HOLD FOR RELEASE. THIS STORY MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST OR POSTED ONLINE BEFORE 12:00 A.M. ET TUESDAY MAR 8, 2022.

Today in History

Today is Tuesday, March 8, the 67th day of 2022. 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 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 1971, Joe Frazier defeated Muhammad Ali by decision in what was billed as “The Fight of the Century” at Madison Square Garden in New York. Silent film comedian Harold Lloyd died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 77.

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 and ultimately unsuccessful search.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Sue Ane Langdon is 86. College Football Hall of Famer Pete Dawkins is 84. Songwriter Carole Bayer Sager is 78. Actor-director Micky Dolenz (The Monkees) is 77. Singer-musician Randy Meisner is 76. Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice is 69. NBC News anchor Lester Holt is 63. Actor Aidan Quinn is 63. Actor Freddie Prinze Jr. is 46.