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In 1871, the massive Chicago fire destroyed more than 17,000 buildings, killed more than 300 people and left 90,000 homeless.

Also in 1871, on the same day, a forest fire broke out at Peshtigo, Wis., eventually killing about 1,100 people while burning some 850 square miles.

In 1918, Sgt. Alvin York of Tennessee became a World War I hero by single-handedly capturing a hill in the Argonne Forest of France, killing 20 enemy soldiers
and capturing 132 others.

In 1919, The U.S. Congress passed the Volstead Act, prohibiting the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Also in 1919, the first U.S. transcontinental air race began with 63 planes competing in the round-trip aerial derby between California and New York. Each
way took about three days.

In 1932, the Indian Air Force was established.

In 1967, Argentinean-born Communist revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara, an important figure in the 1959 Cuban revolution, was killed while leading a guerrilla
war in Bolivia.

In 1990, at least 17 Muslims were killed by Israeli police in rioting on the Temple Mount, the third holiest site in Islam.

In 1991, a U.S. federal judge in Anchorage, Alaska, approved a $1 billion settlement against Exxon for the Valdez oil spill.

In 1993, the U.S. Justice Department, in its report on the 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, concluded the cult had caused
the fire that destroyed the compound, killing at least 75 people.

In 1997, three years after the death of longtime North Korean ruler Kim Il Sung, his son, Kim Jong Il, officially inherited his father’s title of general
secretary of the Communist Party.

In 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 258-176 to begin impeachment hearings against U.S. President Bill Clinton.

In 2001, U.S. transport planes dropped 37,000 meals into areas of Afghanistan where mass starvation was feared imminent.

Also in 2001, the United Nations and Secretary-General Kofi Annan shared the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2003, some $19 billion in peach-colored, redesigned $20 bills made their official debut across the United States.

Also in 2003, researchers found the remains of a synagogue dating from the fifth or sixth century in the Albanian coastal city of Saranda.

In 2004, for the first time the Nobel Peace Prize went to an African woman, Dr. Wangari Maathai, an environmental activist from Kenya.

In 2005, a death toll close to 40,000 was reported in India and Pakistan after an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck the area.

Also in 2005, Tropical Storm Stan killed more than 500 people in Guatemala.

In 2006, an Israeli official said Jerusalem had no “hostile intentions” toward Syria despite Syrian President Bashar Assad’s assertion he expected an Israeli
attack at any time.

Also in 2006, Russia’s prosecutor general took over the investigation into the shooting death of a Moscow journalist known for criticizing Russian actions
in Chechnya.

In 2007, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that half of the 5,000 British troops stationed in Iraq would be removed by the end of 2008.

Also in 2007, a second U.N. observer mission was sent into a town in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region that was burned and looted while under government control.

In 2008, a Nepal Yeti Airlines plane, carrying a dozen German tourists and others on a flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, crashed near Mount Everest, killing
18 people. One crewman survived.

In 2009, Typhoon Melor accompanied by heavy rains smashed into Japan in the latest weather disaster to strike the Asia-Pacific region. The area had been
hit in recent days by tsunamis, earthquakes, typhoons and massive flooding.

In 490 B.C., the Greeks defeated the Persians at Marathon. A Greek soldier named Phidippides ran more than 26 miles to tell Athenians of the victory and
died after his announcement. His feat provided the model for the modern marathon race.

In 1066, the Norman Conquest of England began.

In 1892, Mansfield University was the home team for the first night football game at Smythe Park in Mansfield, Pa.

In 1920, in baseball’s biggest scandal, a grand jury indicted eight Chicago White Sox players for throwing the 1919 World Series with the Cincinnati Reds.

In 1982, the first reports appeared of deaths in the Chicago area from Extra-strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide. Seven people died and the unsolved
case resulted in tamper-proof packaging for consumer products.

In 1987, a federal appeals court declared Boston public schools officially desegregated after a 13-year effort.

