August 2, 1964: Three North Vietnamese PT boats allegedly fire torpedoes at the U.S. destroyer USS Maddox in international waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, about thirty miles off the coast of North Vietnam. Five days later Congress overwhelmingly passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorizes President Lyndon B. Johnson to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression."