- 89th Day of 2015 276 Remaining
- Summer Begins in 83 Days
- Sunrise:6:56
- Sunset:7:31
- 12 Hours 35 Minutes
- Moon Rise:3:29am
- Moon Set:4:22pm
- Phase:81%
- Full Moon April 4 @ 5:07am
- The name Full Pink Moon came from the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names for this month’s celestial body include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.
- Tides
- High:8;14am/9:39pm
- Low:2:34am/2:56pm
- Rainfall:
- This Year to Date:17.13
- Last Year:10.14
- Avg YTD:21.33
- Annual Avg:23.80
- Holidays
- National Doctor’s Day
- National I Am In Control Day
- Pencil Day
- Take A Walk In The Park Day
- Turkey Neck Soup Day
- National Dining Car Day
- On This Day
- 1533 --- Henry VIII divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.
- 1775 --- Hoping to keep the New England colonies dependent on the British, King George III formally endorses the New England Restraining Act. 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 colonists from fishing in the North Atlantic.
- 1814 --- 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, however, he began to encounter the first significant defeats of his military career, suffering through a disastrous invasion of Russia, losing Spain to the Duke of Wellington, and enduring total defeat against an allied force in 1814.
- 1855 --- 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.
- 1858 --- Hyman Lipman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania received U.S. patent No. 19,783 for the first pencil with an eraser attached.
- 1867 --- 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.” The czarist government of Russia, which had established a presence in Alaska in the mid-18th century, first approached the United States about selling the territory during the administration of President James Buchanan, but negotiations were stalled by the outbreak of the Civil War. After 1865, Seward, a supporter of territorial expansion, was eager to acquire the tremendous landmass of Alaska, an area roughly one-fifth the size of the rest of the United States. He had some difficulty, however, making the case for the purchase of Alaska before the Senate, which ratified the treaty by a margin of just one vote on April 9, 1867. Six months later, Alaska was formally handed over from Russia to the United States.
- 1870 --- The 15th amendment, guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race, was passed by the U.S. Congress.
- 1891 --- Signaling a growing movement toward direct political action among desperate western farmers, “Sockless” Jerry Simpson calls on the Kansas Farmers’ Alliance to work for a takeover of the state government. Simpson was one of the most popular and influential leaders among Populist-minded western and mid-western farmers of the late 19th century. Angered over low crop prices, crippling bank loans, and high shipping rates, farmers began to unite in self-help groups like the Grange and the Farmers’ Alliances. Initially, these groups primarily provided mutual assistance to members while agitating for the regulation of railroads and grain elevators. Increasingly, though, they became centers of support for more sweeping political change by uniting to help form the new nationwide third-party movement known as the Populists.
- 1909 --- The Queensboro bridge opened linking Manhattan and Queens. It was the first double decker bridge.
- 1939 --- The comic book "Detective Comics #27" appeared on newstands. This comic introduced Batman.
- 1958 --- The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater gave its initial performance.
- 1964 --- The TV game show "Jeopardy!" premiered on NBC.
- 1967 --- The cover of the Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was staged and photographed.
- 1972 --- A major coordinated communist offensive opens with the heaviest military action since the sieges of Allied bases at Con Thien and Khe Sanh in 1968. Committing almost their entire army to the offensive, the North Vietnamese launched a massive three-pronged attack into South Vietnam. Four North Vietnamese divisions attacked directly across the Demilitarized Zone in Quang Tri province.
- 1980 --- A floating apartment for oil workers in the North Sea collapses, killing 123 people. The Alexander Kielland platform housed 208 men who worked on the nearby Edda oil rig in the Ekofisk field, 235 miles east of Dundee, Scotland. Most of the Phillips Petroleum workers were from Norway, although a few were American and British.
- 1981 --- President Ronald Reagan is shot while leaving the Washington Union Hotel in Washington, D.C. Reagan’s assailant, later identified as 25-year-old John Hinckley Jr., approached the president as he left the hotel after speaking to a union convention, and fired five to six shots from a .22 caliber gun in his direction. The president later recalled in his autobiography that the shots sounded like firecrackers. He turned to the agent next to him and said what the hell is that? One bullet hit Reagan in the chest. Immediately the Secret Service pulled Reagan into a waiting limousine and sped to George Washington University Hospital, where he walked into the emergency room on his own. White House Press Secretary James Brady, a policeman and a Secret Service agent were also injured in the shooting. Each man survived, but Brady sustained severe head injuries that caused permanent disability.
- 1987 --- 'Sunflowers' by Vincent Van Gogh is sold to a Japanese buyer for $39.9 million. There has been some controversy on whether it is possibly a fake. During the 1990s more than 2 dozen Van Gogh's have been labeled as fakes or copies.
- 1993 --- In the Peanuts comic strip, Charlie Brown hit his first home run.
- 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.
- Birthdays
- MC Hammer
- Tracy Chapman
- Eric Clapton (70)
- Vincent Van Gogh
- Celine Dion
- Sean O’Casey
- Francisco de Goya
- Anne Sewell
- John Astin
- Nora Jones
- Warren Beatty
- Lena Lovich
Monday March 30, 2015