In 1989, former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii.

In 1992, a Pakistan jetliner carrying 167 people, including three Americans, crashed into a hill southeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, killing all aboard. It
was Nepal’s worst air disaster.

In 1993, U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton was the administration’s lead witness in congressional hearings on the proposed national healthcare program.

Also in 1993, as the power struggle in Russia intensified, the Interior Ministry sealed off the parliament building. Opponents to President Boris Yeltsin
were holed up inside.

In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat signed “phase two” of their peace agreement
in Washington.

In 2000, right-wing Israeli leader Ariel Sharon visited the sacred site known as the Temple Mount to Jews and Haram al Sharif to Muslims, sparking a deadly
round of violence between Israelis and Palestinians that continued to escalate over the next two years. Five months later, Sharon was elected prime minister.

Also in 2000, the Drug and Food Administration announced approval of an abortion pill.

In 2001, the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a resolution to require all members to put a stop to financing and training of terrorists within
their borders.

In 2003, legendary Broadway and film director Elia Kazan died at his home in New York at the age of 94.

In 2004, the price of oil topped $50 a barrel for the first time in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In 2005, U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, the U.S. House of Representatives majority leader, was indicted in Texas for allegedly conspiring to violate a state
fundraising law.

In 2006, in a move boosting support for the Afghan government, NATO voted to dramatically expand operations in Afghanistan. The focus will be on the east,
where Osama bin Laden was believed to be hiding.

In 2007, the U.S. Senate joined the House of Representatives in defying a veto threat from President George Bush to approve an expansion of the child health
insurance program. The bill would spend about $35 billion to expand health insurance to more than four million children.

In 1519, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan began a voyage to find a western passage to the East Indies.

In 1873, financial chaos forced the New York Stock Exchange to close. It remained closed for 10 days.

In 1946, the first Cannes Film Festival opened on the French Riviera. An earlier attempt to begin the international movie showcase in 1939 was halted by
the outbreak of World War II.

In 1966, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II launched the Cunard liner bearing her name, often shortened to QEII, which eventually became the only ocean liner
on the once thriving trans-Atlantic route.

In 1984, Muslim militants bombed the U.S. Embassy annex in Lebanon, killing 23 people, including two Americans. It was the third terrorist attack on U.S.
installations in Beirut in 17 months.

In 1991, the Cambodian government and three rebel factions agreed on a form of future U.N.-supervised elections.

In 2000, the 6-year Whitewater investigation of U.S. President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton ended without any indictments being issued. Independent
Counsel Robert Ray said there was insufficient evidence to establish criminal wrongdoing.

In 2001, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge was named to lead the new Department of Homeland Security.

In 2002, Israeli forces demolished all but one building of the office compound of Palestinian chief Yasser Arafat after a suicide bomber killed seven people
aboard a Tel Aviv bus.

In 2003, armies of technicians in the mid-Atlantic states worked to restore power to 2.5 million customers still in the dark from Hurricane Isabel. The
storm left at least 25 dead in seven states.

In 2004, CBS News said it regretted broadcasting a controversial report about U.S. President George W. Bush’s military service duty, saying its source misled
the network.

In 2005, the Bush administration’s disapproval rating reached a reported all-time high of 58 percent in a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll.

In 2006, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez called U.S. President George W. Bush “the devil” in a U.N. speech and accused the United States of trying to dominate
the world.

Also in 2006, a poll indicated that U.S. voters had an “overwhelmingly negative” opinion of the Republican-led U.S. Congress.

In 2007, Norman Hsu, a major Democratic fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, was charged with defrauding investors of $60 million.
Clinton said funds donated on her behalf would be returned.

Also in 2007, the U.S. dollar dropped to record lows against the euro in a week of trading, beginning on this date.

In 2008, the White House formally announced a vast bailout plan for U.S. financial institutions including full authority for the Treasury Department to
buy up to $700 billion in so-called toxic mortgage-related assets to restore confidence among investors and banks reluctant to make loans.

