Queens, would make their more famous “debut” on the New York music scene, at the CBGB bar—often (incorrectly) identified as their first performance. That gig […]
On March 30, 2009, President Barack Obama issues an ultimatum to struggling American automakers General Motors (GM) and Chrysler: In order to receive additional bailout loans from the government, he says, the companies need to make dramatic changes in the way they run their businesses. The president also announced a set of initiatives intended to […]
In territorial Kansas’ first election, some 5,000 so-called “Border Ruffians” invade the territory from western Missouri and force the election of a pro-slavery legislature. Although the number of votes cast exceeded the number of eligible voters in the territory, Kansas Governor Andrew Reeder reluctantly approved the election to prevent further bloodshed. Trouble in territorial Kansas […]
A bomb explodes in a car parked in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, virtually destroying the building and killing 19 Vietnamese, two Americans, and one Filipino; 183 others were injured. Congress quickly appropriated $1 million to reconstruct the embassy. Although some U.S. military leaders advocated special retaliatory raids on North Vietnam, President Lyndon […]
Hoping to keep the New England colonies dependent on the British, King George III formally endorses the New England Restraining Act on March 30, 1775. The New England Restraining Act required New England colonies to trade exclusively with Great Britain as of July 1. An additional rule would come into effect on July 20, banning […]
John Denver scores his first #1 song, “Sunshine On My Shoulders,” on March 30, 1974. He would go on to become one of the most popular singer-songwriters of the 1970s. “Sunshine On My Shoulders” was John Denver’s attempt to write a sad song, a big part of Denver’s broad appeal. “I was so down I […]
On March 30, 1971, Starbucks opens its first store in Seattle’s iconic Pike Place market with a single employee. The store sells high-quality roasted coffee beans, freshly brewed hot coffee and not much else. Founders Gerald Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker, 20-something coffee lovers who met at the University of San Francisco, named their […]
Henry Wallace, former vice president and Progressive Party presidential candidate, lashes out at the Cold War policies of President Harry S. Truman. Wallace and his supporters were among the few Americans who actively voiced criticisms of America’s Cold War mindset during the late-1940s and 1950s. Widely admired for his intelligence and integrity, Henry Wallace had […]
European forces allied against Napoleonic France march triumphantly into Paris, formally ending a decade of French domination on the Continent. Napoleon, one of the greatest military strategists in history, seized control of the French state in 1800, and in 1804 was crowned emperor. By 1807, he controlled an empire that stretched across Europe. In 1812, […]
Following its ratification by the requisite three-fourths of the states, the 15th Amendment, granting African American men the right to vote, is formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution. Passed by Congress the year before, the amendment reads, “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the […]
U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward signs a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska for $7 million. Despite the bargain price of roughly two cents an acre, the Alaskan purchase was ridiculed in Congress and in the press as “Seward’s Folly,” “Seward’s icebox,” and President Andrew Johnson’s “polar bear garden.” Inuit and […]