Beginnings and endings

Moments In Time

• On March 30, 1867, the United States government puts the finishing touches on a deal to purchase Alaska. The U.S. paid Alaska’s owner, Russia, $7.2 million, or roughly two cents per acre of land. In certain circles, the deal was derisively known as “Seward’s Folly” after Secretary of State William Seward.

• On April 1, 1877, prospector Edward Schieffelin begins his search for silver in the area of present-day southern Arizona. Later that year, he found one of the richest silver veins in the West, naming it the Tombstone Lode. Tombstone attracted gamblers, criminals and would-be lawmen such as Doc Holliday and the Earp brothers, famous for their shoot-out at the O.K. Corral.

• On April 2, 1902, the first American theater devoted solely to movies opens in Los Angeles. Housed in a circus tent, the venue was dubbed “The Electric Theater.” Admission was about 10 cents for a one-hour show.

• On March 28, 1969, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States and one of the most highly regarded American generals of World War II, dies in Washington, D.C., at the age of 78.

• On March 29, 1973, under the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords, the last U.S. troops depart South Vietnam, ending nearly 10 years of U.S. military presence in that country. Roughly 8,500 U.S. civilians stayed on as technical advisers to the South Vietnamese.