Vietnam

1964

Dec 9, 2016

Gulf of Tonkin incident: the US says North Vietnamese patrol boats fire on two US Navy destroyers. US Congress approves Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorising military action in region.

1965

Dec 9, 2016

200,000 American combat troops arrive in South Vietnam.

1966

Dec 9, 2016

US troop numbers in Vietnam rise to 400,000, then to 500,000 the following year.

1968

Dec 9, 2016

Tet Offensive - a combined assault by Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army on US positions - begins. More than 500 civilians die in the US massacre at My Lai. Thousands are killed by communist forces during their occupation of the city of Hue.

1969

Dec 9, 2016

Ho Chi Minh dies. President Nixon begins to reduce US ground troops in Vietnam as domestic public opposition to the war grows.

1970

Dec 9, 2016

Nixon's national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, and Le Duc Tho, for the Hanoi government, start talks in Paris.

1973

Dec 9, 2016

Ceasefire agreement in Paris, US troop pull-out completed by March.

1975

Dec 9, 2016

North Vietnamese troops invade South Vietnam and take control of the whole country after South Vietnamese President Duong Van Minh surrenders.

1976

Dec 9, 2016

Socialist Republic of Vietnam proclaimed. Saigon is re-named Ho Chi Minh City. Hundreds of thousands flee abroad, including many "boat people".

1979

Dec 9, 2016

Vietnam invades Cambodia and ousts the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot. In response, Chinese troops cross Vietnam's northern border. They are pushed back by Vietnamese forces. The number of "boat people" trying to leave Vietnam causes international concern.