30 March

Events240 BC - 1st recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.1282 - The people of Sicily rebel against the Angevin king Charles I, in what becomes known as the Sicilian Vespers.1296 - Edward I sacks Berwick-upon-Tweed, during armed conflict between Scotland and England. 1492 - Ferdinand and Isabella sign the Alhambra decree aimed at expelling all Jews from Spain unless they convert to Roman Catholicism. 1814 - Napoleonic Wars: Sixth Coalition forces march into Paris.1822 - Florida Territory created in the United States.1842 - Anesthesia is used for the first time in an operation by Dr. Crawford Long. 1844 - One of the most important battles of the Dominican War of Independence from Haiti takes place near the city of Santiago de los Caballeros.1855 - Origins of the American Civil War: Bleeding Kansas - "Border Ruffians" from Missouri invade Kansas and force election of a pro-slavery legislature. 1856 - The Treaty of Paris (1856) is signed, ending the Crimean War.1858 - Hymen Lipman patents a pencil with an attached eraser.1863 - Danish prince Wilhelm Georg is chosen as King George of Greece.1867 - Alaska is purchased for $7.2 million, about 2 cent/acre ($4.19/km²), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward. The news media call this Seward's Folly.1870 -  Mississippi is readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction.1885 - The Battle for Kushka triggers the Pandjeh Incident which nearly gives rise to war between the British Empire and Russian Empire.1909 - The Queensboro Bridge opens, linking Manhattan & Queens.1910 - Mississippi Legislature founded The University of Southern Mississippi.1912 - Sultan Abdelhafid signs the Treaty of Fez, making Morocco a French protectorate.1939 - The Heinkel He 100 fighter sets the world airspeed record of 463 mph.1939 - First flight of the Australian C.A.C. CA-16 Wirraway.1940 - Sino-Japanese War: Japan declares Nanking to be the capital of a new Chinese puppet government, nominally controlled by Wang Ching-wei.1945 - World War II: Soviet Union forces invade Austria and take Vienna, Polish and Soviet forces liberate Gdańsk.1945 - World War II: a defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1 to Americans.1951 - Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.1954 - Yonge Street subway line opens in Toronto. It is the first subway in Canada. 1961 - The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed at New York.1965 - Vietnam War: A car bomb explodes in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others.1972 - Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.1979 - Airey Neave, a British politician, is killed by a car bomb as he exits the Palace of Westminster. The Irish National Liberation Army claims responsibility.1981 - President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.1982 - Space Shuttle program: STS-3 Mission completed with the landing of Columbia at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.2006 - Marcos Pontes is the first Brazilian astronaut in space.2006 - UK Terrorism Act 2006 becomes law.
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