On This Day March 30

2003
Iraq War: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Weapons of Mass Destruction: "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."
Rumsfeld on how long the fighting will last: "Oh, goodness, you know, I've never -- we've never had a timetable. We've always said it could be days, weeks, or months and we don't know. And I don't think you need a timetable."

1991
William Kennedy Smith takes his date to the Kennedy estate. She later charged him with rape, for which he was acquitted.

1987
Record amount paid for a single work of art: Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers sells for $39.9 million.

1981
Pres. Reagan and James Brady are shot by John W. Hinckley, Jr. He was trying to impress actress Jodie Foster.

1972
North Vietnamese forces launch a major attack across the demilitarized zone, the largest assault since 1968.

1965
Ku Klux Klan: The House Committee on Un-American Activities begins investigating the Klan. This was the committee's first public investigation which didn't concern communism.

1950
Invention of the phototransistor is announced by Dr. Shive of Bell Laboratories.

1907
First flight of a commercially-built airplane, built by the French aircraft company Voisin Freres.

1891
First U.S. national forest, Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming, is established.

1867
Alaskan Purchase: The U.S. buys Alaska from the Russians at the bargain price of 2¢ an acre by U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward. This was called Seward's Folly by the press at the time.

1842
First operation under general anesthesia, diethyl ether used by Dr. Crawford Williamson Long to remove a neck tumor.

1970 d. 1989
Secretariat, American thoroughbred racehorse, Triple Crown winner (1973), and the first horse to finish the Kentucky Derby in under two minutes (1:59.4).

1964
Tracy Chapman, American Grammy-winning singer. Music: Fast Car (1988), Talkin' Bout a Revolution (1988), and Baby Can I Hold You? (1988).

1958
MauriceLaMarche, Canadian voice actor. TV: Pinky and the Brain (voice of Brain) and Toucan Sam (Kellogg's commercial).

1945
Eric Clapton, British singer, guitarist. Music: I Shot the Sheriff (1974, #1), Slowhand (1977), and Lay Down Sally (1978).

1937
Warren Beatty, American actor. Film: Bonnie and Clyde (1967, Clyde). TV: The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (Milton Armitage).

1917
Herbert Anderson, American actor. TV: Dennis the Menace (Dennis' father).

1913 d. 2000
Marc Davis, American animator. He is the designer of many Disney characters, such as Thumper in Bambi, Cinderella, Tinker Bell, and Cruella De Vil.

1913
Frankie Laine (Frank LoVecchio), American Oscar-winning singer. Music: Mule Train (#1) and High Noon (1952, Oscar). He also sang the theme to TV's Rawhide.

1902 d. 1969
Ted Heath, British band leader, one of the U.K.'s most famous bandleaders.

1853 d. 1890
Vincent van Gogh, Dutch ear-cutting (actually it was only the lobe) postimpressionist painter. Although his paintings now sell for millions, he sold only one during his lifetime.

1746 d. 1828

Self-portrait.

Francisco Goya (Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes), Spanish painter.

1135 d. 1204
Maimonides, Jewish rabbi, Talmudic scholar, philosopher. His teachings greatly influenced the Christian religion. (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

2004 b. 1908
Alistair Cooke (Alfred Alistair), English-born journalist, Emmy-winning host of TV's Masterpiece Theatre. His bones were reportedly stolen by body snatchers working for a tissue recovery firm.

2002 b. 1900
Elizabeth, Queen of England (1936-52), widow King George VI, and mother of Queen Elizabeth II.

1986 b. 1899
James Cagney, American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Mr. Roberts (1955, the captain). He started his career as a female impersonator in a New York revue.

1981 b. 1889
DeWitt Wallace, American publisher. He and his wife Lila founded Reader's Digest (1921). It obtained the largest magazine circulation in the world.

1975 b. 1901
Florence Lowe Barnes, American aviator. She was the first woman stunt pilot in motion pictures (1929 Hell's Angels).

1949 b. 1884
Friedrich Bergius, German Nobel-winning chemist. He invented the process of extracting oil from coal and discovered a process for converting wood into sugar.

1911 b. 1842
Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards, American chemist, the first woman admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1870). She earned her B.S. degree (1873) and became the first female professional chemist in the U.S. In 1884, she became MIT's first woman faculty member.

March 30

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