March 30 (UPI) -- On this date in history:
In 1842, Dr. Crawford Long became the first physician to use anesthetic (ether) in surgery.
In 1858, a U.S. patent was granted to Hymen Lipman for a pencil with an attached eraser.
In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William Seward reached an agreement with Russia for the purchase of Alaska for $7.2 million in gold.
In 1870, the 15th Amendment, granting African-American men the right to vote, was adopted into the U.S. Constitution.
In 1923, the Cunard liner Laconia arrived in New York City, the first passenger ship to circumnavigate the world. The cruise lasted 130 days.
In 1975, the South Vietnamese city of Da Nang fell to North Vietnamese forces. UPI correspondent Paul Vogle described "the flight out of hell" as refugees attempted to flee the city.
In 1981, On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley Jr. shot and injured U.S. President Ronald Reagan outside a Washington hotel. White House press secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent and a Washington police officer also sustained injuries. Hinckley was released from a psychiatric hospital in September 2016.