Also in 2008, more than 50 people were killed and hundreds injured when a truck bomb exploded outside the popular Marriot Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan.

In 2009, with no timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, officials said the United States was in the midst of a massive buildup of CIA
and other intelligence resources in that country similar to operations in Iraq and Vietnam.

Also in 2009, a bear that apparently wandered into Japanese town from the mountains mauled nine people when trapped in a bus station before hunters could
kill it.

In 1777, American soldiers won the first Battle of Saratoga in the Revolutionary War.

In 1881, U.S. President James Garfield died in Elberon, N.J., of gunshot wounds inflicted by a disgruntled office-seeker. Vice President Chester Arthur
was sworn in as his successor.

In 1893, with the signing of the Electoral Bill by Gov. Lord Glasgow, New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant national voting rights
to women.

In 1900, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid committed their first crime together.

In 1955, after a decade of rule, Argentine President Juan Domingo Peron was deposed in a military coup.

In 1985, an earthquake collapsed hundreds of buildings and killed 7,000 people in Mexico City.

In 1988, U.S. swimmer Greg Louganis took the gold medal in 3-meter springboard diving at the Seoul Olympics after hitting his head on the board during
preliminary competition.

In 1991, the U.N. Security Council authorized Iraq to sell $1.6 billion in oil to buy food and essential supplies.

In 1994, the first 3,000 U.S. troops entered Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on a mission to ensure democracy, returned to the Caribbean nation.

In 1995, The Washington Post published the 35,000-word manifesto written by the Unabomber, who had said he wouldn’t try to kill again if it was published.
The Post and The New York Times shared the costs of publication.

In 2001, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Defense Department ordered deployment of combat aircraft to the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean,
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The following day, the U.S. Army said ground troops were being sent to the region.

In 2004, Iran refused a plea by the International Atomic Energy Agency to end its enrichment of uranium, usually a first step toward producing fuel for
nuclear reactors or bombs. Iran says it had only peaceful purposes in mind.

In 2005, in New Orleans, residents beginning to return after Hurricane Katrina and the flood were told by Mayor Ray Nagin to stay away as Hurricane Rita
headed toward the Texas-Louisiana coast.

Also in 2005, North Korea agreed in principle to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in exchange for oil and energy in a deal signed
in Beijing. However, the deal fell through.

In 2006, Thailand Premier Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown in a bloodless military coup.

Also in 2006, in an address before the U.N. General Assembly, the president of Sudan again refused to allow peacekeepers in Sudan’s devastated Darfur region
where 200,000 are reported to have died in civil strife.

In 2008, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a temporary ban on short selling for 799 financial stocks to stabilize stock prices. Short
selling is a method of profiting on declining stocks.

Also in 2008, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the country is restoring its nuclear reactor and is no longer concerned whether the United States lists
it as a supporter of terrorism.

In 2009, a 24-year-old Denver airport worker, Najibullah Zazi, was arrested for allegedly plotting to turn chemicals bought at beauty supply stores into
homemade bombs for terror attacks against buses and subways.

Also in 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama called for a new federal watchdog agency to protect U.S. consumers, regulating credit cards, mortgages and other
financial transactions and ensure financial institutions comply with laws.

In 1809, the Royal Opera House in London opened.

In 1850, the U.S. Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, allowing slave owners to reclaim slaves who escaped into another state.

In 1851 The New-York Daily Times publishes first issues. The newspaper is now known as The New York Times.

In 1927, the Columbia Broadcasting System was born. Originally known as the Tiffany Network, its first program was an opera, “The King’s Henchman.”

In 1928, a hurricane that lashed Florida and the West Indies for five days left an estimated 4,000 people dead and $30 million in damage.

In 1961, U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold died when his plane crashed under mysterious circumstances near Ndola in Northern Rhodesia.

