This Day in History – March 30, 2011

0239 -BC- 1st recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet 1492 King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella sign decree expelling Jews from Spain 1533 Henry VIII divorces his 1st wife, Catherine of Aragon 1842 Ether was used as an anaesthetic for 1st time by Dr Crawford Long (Jefferson GA) 1858 Pencil with attached eraser patented (Hyman L Lipman of Philadelphia) 1867 US purchases Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 (2¢ an acre-Seward’s Folly) 1870 15th Amendment passes, guarantees right to vote regardless of race 1870 Texas becomes last confederate state readmitted to Union 1932 Amelia Earhart is 1st woman to fly solo cross the Atlantic 1950 Phototransistor invention announced, Murray Hill NJ 1953 Einstein announces revised unified field theory 1981 President Reagan shot & wounded by John W Hinckley Jr 1984 US ends participation in multinational Lebanon peace force 1987 Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” sells for record £22.5M ($39.7 million) 1990 Jack Nicklaus made his debut in the “Seniors” golf tournament 1992 Man accidentally backs into A’s Jose Canseco’s $225,000 Lamborghini 1993 In the Peanuts comic strip, Charlie Brown hit his first home run. 2006 Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig appoints George Mitchell to head an investigation into the use of steroids in baseball. 2009 General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner is ordered to step down by US President Barack Obama.]]]]> ]]>