GOOD MORNING – TODAY IS MONDAY, March 30, the 89th day of 2015 with 276 to follow. Sunrise in the Boston area is @ 6:31 and sunset is @ 7:06. The moon is waxing. The morning stars are stars are Mercury, Neptune & Saturn. The evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Uranus & Venus.

ON THIS DAY IN: 1775 – The British Parliament passed an act forbidding its North American colonies to trade with anyone other than Britain.

1814 – The European forces (Allies) against Napoleonic France captured Paris, formally ending a decade of French domination on the Continent.

1822 – Florida became a United States territory.

1842 – Dr. Crawford W. Long of Georgia, was the first to use ether as an anesthetic during an operation.

1856 – The Crimean War was brought to an end by the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

1858 – Hyman L. Lipman of Philadelphia patented the pencil with an eraser attached on one end.

1867 – U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward reached agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million. At the time, many called it “Seward’s Folly.”

1870 – Texas was readmitted to the Union, the last of the Confederate states to be readmitted.

1870 – The 15th Amendment, granting African-American men the right to vote, went into effect.

1909 – The Queensboro Bridge — the first double-decker bridge — linking the New Yorkboroughs of Manhattan and Queens, opened.

1945 – The Soviet Union invaded Austria during World War II.

1964 – “Jeopardy” developed by Merv Griffin, aired on TV for the first time.

1981 – President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John W. Hinckley, Jr. White House press secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent, and aDistrict of Columbia police officer were also wounded.

1998 – Rolls-Royce was purchased by German automaker BMW.