Today in History

Today is Saturday, March 16, the 75th day of 2013. There are 290 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War, the My Lai Massacre of Vietnamese civilians was carried out by U.S. Army troops; estimates of the death toll vary between 347 and 504.

On this date:

In A.D. 37, Roman emperor Tiberius died; he was succeeded by Caligula.

In 1521, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines, where he was killed by natives the following month.

In 1751, James Madison, fourth president of the United States, was born in Port Conway, Va.

In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson signed a measure authorizing the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

In 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Scarlet Letter" was first published.

In 1912, future first lady Pat Nixon was born Thelma Catherine Ryan in Ely, Nev.

In 1926, rocket science pioneer Robert H. Goddard successfully tested the first liquid-fueled rocket, in Auburn, Mass.

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

In 1983, radio and television star Arthur Godfrey died in New York at age 79.

In 1988, Protestant extremist Michael Stone launched a one-man gun-and-grenade attack on an Irish Republican Army funeral at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast, Northern Ireland, killing three of the mourners.

Ten years ago: Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein warned that if Iraq were attacked, it would take the war anywhere in the world "wherever there is sky, land or water." President George W. Bush gave the United Nations one more day to find a diplomatic solution to the standoff. 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.

Five years ago: Protests spread from Tibet into three neighboring provinces; the Dalai Lama decried what he called the "cultural genocide" taking place in his homeland and called for an international investigation into China's crackdown on demonstrators. Actor Ivan Dixon died in Charlotte, N.C., at age 76.

One year ago: A jury in New Brunswick, N.J., convicted former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi in the webcam spying episode that ended in the suicide of his gay roommate, Tyler Clementi. (Ravi served less than a month in jail for invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and other counts; he's appealing his conviction.) Actor George Clooney and his father, Nick Clooney, were arrested during a protest outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington.

Today's Birthdays: Comedian-director Jerry Lewis is 87. Country singer Ray Walker (The Jordanaires) is 79. Movie director Bernardo Bertolucci is 72. Game show host Chuck Woolery is 72. Singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker is 71. Country singer Robin Williams is 66. Actor Erik Estrada is 64. Actor Victor Garber is 64. Actress Kate Nelligan is 62. Country singer Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel) is 62. Rock singer-musician Nancy Wilson (Heart) is 59. Golfer Hollis Stacy is 59. Actress Isabelle Huppert is 58. Actor Clifton Powell is 57. Rapper-actor Flavor Flav (Public Enemy) is 54. Rock musician Jimmy DeGrasso is 50. Folk singer Patty Griffin is 49. Country singer Tracy Bonham is 46. Actress Lauren Graham is 46. Actor Judah Friedlander is 44. Actor Alan Tudyk is 42. Actor Tim Kang is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Blu Cantrell is 37. Actress Brooke Burns is 35. Rock musician Wolfgang Van Halen is 22.

Thought for Today: "Until we lose ourselves there is no hope of finding ourselves." -- Henry Miller, American author (1891-1980).

Copyright 2013, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.