Today in History — Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter was published.

March 16

1521
Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines.

1850
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter was published.

1926
The first liquid-fuel rocket was successfully launched by Prof. Robert Goddard at Auburn, Massachusetts. The rocket traveled 184 feet in 2.5 seconds.

1935
Adolf Hitler cancelled the military clauses of the Treaty of Versailles.

1968
The My Lai massacre occurred in Vietnam.

1978
Italian politician Aldo Moro was kidnapped, and later murdered, by the Red Brigades.

1985
U.S. journalist Terry Anderson was kidnapped in Beirut; he was not released until December 4, 1991 after 2454 days in captivity.

1988
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver L. North and Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter of the National Security Council are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States for their role in the Iran-contra affair.

Birthdays

James Madison
1751–1836; American President, born in Port Conway, Va., on March 16, 1751.
A Princeton graduate, he joined the struggle for independence on his return to Virginia in 1771.

Georg Simon Ohm
physicist (1787)

Reza Shah Pahlevi
shah of Iran (1877)

Henny Youngman
comedian (1906)

Jerry Lewis
comedian (1926)

Daniel Patrick Moynihan
sociologist and politician (1927)

Bernardo Bertolucci
filmmaker (1940)

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