DAY IN HISTORY

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Today is the 75th day of 2021 and the 86th day of winter. TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1945, U.S. military forces declared the island of Iwo Jima secure after 25 days of fighting.

In 1968, U.S. Army soldiers massacred more than 300 civilians in the My Lai village in South Vietnam.

In 1988, Lt. Col. Oliver North and Vice Adm. John Poindexter were indicted on charges of conspiracy during the Iran-contra affair.

In 1998, mass trials began in Rwanda for roughly 125,000 suspected perpetrators of the country’s 1994 genocide.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

James Madison (1751-1836), fourth U.S. president; Henny Youngman (19061998), comedian; Pat Nixon (1912-1993), U.S. first lady; Jerry Lewis (1926-2017), comedian; Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003), U.S. senator; Chuck Woolery (1941- ), game show host; Nancy Wilson (1954- ), singersongwriter; Ozzie Newsome (1956- ), football player/executive;

Patty Griffin (1964- ), singer-songwriter; Gore Verbinski (1964- ), filmmaker; Lauren Graham (1967- ), actress; Joel Embiid (1994- ), basketball player.

TODAY’S FACT:

James Madison was the shortest U.S. president, at 5 feet 4 inches tall. He is estimated to have weighed 100 lbs.

TODAY’S SPORTS:

In 1994, figure skater Tonya Harding pleaded guilty to hindering the investigation into the conspiracy to attack rival Olympic hopeful Nancy Kerrigan.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “I love distracting myself, just like anyone else. But I also feel a more urgent need in myself to make an effort, to be present and to try to be something that is in favor of life. Of human life.” — Patty Griffin

TODAY’S NUMBER:

$2.5 billion — total donations raised for the Muscular Dystrophy Association through entertainer Jerry Lewis’ annual telethon, a nearly 24-hour event that aired every Labor Day from 1966 to 2010.

TODAY’S MOON: Between new moon (March 13) and first quarter moon (March 21).