Today in History

Today in History

Today is Thursday, March 8, the 67th day of 2018. There are 298 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 8, 1965, the United States landed its first combat troops in South Vietnam as 3,500 Marines arrived to defend the U.S. air base at Da Nang.

On this date:

In 1618, German astronomer Johannes Kepler devised his third law of planetary motion.

In 1702, England's Queen Anne acceded to the throne upon the death of King William III.

In 1854, U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry made his second landing in Japan; within a month, he concluded a treaty with the Japanese.

In 1874, the 13th president of the United States, Millard Fillmore, died in Buffalo, New York, at age 74.

In 1917, Russia's "February Revolution" (referring to the Old Style calendar) began; the result was the abdication of the Russian monarchy in favor of a provisional government, which was overthrown later the same year by the Bolsheviks. The U.S. Senate voted to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.

In 1930, the 27th president of the United States, William Howard Taft, died in Washington at age 72.

In 1948, the Supreme Court, in McCollum v. Board of Education, struck down voluntary religious education classes in Champaign, Illinois, public schools, saying the program violated separation of church and state.

In 1979, technology firm Philips demonstrated a prototype compact disc player during a press conference in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

In 1983, in a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals convention in Orlando, Florida, President Ronald Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an "evil empire."

In 1988, 17 soldiers were killed when two Army helicopters from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, collided in mid-flight.

In 1999, baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio died in Hollywood, Florida, at age 84.

In 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board, vanished during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, setting off a massive search. (To date, the fate of the jetliner and its occupants has yet to be determined.)

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush vetoed a bill that would have banned the CIA from using simulated drowning and other coercive interrogation methods to gain information from suspected terrorists. Barack Obama captured the Wyoming Democratic caucuses.

Five years ago: The government reported the jobless rate dropped to 7.7 percent the previous month, the lowest level since President Barack Obama took office. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Afghanistan for his first visit as Pentagon chief. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was lauded at his state funeral as a modern-day reincarnation of Latin American liberator Simon Bolivar and a disciple of Cuba's Fidel Castro.

One year ago: Hawaii became the first state to sue to stop President Donald Trump's revised travel ban (the state had previously sued over Trump's initial travel ban, but that lawsuit was put on hold while other cases played out across the country). Many American women stayed home from work, joined rallies or wore red to demonstrate how vital they were to the U.S. economy, as International Women's Day was observed with a multitude of events around the world, including the Day Without a Woman in the U.S. Fire swept through a crowded youth shelter near Guatemala City, killing 40 girls.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Sue Ane Langdon is 82. College Football Hall of Famer Pete Dawkins is 80. Baseball player-turned-author Jim Bouton is 79. Songwriter Carole Bayer Sager is 74. Actor-director Micky Dolenz (The Monkees) is 73. Singer-musician Randy Meisner is 72. Pop singer Peggy March is 70. Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice is 65. Jazz musician Billy Childs is 61. Singer Gary Numan is 60. NBC News anchor Lester Holt is 59. Actor Aidan Quinn is 59. Country musician Jimmy Dormire is 58. Actress Camryn Manheim is 57. Actor Leon is 55. Rock singer Shawn Mullins (The Thorns) is 50. Neo-soul singer Van Hunt is 48. Actress Andrea Parker is 48. Actor Boris Kodjoe is 45. Actor Freddie Prinze Jr. is 42. Actress Laura Main is 41. Actor James Van Der Beek is 41. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kameelah Williams (702) is 40. Actor Nick Zano is 40. Rock singer Tom Chaplin (Keane) is 39. Rock musician Andy Ross (OK Go) is 39. Actress Jessica Collins is 35. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kristinia DeBarge is 28.

Thought for Today: "In every person, even in such as appear most reckless, there is an inherent desire to attain balance." -- Jakob (YAH'-kawb) Wassermann, German author (1873-1934).