Today in history
Today is Thursday, March 16, the 75th day of 2017. There are 290 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History
On March 16, 1802, President Thomas Jefferson signed a measure authorizing the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.
On this date
In A.D. 37, Roman emperor Tiberius died; he was succeeded by Caligula.
In 1517, the 12th and final session of the Fifth Lateran Council of the Catholic Church took place in Rome, almost five years after the council began.
In 1751, James Madison, fourth president of the United States, was born in Port Conway, Virginia.
In 1792, Sweden’s King Gustav III was shot and mortally wounded during a masquerade party by a former member of his regiment (he died 13 days later).
In 1926, rocket science pioneer Robert H. Goddard successfully tested the first liquid-fueled rocket at his Aunt Effie’s farm in Auburn, Massachusetts.
In 1935, Adolf Hitler decided to break the military terms set by the Treaty of Versailles (vehr-SY’) 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 1968, during the Vietnam War, the My Lai (mee ly) Massacre of Vietnamese civilians was carried out by U.S. Army troops; estimates of the death toll vary between 347 and 504.
In 1974, the Grand Ole Opry House opened in Nashville with a concert attended by President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat.
In 1987, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In 1991, a plane carrying seven members of country singer Reba McEntire’s band and her tour manager crashed into Otay Mountain in southern California, killing all on board. U.S. skaters Kristi Yamaguchi, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan swept the World Figure Skating Championships in Munich, Germany.
In 2003, American activist Rachel Corrie, 23, was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer while trying to block demolition of a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip.
Ten years ago: Former CIA operative Valerie Plame told a House committee that White House and State Department officials had “carelessly and recklessly” blown her cover in a politically motivated smear of her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, for publicly disputing President George W. Bush’s assertion that Saddam Hussein was on the brink of acquiring a nuclear bomb. Menu Foods, a major manufacturer of dog and cat food sold under Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger and other store brands, recalled 60 million containers of wet pet food after reports of kidney failure and deaths.
Five years ago: A jury in New Brunswick, New Jersey, convicted former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi (dah-ROON’ RAH’-vee) in the webcam spying episode that ended in the suicide of his gay roommate, Tyler Clementi. (Ravi served 20 days in jail for invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and other counts.) Actor George Clooney and his father, Nick Clooney, were arrested outside the embassy of Sudan in Washington during a protest that accused Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir of provoking a humanitarian crisis in his own country.
One year ago: President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to take the seat of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who had died the previous month; Republicans pledged to leave the seat empty until after the presidential election and said they wouldn’t even hold confirmation hearings.