Three Mile Island (Life Imitates Art)…..
March 28, 1979……
Nuclear reactor number 2 at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station has a partial meltdown. This resulted in the release of radioactive gases and radioactive iodine into the environment. The accident was due largely to operator error, inadequate training, and design flaws. The movie The China Syndrome had premiered just 12 days earlier. It told the fictional story of TV reporters who uncovered major safety violations and filmed a nuclear accident at a power plant. The nuclear power industry derided the film, claiming it was absurd and nothing like that could ever happen. And then 12 days later…U.S. President Jimmy Carter (who had specialized in nuclear power while serving in the United States Navy) toured the damaged reactor after the event.
Vietnam War…..
March 29, 1973……
The last U.S. prisoners of war held by Communist forces in Vietnam are released and the last U.S. troops are withdrawn from South Vietnam.
Reagan Assassination Attempt……
March 30, 1981……
U.S. President Ronald Reagan, James Brady, and two others are shot by John Hinckley, Jr., who was trying to impress actress Jodie Foster, whom he had developed an obsession with after seeing the film Taxi Driver. Brady was left paralyzed from a gunshot wound to the head. He would die in 2014 due to causes directly related to the shooting. A secret service agent and a D.C. police officer were also shot, but survived the shooting. Hinckley was subdued and apprehended at the scene. The 70-year-old Reagan was shot in the left lung with the bullet just missing his heart. As he was being prepped for surgery, he joked to his wife Nancy Reagan, “Honey, I forgot to duck”. In 1982, Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was sentenced to institutional psychiatric care, from which he was released in 2016 to live full-time at his mother’s home.