In 1970, rock star Jimi Hendrix died at the age of 28 following a drug overdose in London.

In 1975, FBI agents in San Francisco captured heiress Patricia Hearst and two of her Symbionese Liberation Army comrades, William and Emily Harris.

In 1983, British adventurer George Meegan finished a 19,021-mile, 6-year walk from the tip of South America to the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

In 1990, Winnie Mandela, wife of South African black leader Nelson Mandela, was charged with assault and kidnapping in the 1988 abduction and slaying of
a 14-year-old boy by her chief bodyguard.

In 1991, U.S. President George H.W. Bush authorized U.S. warplanes to fly into Iraq to protect U.N. inspectors.

In 1994, a U.S. delegation headed by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter persuaded Haiti’s military leaders to step aside in favor of the democratically
elected president after learning U.S. troops were en route to the Caribbean nation.

In 1996, the shuttle Atlantis docked with the Mir space station to pick up U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid, who had set a U.S. record for time spent in space.

Also in 1996, the doctors of Russian President Boris Yeltsin revealed he had a heart attack during his re-election campaign.

In 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to release the videotape of U.S. President Bill Clinton’s grand
jury testimony, during which he denied lying about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In 2001, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Arial Sharon of Israel both ordered a halt of offensive actions and Israeli troops and tanks
began pulling out of the areas around Jericho and Jenin.

In 2003, Hurricane Isabel slammed into the North Carolina coast, eventually causing a reported 40 deaths and inflicting property damage estimated at $5
billion.

In 2004, the U.N. Security Council called for Sudan to put an end to the killings in the Darfur region where an estimated 50,000 people died in militia
raids over 18 months.

In 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has told the United Nations his country won’t back down on its “right to pursue peaceful nuclear energy.”

Also in 2005, voters in the German parliamentary election failed to give any party a majority with Prime Minister Gerhard Schroeder’s Social Democrats
trailing Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats.

And in 2005, Afghanistan had its first free election in 25 years, drawing millions of voters despite Taliban threats.

In 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in approving a civil rights bill that broadens the definition of disability to include epilepsy,
diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis and other illnesses.

Also in 2008, the U.S. Federal Reserve expanded swap lines to allow banks to borrow at lower rates. The Fed authorized an additional $110 billion for European
banks, $60 billion for the Bank of Japan and $10 billion for the Bank of Canada.

In 2009, investigators in New Haven, Conn., arrested a co-worker in the strangulation slaying of a Yale University graduate student who was to have been
married on the day her body was found behind a lab wall. Police called Annie Le, 24, a victim of “workplace violence.”

Also in 2009, Christian conservatives meeting in Washington showed favoritism for minister-politician-commentator Mike Huckabee for U.S. president in 2012,
a straw poll indicated.

And, the final episode of “The Guiding Light” broadcast. The soap opera had run on radio or television for 72 years.

In 1787, the U.S. Constitution, completed in Philadelphia, was signed by a majority of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention.

In 1862, Union forces led by Gen. George McClellan attacked Confederate troops led by Gen. Robert E. Lee near Antietam Creek in Maryland. McClellan blocked
Lee’s advance on Washington, but fell short of victory.

In 1939, Soviet troops invaded Poland, 16 days after Nazi Germany moved into the same country.

In 1976, NASA unveiled its first space shuttle, the Enterprise, an airplane-like spacecraft costing almost $10 billion that took nearly a decade to develop.

In 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accords, laying the groundwork for a permanent
peace agreement between Egypt and Israel after three decades of hostilities.

In 1983, Vanessa Williams of New York became the first African-American to be named Miss America. She resigned 11 months later after nude photos were published
but regained stardom as a singer and actress.

In 1991, North Korea, South Korea, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were admitted to the United Nations.

In 1993, Cambodia’s two leading political parties agreed that Prince Norodom Sihanouk would lead the nation. Sihanouk was installed as king a week later.

