On this day, March 30 …

1981: President Ronald Reagan is shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John W. Hinckley, Jr.; White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and a District of Columbia police officer, Thomas Delahanty, are also injured.

Also on this day:

1822: Florida becomes a U.S. territory.

Florida becomes a U.S. territory. 1867: U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward reaches agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, a deal ridiculed by critics as “Seward’s Folly.”

U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward reaches agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, a deal ridiculed by critics as “Seward’s Folly.” 1923: The Cunard liner RMS Laconia becomes the first passenger ship to circle the globe as it arrives in New York.

The Cunard liner RMS Laconia becomes the first passenger ship to circle the globe as it arrives in New York. 1970: Triple Crown winner Secretariat is born at The Meadow near Doswell, Va.