Today is Wednesday, March 30, the 89th day of 2011. There are 276 days left in the year.
239 B.C. ― First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1778 ― Playwright Voltaire crowned with laurel wreath
1814 ― Britain and allies march into Paris after defeating Napoleon
1842 ― Ether was used as an anesthetic for first time by Dr. Crawford Long (Jefferson, Ga.)
1856 ― Russia signs Peace of Paris, ending the Crimean War
1858 ― Pencil with attached eraser patented (Hyman L. Lipmann of Philadelphia)
1867 ― U.S. purchases Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 (2 cents an acre-Seward's Folly)
1953 ― Einstein announces revised unified field theory
1982 ― John Pielmeier's ``Agnes of God" premieres in New York City
1992 ― 64th Academy Awards (Silent of the Lambs sweeps with Best Picture, Anthony Hopkins as Best Actor and Jodie Foster as Best Actress)