Video: 'Rare COLOR footage of first spacewalk, Alexei Leonov, March 18, 1965'
(Friday, March 18, 1965, 08:34:51 UTC) — Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov left his orbiting spacecraft Voskhod 2 capsule for 12 minutes today (secured by a tether), making the first spacewalk in history.
NASA had been gearing up to be the first to perform such extra-vehicular activity (EVA), but the Soviets, as they had with the first satellite and first man in space, beat the US to it.
(Monday, March 16, 1965, evening, during the the Vietnam War, the Indochina Wars and Cold War) — Peace activist Alice Herz, 82, set herself ablaze on a Detroit street corner today to protest the Vietnam War (the first activist in the United States known to have immolated herself in protest of the escalating Vietnam War, Herz died 10 days later).
Video: 'American Experience Lyndon B Johnson PBS Documentary' (Mar. 15, 1965, at 30:56)
(Monday, March 15, 1965, during the the Vietnam War, the Indochina Wars and Cold War) — U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson Johnson met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff today and General Harold K. Johnson made a prediction that sent a shock wave through the room: “To win the war,” he said, “it could take five years and 500,000 men.”
Video: 'Vietnam a Television History Episode 11' (Mar. 14, 1975, at 27:04)
(Friday, March 14, 1975, 11:00 a.m. ICT; during the Battle of Ban Me Thuot, part of the Vietnam War, the Indochina Wars and Cold War) — South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu today ordered his forces to abandon the northern and central provinces and form a new line of defense further south.
But, hoping to avoid panic, he did not announce the withdrawal or reveal his plans. As the rumors flew, fear spread. Nobody knew what to believe and nobody wanted to be left behind.
Video: '3/11/85: Gorbachev Becomes Soviet Leader'
(Monday, March 11, 1985, publicly announced at 6:15 p.m. MSK; during the Cold War) — Mikhail Gorbachev, 54, was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union by the Politburo today, only three hours after the death of Konstantin Chernenko.
Gorbachev’s policies of glasnost (“openness”) and perestroika (“restructuring”) as well as summit conferences with United States President Ronald Reagan and his reorientation of Soviet strategic aims would contribute to the end of the Cold War.
Video: 'Vietnam a Television History Episode 11' (Mar. 10, 1975, at 25:17)
(Monday, March 10, 1975, 2:00 a.m. ICT; during the Battle of Ban Me Thuot, part of the Vietnam War, the Indochina Wars and Cold War) — The North Vietnamese army began their assault on South Vietnamese forces this morning at Ban Me Thuot.
Video: 'Vietnam Marines Da Nang Landing'
(Monday, March 8, 1965, 9:03 a.m. ICT; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — The first U.S. combat troops arrived in Vietnam today as 3,500 Marines landed at China Beach to defend the American air base at Da Nang. They joined 23,000 American military advisors already in Vietnam. Continue reading First American combat troops land in Vietnam 50 years ago this hour (Mar 8 1965)
Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - LBJ Goes to War [3/11]' (Mar. 2, 1965, at 28:50)
(Tuesday, March 2, 1965, 3:45 p.m. ICT; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — Operation Rolling Thunder, a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign, began today as more than 100 U.S. jet aircraft bombed a North Vietnamese munitions depot and also provided air cover for 60 South Vietnamese bombers striking at a Communist naval base. Continue reading Operation Rolling Thunder against North Vietnam begins 50 years ago this hour (Mar 2 1965)
Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - LBJ Goes to War [3/11]' (Feb. 22, 1965, at 28:40)
(Monday, February 22, 1965, 6:30 a.m. ICT; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Khanh formally announced his resignation today as commander-in-chief of South Vietnamese armed forces during a telephone call to his generals from a military air strip at Da Lat, about 150 miles northeast of Saigon, where his plane landed after running low on fuel.
The Armed Forces Council had unanimously decided late Sunday to replace Khanh with Maj. Gen. Tran Van Minh as commander in chief.
Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - Cambodia and Laos [8/11]' (Jan. 1, 1975, at 42:32)
(Wednesday, January 1, 1975, 1:20 a.m. local time; during the Cambodian Civil War, part of the Vietnam War, Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — Communist-led insurgents known as the Khmer Rouge launched a series of attacks on the outskirts of Phnom Penh today and thousands of refugees, hundreds of them injured, streamed into the capital.
