TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS THURSDAY, MARCH 8, the 67th day of 2018. There are 298 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1965, the United States landed its first combat troops in South Vietnam as 3,500 Marines arrived to defend the U.S. air base at Da Nang.

In 1618, German astronomer Johannes Kepler devised his third law of planetary motion.

In 1854, U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry made his second landing in Japan; within a month, he concluded a treaty with the Japanese.

In 1917, Russia’s “February Revolution” (referring to the Old Style calendar) began; the result was the abdication of the Russian monarchy in favor of a provisional government, which was overthrown later the same year by the Bolsheviks.

In 1948, the Supreme Court, in McCollum v. Board of Education, struck down voluntary religious education classes in Champaign, Ill., public schools, saying the program violated separation of church and state.

In 1979, technology firm Philips demonstrated a prototype compact

disc player during a press conference in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

In 1999, Baseball Hall-of-Famer Joe DiMaggio died in Hollywood, Fla., at age 84.

In 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board, vanished during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, setting off a massive search. (To date, the fate of the jetliner and its occupants has yet to be determined.)

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Sue Ane Langdon is 82. College Football Hall-of-Famer Pete Dawkins is 80. Actor-director Micky Dolenz (The Monkees) is 73. Singer-musician Randy Meisner is 72. Pop singer Peggy March is 70. Singer Gary Numan is 60. NBC News anchor Lester Holt and actor Aidan Quinn are 59. Actress Camryn Manheim is 57. Actor Leon is 55. Actor Boris Kodjoe is 45. Actor Freddie Prinze Jr. is 42. Actress Laura Main and actor James Van Der Beek are 41. Rock singer Tom Chaplin (Keane) and rock musician Andy Ross (OK Go) are 39. Actress Jessica Collins is 35. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kristinia DeBarge is 28.