◆ On this day

March 16

4 sourced moments from March 16 in history: Magellan sighted the Philippines on 16 March, landed the 17th (1521); West Point: America's First Military Academy (1802); Goddard's first liquid-fuel rocket flew 41 feet in 1926, plus 1 more.

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4 things happened on March 16

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1968 History · War & Conflict

The My Lai massacre occurred in Vietnam

On a single March morning in 1968, US soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese villagers, and the cover-up that followed scarred a war.

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1926 Space · Space Exploration

Goddard's first liquid-fuel rocket flew 41 feet in 1926

Robert Goddard's 1926 rocket flew for 2.5 seconds, stayed secret for a decade, and drew a New York Times apology 49 years late.

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1802 Society & Economy · Politics & Law

West Point: America's First Military Academy

With one signature, Thomas Jefferson turned a Hudson River fortress into the nation's first engineering school and proving ground for officers.

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1521 History · Modern

Magellan sighted the Philippines on 16 March, landed the 17th

Eastern Samar marks 16 March on Homonhon island, but Pigafetta's chronicle puts the sighting and the landing on separate days.

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