March 8, the primary US fighter troops arrive in Vietnam

Today is Saturday, March eighth, the 67th day of 2025. There are still 298 days a 12 months.

Today in history:

On March 8, 1965, the United States landed their first combat troops in South Vietnam, when 3,500 Marines arrived to defend the US air base in Da Nang.

Also on this date:

In 1917, protests against the food ration in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) broke out and triggered eight days of turmoil, which led to the abdication of Zsar Nicholas II and the top of the Russian monarchy.

In 1971 Frazier defeated in the primary of three fights between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier Ali by unanimous decision in what was charged as a “fight of the century” in Madison Square Garden in New York.

In a speech on the National Association of the Evangelical Convention in Orlando, Florida, President Ronald Reagan described the Soviet Union in 1983 as a “evil empire”.

In 1988 17 soldiers were killed when two helicopters from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, collided in the midst of the flight during an evening training mission.

In 2008, President George W. Bush made a law on a legislative template that might have banned using simulated drowning and other compulsory interrogation methods as a way to obtain information from alleged terrorists.

In 2014, the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board, disappeared to Beijing during a flight from Kuala Lumpur and ultimately led a large and ultimately unsuccessful search.

Today's birthdays:

• The writer John McPhee is 94.
• The songwriter Carole Bayer Sager is 81.
• The actor musician Micky Dolenz (the Monkees) is 80.
• Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice is 72.
• Singer Gary Numan is 67.
• TV journalist Lester Holt is 66.
• Actor Aidan Quinn is 66.
• Actor Camryn Manheim is 64.
• Actor Freddie Prince Jr. is 49.
• Actor James van der Beek is 48.
• The songwriter producer Benny Blanco is 37.
• Tennis player Petra Kvitova is 35.
• Actor Montana Jordan is 22.
• Actor Kit Connor is 21.