In 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush said Osama bin Laden, the suspected ringleader in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was “wanted dead or alive” as
Bush continued efforts to line up international support for his proposed “war on terror.”

In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush asked Congress for authority to use force against Iraq. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said meanwhile that several
nations had pledged military support for offensive action against Iraq.

In 2004, the death toll from Hurricane Ivan was put at 38 in the United States and 75 in at the Caribbean.

In 2005, a car bomb in Baghdad killed at least 30 people. In another part of town, the bodies of nine men were found tortured and shot to death.

Also in 2005, New Orleans residents who ran businesses in the French Quarter, the central district and Uptown were allowed to return under a strict curfew.

In 2006, the Federal Drug Administration reported 109 cases of potentially fatal E .coli in spinach in 19 states with at least one death. The outbreak
was believed to have originated in California.

In 2007, Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, quoted odds of better than 1-in-3 that the United States will have a recession soon.

In 2008, a car bomb and a rocket hit the U.S. Embassy in Yemen as staff members reported to work, killing a reported 16 people.

Also in 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an energy legislative package that would allow drilling for oil within 50 miles of American coasts.

And, the 2008 Paralympic Games for athletes with disabilities came to a close in Beijing after about 4,000 competitors vied in 20 sports. Top individual
performer was Australian swimmer Matt Cowdrey, an arm amputee from birth who captured five gold and three silver medals.

In 2009, the Obama administration announced it was canceling plans for a ground-based antiballistic missile shield system in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Instead, the White House said, a more relevant, shorter-range system would be considered for Europe.

Also in 2009, final unofficial results from Afghanistan’s controversial presidential election indicated that incumbent Hamid Karzai got 54.6 percent of
the vote, enough to avoid a runoff. A recount, however, was under way and the European Union said as many as 1.1 million votes appeared “suspect.”

In 1522, one of Ferdinand Magellan’s five ships — the Vittoria — arrived at Sanlucar de Barrameda in Spain, completing the first circumnavigation of the
world.

In 1620, 149 Pilgrims set sail from England aboard the Mayflower, bound for the New World.

In 1628, the Puritans settled Salem, Massachusetts.

In 1901, U.S. President William McKinley was shot by an anarchist at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y. He died eight days later.

In 1909, word was received that U.S. Navy Adm. Robert Peary had reached the North Pole five months earlier, on April 6, 1909.

In 1966, South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, an architect of his nation’s apartheid policies, was stabbed to death by a deranged messenger during
a parliamentary meeting in Cape Town.

In 1982, Polish dissidents seized the Polish Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, and demanded an end to martial law in Poland. They eventually surrendered.

In 1991, the Soviet State Council recognized the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania after 51 years of Soviet occupation.

In 1995, the Senate Ethics Committee unanimously recommended that Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore., be expelled from the Senate on charges of sexual misconduct
and influence peddling. He resigned two days later.

In 1995 sports, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr., played his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking the record set in 1939 by Lou Gehrig of the
New York Yankees.

In 1996, Hurricane Fran made landfall at Cape Fear, N.C., with 115 mph winds. It killed 28 people.

In 1997, Britain bid an emotional farewell to Princess Diana — killed in a car accident a week earlier — with a funeral service at London’s Westminster
Abbey that was broadcast worldwide.

In 2003, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas resigned less than four months in the job.

Also in 2003, an unemployed electrician was charged in Northern Ireland’s worst violence, the bombing of an open market in Omagh that killed 29 and injured
220.

In 2004, former U.S. President Bill Clinton underwent a 4-hour quadruple heart bypass operation at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

In 2005, New Orleans’ mayor ordered everyone to leave the city or face possible removal by force. Most of the 500,000 displaced people were staying in
nearby states but some were housed as far away as Massachusetts.

In 2006, U.S. President George W. Bush acknowledged that suspected terrorist prisoners had been held in secret prisons in other countries.

