Today in History

Today is Wednesday, March 30, the 90th day of 2016. There are 276 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 30, 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.

On this date:

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

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 1964, John Glenn withdrew from the Ohio race for the U.S. Senate because of injuries suffered in a fall. The original version of the TV game show "Jeopardy!," hosted by Art Fleming, premiered on NBC.

In 1975, as the Vietnam War neared its end, Communist forces occupied the city of Da Nang. James Ruppert, 41, killed 11 members of his family at his mother's home in Hamilton, Ohio, on Easter Sunday.

In 1986, actor James Cagney died at his farm in Stanfordville, New York, at age 86.

In 1991, Patricia Bowman of Jupiter, Florida, told authorities she'd been raped hours earlier by William Kennedy Smith, the nephew of Sen. Edward Kennedy, at the family's Palm Beach estate. (Smith was acquitted at trial.)

In 2002, Britain's Queen Mother Elizabeth died at Royal Lodge, Windsor, outside London; she was 101 years old.

Ten years ago: American reporter Jill Carroll, a freelancer for The Christian Science Monitor, was released after 82 days as a hostage in Iraq. A cruise boat capsized off the coast of Bahrain, leaving 58 dead. Major League Baseball began its investigation into alleged steroid use among players.

Five years ago: A top Libyan official, Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, defected to Britain, dealing a blow to leader Moammar Gadhafi. Tilikum, the killer whale that had drowned trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010 at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, resumed performing for the first time since the woman's death.

One year ago: German officials confirmed that Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was once diagnosed with suicidal tendencies and received lengthy psychotherapy before receiving his pilot's license; they believed Lubitz deliberately smashed his Airbus A320 into the French Alps, killing 150 people. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was convicted of unlawfully accepting money from a U.S. supporter in his retrial on corruption charges. Two men dressed as women and driving a stolen SUV ignored officers' orders at the gate to the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland; police fired on the SUV, which then rammed into a police vehicle. One man was killed. Comedy Central announced that Trevor Noah, a 31-year-old comedian from South Africa, would succeed Jon Stewart as host of "The Daily Show."

Today's Birthdays: Game show host Peter Marshall is 90. Actor John Astin is 86. Actor-director Warren Beatty is 79. Rock musician Graeme Edge (The Moody Blues) is 75. Rock musician Eric Clapton is 71. Actor Justin Deas is 68. Actor Robbie Coltrane is 66. Actor Paul Reiser is 59. Rap artist MC Hammer is 53. Singer Tracy Chapman is 52. Actor Ian Ziering is 52. TV personality Piers Morgan is 51. Actress Donna D'Errico is 48. Singer Celine Dion is 48. Actor Mark Consuelos is 45. Actress Bahar Soomekh is 41. Actress Jessica Cauffiel is 40. Singer Norah Jones is 37. Actress Fiona Gubelmann is 36. Actress Katy Mixon is 35. Actor Jason Dohring is 34. Country singer Justin Moore is 32. Actress Tessa Ferrer is 30. Country singer Thomas Rhett is 26.

Thought for Today: "We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves." - Eric Hoffer, American philosopher (1898-1983).