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On This Day: Johnson says he won't seek re-election

On March 31, 1968, U.S. President Johnson announced he wouldn't seek re-election and simultaneously ordered the suspension of U.S. bombing of North Vietnam.

By UPI Staff
On March 31, 1968, U.S. President Johnson announced he wouldn't seek re-election and simultaneously ordered the suspension of U.S. bombing of North Vietnam. UPI File Photo
1 of 5 | On March 31, 1968, U.S. President Johnson announced he wouldn't seek re-election and simultaneously ordered the suspension of U.S. bombing of North Vietnam. UPI File Photo | License Photo

March 31 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1889, the Eiffel Tower was dedicated in Paris in a ceremony presided over by its designer, Gustave Eiffel, during the Universal Exhibition of Arts and Manufacturers.

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In 1906, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later renamed the National Collegiate Athletic Association) was established.

In 1918, daylight saving time went into effect in the United States for the first time.

In 1948, the U.S. Congress passed the Marshall Aid Act, a plan to rehabilitate war-ravaged Europe.

In 1954, the U.S. Air Force Academy was established at Colorado Springs.

File Photo by Marc Piscotty/UPI

In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled Chinese-occupied Tibet and was granted political asylum in India.

In 1968, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson announced he wouldn't seek re-election and simultaneously ordered the suspension of U.S. bombing of North Vietnam.

In 1971, U.S. Army Lt. William Calley was sentenced to life in prison for his part in the deaths of 22 Vietnamese civilians in what was called the My Lai Massacre. Public opinion polls and news reports indicated that most Americans believed the sentence was too severe; many said Calley was a scapegoat. His sentence was gradually reduced and he was paroled in 1974.

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File Photo courtesy of the U.S. government

In 1991, the Warsaw Pact formally ended, with Soviet commanders surrendering their powers in an agreement between pact members and the Soviet Union.

In 1995, Major League Baseball players went back to work, ending the longest strike in league history. The lockout, which began Aug. 12, 1994, ended the rest of the 1994 season.

In 1998, the U.N. Security Council voted to impose an arms embargo on Yugoslavia after unrest in the Serbian province of Kosovo turned violent.

In 2005, Terri Schiavo, a 41-year-old Florida woman in a persistent vegetative state since 1990, died 14 days after removal of her feeding tube amid a legal struggle over her fate that reached the White House and Supreme Court.

In 2007, Pakistan successfully tested its Hataf-II Abdali ballistic missile, believed capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

In 2013, authorities announced the death toll from the collapse of a multistory building under construction in Tanzania reached at least 25. The toll would eventually be raised to 36.

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In 2014, French President Francois Hollande, whose Socialist Party had widespread losses in recent elections, announced the formation of a new government.

In 2017, mudslides killed more than 200 people after heavy rains in Colombia,

File Photo by Gonzalo Domínguez/EPA

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