Today is Monday, March 16, the 75th day of 2009. There are 290 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Monday, March 16, the 75th day of 2009. There are 290 days left in the year. On this date in 1968, during the Vietnam War, the My Lai Massacre of Vietnamese civilians is carried out by U.S. Army troops; estimates of the death toll vary between 347 and 504.

In A.D. 37, Roman emperor Tiberius dies; he is succeeded by Caligula. In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson signs a measure authorizing the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. In 1915, the Federal Trade Commission begins operations. In 1926, rocket science pioneer Robert H. Goddard successfully tests the first liquid-fueled rocket, in Auburn, Mass. In 1935, Adolf Hitler decides to break the military terms set by the Treaty of Versailles by ordering the rearming of Germany. In 1969, “1776,” a musical about the writing of the Declaration of Independence, opens on Broadway. In 1978, Italian politician Aldo Moro is kidnapped by left-wing urban guerrillas, who later murder him. In 1985, Terry Anderson, chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press, is abducted in Beirut; he is released in December 1991.

March 16, 1984: U.S. Sen. John Glenn of Ohio, his campaign in collapse, decides to end his run for the Democratic Party nomination for president, leaving Gary Hart and Walter Mondale as the frontrunners.

Mahoning and Trumbull County members of the Automobile Dealers Association launch a spring sales campaign, “The Love Affair is Back ... It’s Time for a New Car.” Dealers say they have a good selection of cars and interest rates of 11.9 percent on new cars and 13 percent on used.

March 16, 1969: Roland Hall Jr., 16, leads his six younger bothers and sisters to safety when fire destroys their two story home on Route 7 south of Hartford. The fire was apparently sparked by bad wiring under the upstairs floor.

Stately elm trees in Warren’s parks that have fallen over 20 years to Dutch em disease are being replaced by maple saplings. The same park crews that have cut down the elms have planted about 100 maples.

March 16, 1959: Winds reaching gale force of 55 mph give the Youngstown district a four hour battering that caused an estimated $250,000.

Venice J. Lamb, 79, of 1711Ffifth Ave., a former president of the Mahoning County Bar Association and widely known as a damage suit lawyer, dies in North Side Hospital.

Aut Mori Grotto’s 1959 variety show at Stambaugh Auditorium will feature 16 acts, including the East Palestine trio of Ed McCarthy, Herb Foster and Paul Rauch, billed as The Minstrelaires.

March 16, 1934: Judge Charles J. Lynch of St. Clairsville is named to succeed Judge John Pollock who died suddenly in the court’s chambers in the Mahoning County Courthouse.

The Coitsville Presbyterian Church, one of the oldest in Eastern Ohio, burns to the ground. Damage is estimated at $11,500.

Mahoning County Republicans are honored at a GOP rally in Columbus, where it is pointed out that Mahoning County elected all of its Republican candidates in 1932, the year of the Roosevelt landslide.