March 16, the My Lai massacre in Vietnam

Today is Sunday, March 16, the 75th day of 2025. There are 290 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War, U.S. Army soldiers hunting for Viet Cong fighters and sympathizers killed as many as 500 unarmed villagers in two hamlets of Son My village, in what became known as the My Lai massacre.

Also on this date:

In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson signed a measure authorizing the establishment of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

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

In 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy of New York announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In 1972, in a nationally broadcast address, President Richard Nixon called for a moratorium on court-ordered school busing to achieve racial desegregation.

In 1984, William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by Hezbollah militants; he would be tortured by his captors and killed in 1985.

In 1985, Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson was kidnapped in Beirut by Hezbollah militants; he would spend nearly seven years in captivity before being freed in December 1991.

In 1994, figure skater Tonya Harding pleaded guilty in Portland, Oregon, to conspiracy to hinder prosecution for covering up an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan, avoiding jail but drawing a $100,000 fine and three years of probation.

In 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to take the seat of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who had died the previous month. Republicans who controlled the Senate would stick to their pledge to leave the seat empty until after the presidential election; they confirmed Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch in April 2017.

In 2020, global stocks plunged amid coronavirus concerns, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 2,997 points (12.9%), the largest point drop and second-largest single-day percentage decline in history.