Today in History: West Point's Guatemala Connection, Reagan Sends Troops to Honduras

A West Point cadet holds his diploma near the end of graduation ceremonies Saturday, May 26, 2007 at West Point Military Academy in Highland Falls, N.Y. Nine hundred seventy eight cadets received their diplomas and will enter the U.S. Army as second lieutenants.(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Today is Wednesday, March 16, the 75th day of 2011. There are 290 days left in the year.

1) On March 16, 1802, President Thomas Jefferson signed a measure authorizing the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

Did you know?

In 1889 Antonio Barrios became the Academy’s first international cadet to graduate and went on to serve as Guatemala’s minister of public works.

The concept of the class ring originated at West Point in 1835. Traditionally the ring is worn on the left hand so that the West Point crest can be closest to the heart.

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2) President Reagan ordered over 3,000 troops to Honduras in response to concerns that soldiers of the leftist Sandanista government in Nicaragua had crossed the Honduran border in pursuit of anti-Sandinista Contra rebels.