Thich Quang Duc committed self-immolation (set himself on fire) here to protest the treatment of Buddhists by the government.  There is a monument in his honor here now.

Thich Quang Duc

Thích Quảng Đức (English pronunciation: /ˌtɪtʃ ˌkwɒŋ ˈdʊk/ TICH KWONG DUUK; 1897 – 11 June 1963, born Lâm Văn Tức), was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who burned himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11 June 1963. Quang Duc was protesting about the persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnam's Roman Catholic government^{[citation needed]} led by Ngo Dinh Diem. Photos of his self-immolation were circulated widely across the world and brought attention to the policies of the Diệm regime. Malcolm Browne won a Pulitzer Prize for his renowned photograph of the monk's death. After his death, his body was re-cremated, but his heart remained intact.^[1][2] This was interpreted as a symbol of compassion and led Buddhists to revere him as a bodhisattva, meaning heroic-minded one (satva) for enlightenment (bodhi), which heightened the impact of his death on the public psyche.^[3]

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thich Quang Duc