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• In 1954, a formal peace took hold in Indochina, ending more than seven years of fighting between the French and Communist Viet Minh.
• In 1965, rioting and looting that claimed 34 lives broke out in the predominantly black Watts section of Los Angeles.
• In 1984, during a voice test for a paid political radio address, President Ronald Reagan joked that he had "signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."
• In 1992, the Mall of America opened in Bloomington, Minn.
• In 1997, President Bill Clinton made the first use of the historic line-item veto, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills. (However, the U.S. Supreme Court later struck down the veto as unconstitutional.)
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• Ten years ago: Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, a bioweapons expert under scrutiny for anthrax-laced letters, fiercely denied any involvement and said he had cooperated with the investigation. (Hatfill was never charged, and the Justice Department ended up agreeing to pay $5.8 million to settle a lawsuit Hatfill had brought against the government for wrongly implicating him.) US Airways filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. (US Airways emerged from bankruptcy in 2003, but returned to it in 2004 before re-emerging in 2005.) Karrie Webb won her third Women's British Open title.
• Five years ago: President George W. Bush welcomed French President Nicolas Sarkozy to his family's estate in Kennebunkport, Maine. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won an easy and expected victory in a high-profile Iowa Republican Party Straw Poll. Funerals were held in Newark, N.J., for three college or college-bound students shot to death in a schoolyard. Big Ben's bongs fell silent as workers began a month of maintenance work on the iconic London clock and its world-famous bell.
• One year ago: Minnesota rivals Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann sparred bitterly during an eight-candidate Republican debate in Ames, Iowa; Mitt Romney sought to stay above the fray as he focused on President Barack Obama, saying, "Our president simply doesn't understand how to lead and how to grow the economy."
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• Today's Birthdays: Actress Arlene Dahl is 84. Songwriter-producer Kenny Gamble is 69. Rock musician Jim Kale (Guess Who) is 69. Magazine columnist Marilyn Vos Savant is 66. Country singer John Conlee is 66. Singer Eric Carmen is 63. Computer scientist and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is 62. Wrestler-actor Hulk Hogan is 59. Singer Joe Jackson is 58. Playwright David Henry Hwang is 55.

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