The Double Seven Day scuffle was a physical altercation on July 7,
1963, in Saigon, South Vietnam. The secret police of Ngô Đình Nhu—the
brother of President Ngô Đình Diệm—attacked a group of American
journalists who were covering Buddhist protests. Peter Arnett of the
Associated Press was punched on the nose, but the quarrel quickly ended
after David Halberstam of The New York Times, being much taller than
Nhu's men, counterattacked and caused the secret police to retreat.
Arnett and his colleague, Malcolm Browne, were later accosted by police
and taken away for questioning on suspicion of attacking police
officers. After their release, the journalists went to the US embassy
in Saigon to complain about their treatment and asked for US government
protection. Their appeals were dismissed, as was a direct appeal to the
White House. Vietnamese Buddhists reacted to the incident by contending
that Diệm’s men were planning to assassinate monks, while Madame Ngô
Đình Nhu repeated earlier claims that the US government had been trying
to overthrow her brother-in-law. Photographs of Arnett's bloodied face,
published in newspapers worldwide, drew further negative attention to
the behaviour of the Diệm régime amidst the backdrop of the Buddhist
crisis. (more...)
Recently featured: Kenesaw Mountain Landis – Egyptian temple –
Parasaurolophus
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Seven_Day_scuffle>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1327:
First War of Scottish Independence: James Douglas led a raid into
Weardale and almost killed Edward III of England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stanhope_Park>
1903:
Italian cardinal Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto was elected to become Pope
Pius X.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_X>
1964:
A second U.S. Navy destroyer was reportedly attacked by North
Vietnamese forces in the Gulf of Tonkin, sparking Congress to authorize
the use of military force in Southeast Asia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident>
1992:
Yōhei Kōno , Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, issued a formal apology
for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women>
2007:
Airport police officer María del Luján Telpuk discovered a suitcase
containing an undeclared amount of US$800,000 as it went through an
x-ray machine in Buenos Aires' Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, sparking an
international scandal involving Venezuela and Argentina known as
"Maletinazo".
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_del_Luj%C3%A1n_Telpuk>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
inverecund (adj):
Immodest; shameless
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inverecund>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Contrary to the rumours that you've heard, I was not born in a manger.
I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-El, to
save the planet Earth.
--Barack Obama
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>
Show replies by date