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• In 1997, the Senate approved the nomination of Alexis Herman to be labor secretary. ABC-TV aired the "coming out" episode of the situation comedy "Ellen" in which the title character, played by Ellen DeGeneres, acknowledged her homosexuality.
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• Ten years ago: Benevolence International Foundation, an Islamic charity based in suburban Chicago, and its director were charged with perjury; authorities accused the charity of supporting terrorists. (Enaam Arnaout (EE'-nam ahr-NAHT') later pleaded guilty to racketeering, admitting he'd defrauded donors by diverting some of the money to Islamic military groups in Bosnia and Chechnya.)
• Five years ago: A British judge sentenced five al-Qaida-linked men, all British citizens, to life in prison for plotting to attack London targets, including a nightclub, power plants and shopping mall with bombs. An Israeli government probe faulted

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for what it called "very severe failures" in Israel's war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Actor Tom Poston died in Los Angeles at age 85.
• One year ago: A Libyan official said Moammar Gadhafi had escaped a NATO missile strike in Tripoli that killed one of his sons and three young grandchildren. (There have been conflicting accounts about whether Gadhafi's relatives even died in the airstrike.) In Moscow, Japan's Miki Ando defeated Olympic champion Kim Yu-na of South Korea at the world figure skating

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