In 2007, Luciano Pavarotti, one of opera’s foremost tenors, died of cancer at his home in Modena, Italy. He was 71.

Also in 2007, Hurricane Felix killed at least 130 people in Nicaragua.

In 2008, Asif Ali Zardari, husband of slain politician Benazir Bhutto, was elected president of Pakistan by a wide margin. Bhutto, a two-time prime minister
who had returned from self-imposed exile a short time earlier, was assassinated two weeks before the 2007 presidential election in which she was a leading
candidate.

In 2009, Yemini rebels killed six women and 10 children in Saada province for allegedly cooperating with the government.

Also in 2009, some 350,000 people were caught up in flooding that swept across West Africa, killing at least 32 in Ghana and Burkina Faso.

In 1774, the first Continental Congress convened in secret in Philadelphia.

In 1793, the Reign of Terror was initiated to strike back against the French Revolution.

In 1882, 10,000 workers marched in the first Labor Day parade in New York City.

In 1877, Oglala Sioux chief Crazy Horse was fatally bayoneted by a U.S. soldier after resisting confinement in a guard house at Fort Robinson, Neb. A year
earlier, Crazy Horse was among the Sioux leaders who defeated George Armstrong Custer’s Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of Little Bighorn in Montana Territory.

In 1935, singing cowboy Gene Autry starred in his first Western feature “Tumbling Tumbleweeds.”

In 1972, Palestinian terrorists invaded the Olympic Village outside Munich, West Germany, and killed 11 Israeli athletes and six other people.

In 1975, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a follower of mass murderer Charles Manson, failed in an attempt to shoot U.S. President Gerald Ford.

In 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and U.S. President Jimmy Carter began a Middle East peace conference at
Camp David, Md.

In 1991, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega went on trial in Miami on money laundering and drug-trafficking charges. He was eventually convicted.

Also in 1991, six BCCI officials and a Medellin drug cartel leader were charged with laundering cocaine profits through the bank from 1983-89.

In 1995, France conducted an underground nuclear test at the Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific. It was the first of several — all of which were met by
protests worldwide.

In 1996, Ramzi Ahmed Yousef and two others were convicted in New York of planning to blow up jetliners.

In 1997, at least 172 people were slain in Algeria in three incidents believed linked to the country’s upcoming election and to the long, though sporadically
fought civil war.

Also in 1997, Mother Teresa died at age 87.

And further in 1997, in an unusual television speech, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth acknowledged the public expression of grief over Princess Diana’s death
and expressed her own admiration for her former daughter-in-law.

In 2001, Mexican President Vicente Fox traveled to Washington to ask the Bush administration for a U.S. agreement to legalize the status of millions of
Mexicans who entered the United States illegally.

In 2002, an attempted assassination of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai failed when a gunman missed him after opening fire on his car.

In 2003, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking in Iraq, said “impressions” of mounting Iraqi violence were being created by negative news media
coverage.

In 2004, two weeks after Hurricane Charley hit Florida, Hurricane Frances barged in north of Palm Beach and cut across the state to the northwest before
going into the Gulf of Mexico. The reported death toll was more than 30 and Florida damage from the two storms was placed at more than $10 billion.

In 2005, U.S. President George W. Bush announced he would nominate U.S. Circuit Judge John Roberts to succeed William Rehnquist as chief justice of the
U.S. Supreme Court.

Also in 2005, an Indonesian Boeing 737-200 plane crashed shortly after takeoff in the suburbs of the Sumatran city of Medan killing at least 147 people,
including 30 on the ground. Six people in the rear of the plane escaped with minor injuries.

In 2006, conservative candidate Felipe Calderon was declared winner of the Mexican presidency by a razor-thin margin.

Also in 2006, Katie Couric, long-time co-host of the NBC Today Show, became the first solo female anchor on a major U.S. television network when she took
over the “CBS Evening News.”

