On this date:
In 1848, the Oregon Territory was established.
In 1917, China declared war on Germany and Austria during World War One.
In 1935, the Social Security Act became law.
In 1945, President Truman announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally, ending World War Two.
In 1947, Pakistan became independent of British rule.
In 1969, British troops arrived in Northern Ireland to intervene in sectarian violence between Protestants and Roman Catholics.
In 1973, the US bombing of Cambodia came to a halt.
In 1980, President Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale were nominated for a second term at the Democratic national convention in New York.
In 1980, workers went on strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, in a job action that resulted in the creation of the Solidarity labor movement.
In 1996, the Republican national convention in San Diego nominated Bob Dole for president and Jack Kemp for vice president.
Ten years ago: Interrupting his vacation in Kennebunkport, Maine, President Bush returned to Washington, where he told reporters he saw no hope for a diplomatic solution to the Persian Gulf crisis, at least until economic sanctions forced Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.
Five years ago: Shannon Faulkner officially became the first female cadet in the history of The Citadel, South Carolina's state military college. (However, Faulkner quit the school less than a week later, citing the stress of her court fight, and her isolation among the male cadets.)
One year ago: Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush won a convincing victory in the Iowa straw poll. Death claimed former AFL-CIO president Lane Kirkland at age 77, and Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop Pee Wee Reese at age 81.
"Nothing is so soothing to our self-esteem as to find our bad traits in our forebears. It seems to absolve us."
-- Van Wyck Brooks, American author (1886-1963).