On March 26, 1953, American medical researcher Dr. Jonas
Salk announced on a national radio program that he has
successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis, the
virus that causes the crippling disease of polio.

In 1952—an epidemic year for polio—there were 58,000 new
cases reported in the United States, and more than 3,000
died from the disease.

For his work in helping to eradicate the disease, which is
known as “infant paralysis” because it mainly affects young
children, Dr. Salk was celebrated as the great doctor-
benefactor of his time.

On April 1, 1970, President Richard M. Nixon signed a
measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and
television, to take effect after Jan. 1, 1971.

Nixon, who was an avid pipe smoker, indulging in as
many as eight bowls a day, supported the legislation
at the increasing insistence of public health advocates.

President Lyndon Johnson signs Medicare Bill into law as former President Harry Truman watches.

On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare,
a health insurance program for elderly Americans, into law. At the
bill-signing ceremony, which took place at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, former President Harry Truman was
enrolled as Medicare’s first beneficiary and received the first
Medicare card.

Johnson wanted to recognize Truman, who, in 1945, had become
the first president to propose national health insurance, an initiative
that was opposed at the time by Congress.

On July 15, 1988, Die Hard, an action film starring Bruce Willis as wisecracking New York City cop John McClane, opened in theaters
across the U.S.  A huge box-office hit, the film established Willis
as a movie star and spawned three sequels. Die Hard also became Hollywood shorthand for describing the plot of other actions films,
as in “Speed is Die Hard on a bus.”

Walter Bruce Willis turned 67 in March.

On March 30, 2022, Willis’s family announced that
he was retiring as he had been diagnosed with
aphasia, a disorder caused by damage to the area
of the brain that controls language expression and
comprehension.