In 2007, wealthy, record-setting U.S. adventurer Steve Fossett, 63, vanished on a short flight in western Nevada. He was declared dead 5 months later.
Among his many records in the skies and on the water, he was the first person to fly around the world solo in a balloon and first to fly around the globe
solo without refueling.

Also in 2007, German security forces arrested three Islamic men reportedly in the act of mixing chemicals for bombing Frankfurt airport and a U.S. military
base.

In 2008, the U.S. unemployment rate climbed to 6.1 percent in August, highest point in five years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Some 84,000
people lost jobs in August.

Also in 2008, Tropical Storm Hanna struck the Haitian port city of Gonalves, killing at least 500 people, authorities say.

And, in Angola’s first elections in 16 years, the governing Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola won about 82 percent of the legislative vote.

In 2009, Authorities say they discovered illegal marijuana farming in 61 U.S. national forests across 16 states this year.

Also in 2009, at least 15 people died when a tourist boat sank in southwest Macedonia’s Lake Ohrid, with about 60 others rescued. Overloading was seen
as a possible cause.

In 1609, navigator Henry Hudson discovered the island of Manhattan.

In 1954, the first passage of the fabled Northwest Passage was completed by icebreakers from the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard.

In 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus called out the National Guard to prevent nine African-American students from entering Central High School in Little
Rock.

Also in 1957, the Ford Motor Co. introduced the Edsel to beef up its mid-size market but the car was a failure, lasting only three model years.

In 1964, Scotland’s Forth Road Bridge officially opened.

In 1972, U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz became the first athlete to win seven gold medals in a single Olympic Games.

In 1980, Iraqi troops seized Iranian territory in a border dispute. The conflict escalated into all-out war.

In 1991, South African President F.W. de Klerk proposed a new constitution. It provided for universal voting rights and opened the parliament to all races.

In 1993, Fatah, the PLO’s largest and most moderate faction, endorsed an accord with Israel calling for interim Palestinian self-rule.

In 1995, U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., a Republican presidential hopeful, called for English to be declared the official language of the United States.

In 1998, for the first time since news of his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky broke, U.S. President Bill Clinton said he was “sorry”
for what he had done.

In 1999, more than 60 people were killed when Chechen terrorists detonated a car bomb near an apartment building in Dagestan, Russia.

Also in 1999, after East Timor voted for independence rather than remaining a part of Indonesia, hundreds died in a 5-day rampage by pro-Indonesian militants.

In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush said he would seek congressional approval for any military move on Iraq. He also promised to consult with allies,
some of whom were opposed to his “regime change” plan.

In 2004, an Argentine court in Buenos Aires acquitted five suspects in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 people and injured
300.

In 2005, New Orleans officials completed evacuation of Hurricane Katrina survivors from the Superdome and convention center — a total of 42,000 in one
day. There were 2,000 people reported at the airport and 1,000 trapped in attics of flooded buildings.

In 2006, Steve Irwin, Australia’s internationally renowned “Crocodile Hunter” TV star, was killed by a stingray barb to the heart while he was filming
underwater.

Also in 2006, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he was abandoning plans to unilaterally pull Israeli troops out of the West Bank.

In 2007, Hurricane Felix made landfall in northern Nicaragua as a Category 5 storm packing sustained winds of 160 mph. It was expected to weaken as it
moved over land.

In 2008, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to two felony charges of obstruction of justice and agreed to resign, serve four months in jail
and pay a $1 million fine. The plea was aimed at ending a scandal stemming from his attempts to conceal an affair with his former chief of staff.

Also in 2008, China admitted that shoddy construction of school buildings may have contributed to their collapse in the May 12 earthquake that killed 70,000
people, including 10,000 students.

In 2009, Americans remained cool to Republican policy ideas despite the drop in Democratic President Barack Obama’s approval ratings, a new national poll
indicated.

Also in 2009, Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi was chosen as Iran’s new health minister, the first woman minister in the 30-year history of the Islamic republic,
officials said.