Today in history: Sunday, March 30, the 89th day of 2014

Today is Sunday, March 30, the 89th day of 2014. There are 276 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1822: Florida becomes a United States territory.

1867: U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward reaches agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million.

1870: The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits denying citizens the right to vote and hold office on the basis of race, is declared in effect by Secretary of State Hamilton Fish.

1923: The Cunard liner RMS Laconia becomes the first passenger ship to circle the globe as it arrives in New York.

1945: The Soviet Union invades Austria during World War II.

1964: John Glenn withdraws from the Ohio race for the U.S. Senate because of injuries suffered in a fall.

The original version of the TV game show “Jeopardy!,” hosted by Art Fleming, premieres on NBC.

1974: The Ramones’ first concert takes place in New York.

1981: President Ronald Reagan is shot and seriously wounded outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by assailant John W. Hinckley Jr. Also wounded in the attack were White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy, and District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty.

1984: The adventure-romantic comedy “Romancing the Stone,” starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, is released by 20th Century Fox.

2002: Britain’s Queen Mother Elizabeth dies at Royal Lodge, Windsor, outside London; she was 101 years old.

2009: President Barack Obama asserts unprecedented government control over the auto industry, rejecting turnaround plans from General Motors and Chrysler and raising the prospect of controlled bankruptcy for either ailing auto giant.

VINDICATOR FILES

1989: Despite the loss of $650,000 in property taxes in 1988, Youngstown officials insist that abatements granted to developers as an inducement to locate in the city have more than paid off.

Dr. Rolf Nissen and Dr. Louis Loria are a vanishing breed of Trumbull County doctors who continue to make house callls.

Two of Gov. Richard F. Celeste’s close advisers will interview prospective successors to Mahoning County Juvenile Court Judge Martin P. Joyce who is retiring and will be succeeded by a Celeste appointee.

1974: A federal grand jury indicts one present and seven former members of the Ohio National Guard on charges that they violated the civil rights of four students killed and nine wounded in the 1970 shootings at Kent State University.

Incidents of forcible rape and armed robbery jumped by 20 percent in each category in the city of Youngstown in 1973, according to official FBI statistics.

The Old North Baptist Church in Canfield dedicates its newly erected sanctuary and remodeled facilities.

1964: Trumbull County commissioners sell the Children’s Home on East Market Street to Trumbull Memorial Hospital for $285,000.

General Fireproofing Co. will spend $1.2 million to improve its Youngstown plant, says company President John Saunders.

Drew Pearson, syndicated Washington columnist, will speak at a fund-raising dinner at the Mahoning Country Club for Robert Hagan, candidate for 19th District Congress in the Democratic primary.

1939: The Most Rev. Joseph Schrembs, bishop of the Cleveland Diocese, which includes Youngstown, is elevated to Archbishop by Pope Pius XII. The bishop has been a frequent visitor to Youngstown.

U.S. Rep. Michael J. Kirwan is credited with making sure that the $2.8 million grant for Youngstown’s airport was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevlet after the congressman discovered that essential documents had been misplaced in the office of budget control.

Georgianna Baker, 15, of Woodworth wins a trip to Gettysburg, Washington, D.C., and historic sites in Virginia from American Legion Post 15 for her essay on “How Shall We Preserve American Democracy.”