America deepens its military involvement in Southeast Asia as the first US combat troops land in South Vietnam. Thirty-five hundred marines arrive to defend the US air base in Da Nang. Associated Press photographer Eddie Adams is there.

"They’re morality-tied, they are dedicated. They have to help the Vietnamese civilians find a better way of life." The Vietnam War eventually divides the United States and ends a decade later when Vietnam is reunified under Communist rule.

1917Start of the Russian Revolution. Rioting and strikes against the Russian empire break out in the city now known as St. Petersburg. By year’s end, Vladimir Lenin and his Bolsheviks seize power. They later form the Soviet Union, the world's first Communist state.

1854US Commodore Matthew Perry makes his second landing in Japan. Within a month, he concludes a treaty with the Japanese. That ends Japan's more than two centuries of isolation from the West.

And in 1999"Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio. Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you."Baseball Hall of Fame Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees dies of cancer in Hollywood, Florida. He was 84.

Today in History, March 8th, Sandy Kozel, the Associated Press.