On This Day March 16

2003
Iraq War: Vice Pres. Dick Cheney when asked how long the war would last states, "Weeks rather than months." Later that day he commented, "my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators."

1994
Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding: Harding pleads guilty. She admitted to meeting with her bodyguard and her ex-husband, four days after the attack on fellow Olympic figure skater Kerrigan, to make plans to cover up their involvement.

1979
China Syndrome is released, about a nuclear plant disaster. Twelve days later the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor has a melt down.

1970
New English Bible: The complete version is published. It had been translated directly into English from the original text.

1968
U.S. troops kill over 300 civilians in My Lai, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War.

1966
First successful space docking: Gemini 8 and Agena connect. After an unexpected tumbling ensued, the TV show Lost in Space was preempted to show coverage of this event, prompting over 2,000 complain calls from viewers.

1955
Pres. Eisenhower announces the U.S.'s willingness to use nuclear weapons in the event of war.

1926
Space Flight: First liquid fuel rocket is launched, by Dr. Robert H. Goddard in Massachusetts, demonstrating the practicality of rockets. It covered a distance of 184 feet and attained a height of 41 feet during its 2.5-second flight.

1827
First black U.S. newspaper begins publication, Freedom's Journal, by Samuel Cornish and J.B. Russworm.

1802
West Point Military Academy: Established by Congress. It opened July 4th.

1954
Nancy Wilson, American guitarist, with Heart. Music: Barracuda (1978) and Dog & Butterfly (1978).

1946
J.Z. Knight (Judith Darlene Hampton), American psychic. She claims to be able to channel a 35,000-year-old man named Ramtha. She runs Ramtha's School of Enlightenment.

1927 d. 1967
Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov, Soviet cosmonaut. He became the first person to die during a space mission when his spacecraft became entangled in its parachute and plummetted to the Earth.

1927
Dick Beals, American actor. TV: Davey and Goliath (1960-64, voice of Davey) and Gumby (voice of Gumby). He was also the voice of Speedy in the Alka-Seltzer radio and TV commercials and he sang the I'd love to be an Oscar Meyer wiener song.

1908 d. 1966
Robert Rossen, American Oscar-winning director. Film: All the King's Men (1949, Best Picture Oscar) and The Hustler (1961).

1838 d. 1906
Benjamin William Arnett, American bishop, politician, first black state legislator to represent white-majority constituency (Ohio 1885-87). (Source: Famous First Facts)

1836 d. 1900
Andrew Smith Hallidie, English-born American engineer, invented the first cable streetcar (1871, San Francisco).

1787 d. 1854
Georg Simon Ohm, German physicist, creator of "Ohm's Law," and for whom the electrical measurements ohm and mho (Ohm spelled backwards) are named.

1751 d. 1836
James Madison, 4th U.S. President (1809-17), author of the Bill of Rights, and at five foot four inches he is the shortest of the U.S. presidents. His portrait graces the U.S. $5,000 bill.

1739 d. 1813
George Clymer, American politician, signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

1983 b. 1903
Arthur Godfrey, American radio and TV personality, dominated the air waves in the 1950s.

1975 b. 1910
T-Bone Walker (Aaron Walker), American singer, Daddy of the Blues.

1971 b. 1902
Thomas E. Dewey, American politician. As governor of New York, he enacted the nation's first state law banning racial and religious discrimination in employment. His loss of the 1948 presidential election to Truman surprised many, including the newspapers.

1940 b. 1858
Selma Lagerlof, Swedish author, first woman to receive the Nobel Prize for literature (1909).

1926 b. 1917
Sergeant Stubby: The most decorated war dog of World War I, and the only dog to be promoted to sergeant. Smuggled aboard the USS Minnesota, he served with the 102nd Infantry, 26th (Yankee) Division in the trenches in France for 18 months, participated in 4 offensives, and 17 battles. Stubby learned to warn his unit of gas attacks, located wounded soldiers, and could hear incoming shells long before the rest of the unit. He was even responsible for single-handedly capturing a German spy.

1925 b. 1866
August von Wassermann, German bacteriologist. He developed the Wassermann test for syphilis (1906).

37 A.D. b. 42 B.C.
Tiberius, Roman Emperor (14-37 A.D.), known for his vices and cruelty to his enemies.

March 16

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