Agent Orange Sprayed: Vietnam's Toxic Legacy Begins
The U.S. Air Force sprayed its first load of herbicide over a test area in South Vietnam on August 10, 1961, beginning what became Operation Ranch Hand, one of the largest chemical warfare programs in history. Over the next decade, American forces sprayed roughly 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides across 4.5 million acres of Vietnamese jungle and farmland. The dioxin contaminant TCDD caused cancers, birth defects, and neurological damage in both Vietnamese civilians and American veterans. An estimated 3 million Vietnamese people and hundreds of thousands of American service members suffered health effects. The VA did not formally recognize Agent Orange-related diseases until 1991.
August 10, 1961
65 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on August 10
Nineveh fell in 612 BCE. The Assyrian Empire had been the most powerful military machine in the ancient Near East for centuries — they used mass deportations, s…
The Prophet Muhammad received his first revelation from the angel Jibril within the cave of Hira, initiating the descent of the Qur'an. This night, known as Lay…
Pope Eugene I was elected in 654 while his predecessor Martinus I was still alive in exile — arrested by the Byzantine Emperor for opposing imperial theology. E…
The Battle of Lechfeld in 955 ended fifty years of Magyar raids into Western Europe. Otto I of Germany met a Magyar force on the Lech River with a cavalry charg…
The Battle of Maldon in 991 is famous because it failed so completely and someone wrote a poem about it. The English earl Bryhtnoth faced a Viking raiding party…
Byzantine Emperor Romanos III Argyros flees the Battle of Azaz after his forces crumble against the Mirdasid rulers of Aleppo, barely escaping capture during th…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.