Today in History

Published 9:12 pm Sunday, March 15, 2009

Today is Monday, March 16, the 75th day of 2009. There are 290 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT:

On March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War, the My Lai Massacre of Vietnamese civilians was carried out by U.S. Army troops; estimates of the death toll vary between 347 and 504.

ON THIS DATE:

In A.D. 37, Roman emperor Tiberius died; he was succeeded by Caligula.

In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson signed a measure authorizing the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

In 1926, rocket science pioneer Robert Goddard successfully tested the first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Mass.

In 1935, Adolf Hitler broke the terms set by the Treaty of Versailles by ordering the rearming of Germany.

In 1969, “1776,” a musical about the writing of the Declaration of Independence, opened on Broadway.

In 1978, Italian politician Aldo Moro was kidnapped by left-wing guerrillas, who later murdered him.

In 1984, William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by gunmen; he died in captivity.

In 1985, Terry Anderson, chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press, was abducted in Beirut; he was released in December 1991.

In 1999, The Dow Jones industrial average briefly topped the 10,000 level, reaching a high of 10,001.78 before retreating.

In 2004, China declared victory in its fight against bird flu, saying it had “stamped out” all its known cases. Mitch Seavey won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in nine days, 12 hours, 20 minutes and 22 seconds.

In 2008, protests spread from Tibet into three neighboring provinces; the Dalai Lama decried what he called the “cultural genocide” taking place in his homeland and called for an international investigation into China’s crackdown on demonstrators. Actor Ivan Dixon died in Charlotte, N.C., at age 76.

Associated Press