The Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 goes into effect, extending U.S. territorial waters by 200 miles. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
All year, we've been highlighting historical news events—and Foreign Affairs articles about those events—as part of our "This Day in History" series. Here are our collected selections for March.
The army, led by General Ne Win, seizes power. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Mozambican President Samora Machel announces the closure of the border with Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) after Rhodesian troops entered the country without permission to root out rebel fighters during the Rhodesian Bush War. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc, considered a landmark case for gay rights, was later used to protect people from workplace harassment based on sexual orientation. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
At Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill says, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent." Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Just a day after Joseph Stalin's death, Georgy Malenkov is appointed the new Premier and First Secretary of the Soviet Union, but he is quickly pushed out by Nikita Khrushchev. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Iran breaks diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom for its failure to denounce Salman Rushdie and his controversial novel, The Satanic Verses. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The document is a guideline for the transitional government. It was replaced by a permanent constitution in October 2005. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The firebombing was part of U.S. air raids on Japan during the WWII Pacific campaigns. This raid was later considered the most destructive bombing campaign in history. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
He is tried for sedition and sentenced to six years in prison. He is released two years later in order to receive medical treatment. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The stock market begins to slip after peaking the day before at $6.71 trillion in combined value of stocks on the NASDAQ. By the end of the month, nearly a trillion dollars worth of stock had been lost. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
In a speech before Congress, President Harry S. Truman asks for U.S. aid to help Greece and Turkey resist communism. His statement is considered the official declaration of the Cold War. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The goal is to stabilize the exchange rate by linking the currencies of ten major European countries. The system is later replaced by the Economic and Monetary Union. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The Congress of People’s Deputies elects General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev as the new leader of the Soviet Union. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The Ten Nation Committee on Disarmament begins a discussion on nuclear disarmament. It included five Warsaw Pact and five NATO nations. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
A group of American soldiers brutally murders between 200 and 500 unarmed civilians at My Lai, a small village located near the northern coast of South Vietnam. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The prominent Cold War strategist passes away at 101. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
General Chiang Kai-Shek, who retreated to Taiwan after losing the mainland to the Communists in 1949, leads the nationalists forces in a costal invasion of China. The nationalists are again defeated and driven back to Taiwan. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
In a vote of 49-35, the U.S. Senate fails to approve the treaty, a formal peace agreement between War World I Allies and Germany. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
A cult group releases sarin gas on the Tokyo subway, killing 12 and sickening 5,000. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter makes the announcement after the Soviet Union failed to comply with his deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by February 20, 1980. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Following an economic crisis in Saudi Arabia, King Saud gives his half-brother Crown Prince Faisal executive ruling powers. Faisal becomes king in 1964 and rules until his assassination in 1975. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
U.S. President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative involved building new antimissile technology to protect against ballistic nuclear weapons. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
It ended five-decades of "home rule," by which Ireland oversaw its own domestic affairs. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
This move ended the Iran-Azerbaijan Crisis of 1946, in which the Soviet Union refused to give up occupied territory in Iran. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C. by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and witnessed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Nikita Khrushchev, the first secretary of the Communist Party, succeeds Nikolai Bulganin as Soviet premier. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
An accident at nuclear generating station in Pennsylvania leads to one of the worst commercial nuclear meltdowns in history and cost $1 billion to clean up. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a husband and wife team, were found guilty of passing atomic secrets to the Soviets. They were executed in 1953. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot and seriously wounded. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The 36-year military alliance between the Soviet Union and its eastern European satellites dissolves. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
