March 22 in Military History

Samoset, an Abenaki sagamore, walked into the Plymouth Colony and greeted the stunned Pilgrims in English, which he had learned from English fishermen. This first contact led to an alliance with the Wampanoag that kept the colony alive, but also set in motion 55 years of escalating conflict that culminated in the devastating King Philip's War of 1675-76.

Opechancanough, paramount chief of the Powhatan Confederacy, led coordinated surprise attacks against 31 English settlements along the James River in Virginia, killing 347 colonists, one quarter of the colony's population. Warriors entered settlers' homes under the pretense of trade, then seized tools and weapons and killed men, women, and children. Jamestown was saved only by a last-minute warning. The massacre triggered the Second Anglo-Powhatan War.

Persian conqueror Nadir Shah's army sacked the Mughal capital of Delhi after defeating the Mughal emperor at the Battle of Karnal. The plundering lasted for weeks, with an estimated 20,000-30,000 inhabitants killed and treasure worth billions in modern currency looted, including the Koh-i-Noor diamond and the Peacock Throne.

Parliament passed the Stamp Act, imposing the first direct tax on the American colonies to pay for British troops stationed in North America after the French and Indian War. Colonial resistance was fierce, the Sons of Liberty organized riots, and the Stamp Act Congress met in New York. The "No taxation without representation" movement unified the colonies for the first time and set in motion the dynamics that led to the American Revolution.

The 99th Pursuit Squadron was activated at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois, the first all-Black flying unit in American military history. Initially without pilots or aircraft, the squadron became the foundation of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen. Their distinguished combat record in North Africa, Sicily, and Europe earned over 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses and was instrumental in President Truman's 1948 executive order desegregating the armed forces.

In the Mediterranean south of Malta, a British escort force of four light cruisers and 17 destroyers under Rear Admiral Philip Vian fought off a far superior Italian fleet including the battleship Littorio, two heavy cruisers, and ten destroyers. Vian's aggressive use of smoke screens and bold torpedo attacks forced the Italians to withdraw despite overwhelming firepower. The battle is considered one of the finest small-force naval actions of World War II.

In retaliation for a partisan ambush, Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118 herded the entire population of the Belarusian village of Khatyn into a barn, set it ablaze, and machine-gunned anyone who tried to escape. 149 people were killed, including 75 children under the age of 16. Khatyn became a symbol of the Nazi campaign that destroyed at least 5,295 Belarusian settlements during the occupation, often with all inhabitants killed.

On the night of March 22, 1945, the 5th Infantry Division of Patton's Third Army launched assault boats across the Rhine River at Oppenheim, south of Mainz, with no preparatory artillery fire. The crossing was virtually unopposed, the Germans had not anticipated an assault at that location. Patton's crossing beat Montgomery's massive Operation Plunder by a full day, demonstrating that speed and audacity could accomplish what others required months of planning to attempt. The Rhine was the last major natural barrier protecting the German heartland.

The League of Arab States was founded in Cairo by seven member nations, Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and North Yemen. Originally created to coordinate political and economic programs, the Arab League quickly became a vehicle for collective military action, coordinating the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and playing a role in every major Middle Eastern military conflict since.

ISIS-affiliated terrorists detonated three bombs in Brussels, two at Zaventem International Airport and one at Maalbeek metro station near the European Commission, killing 32 people and injuring over 300. The attacks struck at the heart of NATO's capital and the European Union's institutional center, exposing vulnerabilities in European security coordination.