In Cambodia, more than 100 civilians are killed and 280 wounded as communist artillery and rockets strike Phnom Penh and outlying areas in the heaviest attack since the beginning of the war in 1970. Following the shelling, a communist force of 500 troops attacked and entered Takh Mau, six miles southeast of Pnom Penh, killing at least 25 civilians.
Also on This Day
- Lead Story
- Stanley begins search for Livingstone, 1871
- American Revolution
- Massacre at Hancock's Bridge, 1778
- Automotive
- Formula One champ Ayrton Senna born, 1960
- Civil War
- Yankee General Edwin V. Sumner dies, 1863
- Cold War
- Carter tells U.S. athletes of Olympic boycott, 1980
- Crime
- Alcatraz closes its doors, 1963
- Disaster
- Series of tornadoes hits Southeast U.S., 1932
- General Interest
- Napoleonic Code approved in France, 1804
- Second Battle of the Somme begins, 1918
- Massacre in Sharpeville, 1960
- Selma to Montgomery march begins, 1965
- Hollywood
- Famous Dallas cliffhanger airs, 1980
- Literary
- Reward offered for identity of pamphlet author, 1678
- Music
- The Moondog Coronation Ball is history's first rock concert, 1952
- Old West
- "Broncho Billy" Anderson born, 1882
- Presidential
- Carter announces Olympic boycott, 1980
- Sports
- Ronaldinho is born, 1980
- Vietnam War
- North Vietnam rejects Johnson overture, 1967
- Khmer Rouge shell Phnom Penh, 1972
- World War I
- Germany begins major offensive on the Western Front, 1918
- World War II
- Another plot to kill Hitler foiled, 1943
Mar 21, 1972:
Khmer Rouge shell Phnom Penh
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This Week in History, Mar 21 - Mar 27
- Mar 21, 1967
- North Vietnam rejects Johnson overture
- Mar 21, 1972
- Khmer Rouge shell Phnom Penh
- Mar 22, 1965
- Officials confirm "non-lethal gas" was provided
- Mar 22, 1968
- Westmoreland to depart South Vietnam
- Mar 23, 1961
- U.S. plane shot down over Laos
- Mar 23, 1970
- Prince Sihanouk issues a call for arms
- Mar 24, 1965
- First teach-in conducted
- Mar 24, 1975
- North Vietnamese launch "Ho Chi Minh Campaign"
- Mar 25, 1967
- Martin Luther King leads march against the war
- Mar 25, 1968
- Johnson meets with the "Wise Men"
- Mar 26, 1969
- Antiwar demonstration in Washington
- Mar 26, 1975
- Hue falls to the communists
- Mar 27, 1965
- South Vietnamese forces conduct combat operations in Cambodia
- Mar 27, 1973
- Bombing of Cambodia to continue
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