Local history

50 years ago: March 30, 1976

Steve C. Mandes, director of the Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission, said that officials at the Canadian National Outdoor Sportsmen’s Show in Toronto tried to impose a duty on brochures taken to the show, tried to charge them $63 for two stolen chairs and tried to “shake down” one of their employees. He said it was tougher to get out of Canada than it would be in East Berlin.

25 years ago: March 30, 2001

Bishop H. George Anderson, head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was to speak before about 300 church leaders from 132 congregations in Blair, Bedford, Cambria, Somerset, Huntingdon, Clearfield and Centre counties at the Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center.

10 years ago: March 30, 2016

The state Public Utility Commission suspended the license of an Altoona taxi company called Blue & White for fare, mechanical and insurance violations.

— Compiled by Tim Doyle

World history

Today is Monday, March 30, the 89th day of 2026. There are 276 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight 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.)

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, 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. 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. 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.

— The Associated Press