October 12

This Day in History

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Lead Story
Columbus reaches the New World, 1492
American Revolution
British troops head up East River, 1776
Automotive
Silent-film star Tom Mix dies in Arizona car wreck; brained by "Suitcase of Death", 1940
Civil War
Confederate leader Robert E. Lee dies, 1870
Cold War
Nikita Khrushchev throws a tantrum at the United Nations, 1960
Crime
The victim of an anti-gay assault dies, 1998
Disaster
Fire rages in Minnesota, 1918
General Interest
The origin of Oktoberfest, 1810
British nurse executed in WWI, 1915
Conscientious objector wins Medal of Honor, 1945
USSR leads the space race, 1964
USS Cole attacked by terrorists, 2000
Terrorists kill 202 in Bali, 2002
Hollywood
Al Gore wins Nobel Prize in the wake of An Inconvenient Truth, 2007
Literary
Actress, playwright, novelist Alice Childress is born, 1912
Music
John Denver dies in an aircraft accident, 1997
Old West
The Cowboy actor Tom Mix dies in an Arizona car accident, 1940
Presidential
Thomas Jefferson composes romantic letter, 1786
Sports
Athletics score 10 in eighth inning of championship game, 1929
Vietnam War
Dean Rusk criticizes Congress while fighting continues in South Vietnam, 1967
Nixon announces another round of troop withdrawals, 1970
Racial violence breaks out aboard U.S. Navy ships, 1972
World War I
British nurse Edith Cavell executed , 1915
World War II
Gen. Joseph Stilwell dies, 1946

Vietnam War

Oct 12, 1970:

Nixon announces another round of troop withdrawals

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Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas. He had first announced his intention to withdraw U.S. troops from South Vietnam in June at the Midway Conference with President Nguyen Van Thieu. The first U.S. troops, from the 9th Infantry Division, had left Saigon in August. The troop withdrawals continued as the "Vietnamization" program turned fighting responsibility over to the South Vietnamese. By January 1972, there were less than 75,000 U.S. troops remaining in South Vietnam.

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This Week in History, Oct 12 - Oct 18

Oct 12, 1967
Dean Rusk criticizes Congress while fighting continues in South Vietnam
Oct 12, 1970
Nixon announces another round of troop withdrawals
Oct 12, 1972
Racial violence breaks out aboard U.S. Navy ships
Oct 13, 1966
McNamara claims that war is progressing satisfactorily
Oct 13, 1970
Sir Robert Thompson advises President Nixon
Oct 14, 1964
Khrushchev ousted as premier of Soviet Union
Oct 14, 1968
U.S. servicemen sent to Vietnam for second tours
Oct 15, 1965
First draft card burned
Oct 15, 1966
Operation Attleboro continues in Tay Ninh Province
Oct 15, 1969
National Moratorium demonstrations held across the United States
Oct 16, 1968
Bombing halt discussed
Oct 16, 1973
Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho awarded Nobel Peace Prize
Oct 17, 1966
President Johnson goes to Asia
Oct 18, 1955
Emperor Bao Dai attempts to dismiss Diem
Oct 18, 1968
Stock market soars with rumors of bombing halt in Vietnam

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