Here’s a brief look back in time for this day, March 30.
In 1939, Detective Comics #27 becomes published, and circulates among newsstands and kiosks across the United States. Now known as DC Comics, the anthology originally featured “memorable” superheroes such as Speed Saunders and Ching Lung. However, #27 would make comic book history as it introduces the world to one of the most recognizable characters in fiction: The Batman.
In 1981, 40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot along with press secretary James Brady; Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy; and D.C. Metro Police Officer Thomas Delahanty. All four survived, but Brady was permanently disabled from a shot to the head. It happened at the Washington Hilton Hotel as the group walked down the street to their limo. Amongst the paparazzi was John Hinckley Jr., who was fixated on American actress Jodie Foster. It’s believed that he tried to replicate the events that happened in the 1976 film Taxi Driver as part of an attempt to impress Foster. In the movie, the main character, who’s played by a young Robert de Niro, plotted to kill a presidential candidate. Foster starred alongside de Niro in the film, who was 12 at the time. Hinckley Jr. was found not guilty by reason of insanity. After four decades of care, he was granted an unconditional release in 2022.