May 4, 1970Reputable sourceWell documented
Kent State and the Cambodia Incursion
On the timeline · around May 4, 1970 ·
What happened
When Nixon sent U.S. troops into Cambodia in 1970, campuses erupted. At Kent State University in Ohio, National Guardsmen opened fire on protesters, killing four students and wounding nine.
Why it matters
The image of American soldiers shooting American students seared the nation, triggering a wave of campus strikes and hardening opposition to the war.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica. Kent State shootings · Reputable source
Related timelines
- The Civil Rights Movement → — Protest turns deadly at home