1965: The United States landed its first combat troops in South Vietnam as 3,500 Marines arrived to defend the U.S. air base at Da Nang.

2014: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board, vanished during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, setting off a massive and ultimately unsuccessful search.

In the nation

1948: The Supreme Court, in McCollum vs. Board of Education, struck down religious education classes during school hours in Champaign, Ill., public schools, saying the program violated separation of church and state.

Today’s birthdays

Author John McPhee is 94. Songwriter Carole Bayer Sager is 81. Actor-musician Micky Dolenz is 80. Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice is 72. Actor Aidan Quinn is 66. Actor Camryn Manheim is 64. Actor James Van Der Beek is 48. Songwriter-producer Benny Blanco is 37. Tennis player Petra Kvitová is 35. Actor Montana Jordan is 22. Actor Kit Connor is 21.

— The Associated Press