Also on this date
In 1802,
President Thomas Jefferson signed a measure authorizing the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.
In 1935,
Adolf Hitler decided to break the military terms set by the Treaty of Versailles by ordering the rearming of Germany.
In 1945,
during World War II, American forces declared they had secured Iwo Jima, although pockets of Japanese resistance remained.
In 1966,
NASA launched Gemini 8 on a mission to rendezvous and dock with Agena, a target vehicle in orbit; although the docking was successful, the joined vehicles began spinning, forcing Gemini to disconnect and abort the flight.
In 1968,
the My Lai massacre took place during the Vietnam War as U.S. Army soldiers hunting for Viet Cong fighters and sympathizers killed unarmed villagers in two hamlets of Son My village; estimates of the death toll vary from 347 to 504.
In 1994,
figure skater Tonya Harding pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution for covering up an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan, avoiding jail but drawing a $100,000 fine.
In 2004,
China declared victory in its fight against bird flu, saying it had “stamped out” all its known cases.
Ten years ago:
Attorney General Eric Holder told a House Appropriations subcommittee that Osama bin Laden would never face trial in the United States because he would not be captured alive. (The al-Qaida leader was killed in Pakistan in May 2011.)
Five years ago:
Prosecutors filed a first-degree murder charge against real estate heir Robert Durst in the killing of his friend, Susan Berman. (Durst is now on trial in Los Angeles.)
One year ago:
Relatives waited for authorities to release the remains of the 51 Muslim worshipers killed in massacres at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.