SANDY KOZEL

On March 29, 1982, A 19-year-old North Carolina freshman Michael Jordan makes a 16-foot jump shot with 15 seconds left to give the
Tar Heels a 63-62 win over Georgetown for the NCAA Tournament championship. "To tell the truth," Jordan tells reporters in New
Orleans afterward, "I didn’t see it go in. I didn’t want to look."

The winning shot cements Jordan in the national consciousness,
and he goes on to become one of the greatest basketball players
in history, winning six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (MJ) turned 62 in February.

March 27, 1912: In Washington, D.C., Helen Taft, wife of
President William Taft, and the Viscountess Chinda, wife
of the Japanese ambassador, plant two Yoshino cherry
trees on the northern bank of the Potomac River, near
the Jefferson Memorial.

The event commemorated a gift, by the Japanese of some
3,020 cherry trees to the U.S. government.

The planting of Japanese cherry trees along the Potomac
was first proposed by socialite Eliza Scidmore, who raised
money for the endeavor.

After learning of the first lady’s interest, the Japanese
consul in New York suggested making a gift of the trees
to the U.S. government from the city of Tokyo.

Helen and William Taft

The Mayor of Tokyo Yukio Ozaki gave the US capital 3,000
cherry blossom trees as a gift to celebrate the friendship between the US and Japan. The cherry blossom is the
national flower of Japan.

On March 28, 1979, one of the worst accidents in the history
of the U.S. nuclear power industry began when a pressure
valve in the Unit-2 reactor at Three Mile Island fails to close.

Cooling water, contaminated with radiation, drained from the
open valve into adjoining buildings, and the core began to
dangerously overheat.

The unharmed Unit-1 reactor at Three Mile Island, which was s
hut down during the crisis, did not resume operation until 1985.

Cleanup continued on Unit-2 until 1990, but it was too damaged
to be rendered usable again.        
    

President Jimmy Carter, second from left, visits the nuclear
plant near Harrisburg, Pa., USA, April 4, 1979.

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