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• In 1954, the 55-day Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces.
• In 1963, the United States launched the Telstar 2 communications satellite.
• In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford formally declared an end to the "Vietnam era." In Ho Chi Minh City - formerly Saigon - the Viet Cong celebrated its takeover.
• In 1992, the latest addition to America's space shuttle fleet, Endeavour, went on its first flight. A 203-year-old proposed constitutional amendment barring Congress from giving itself a midterm pay raise received enough votes for ratification as Michigan became the 38th state to approve it.
• Ten years ago: President George W. Bush ordered the lifting of sanctions against Iraq, and called on members of the U.N. Security Council to do the same. The White House announced President Bush had chosen New Mexico oilman Colin R. McMillan to be secretary of the Navy and Air Force Secretary James Roche to replace the dismissed secretary of the Army, Thomas White. (However, McMillan died in an apparent suicide in July 2003, while Roche's nomination languished in Congress before being withdrawn in March 2004.)
• Five years ago: President George W. Bush, addressing the Council of Americas, said Cuba's post-Fidel Castro leadership had made only "empty gestures at reform" as he rejected calls for easing U.S. restrictions on the communist island. Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in as Russia's president.
• One year ago: Education Secretary Arne Duncan broke ranks with the White House, stating his unequivocal support for same-sex marriage one day after Vice President Joe Biden suggested on NBC that he supported gay marriage as well. Vladimir Putin took the oath of office as Russia's president in a brief but regal Kremlin ceremony.
• Today's Birthdays: Former Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., is 81. Singer Jimmy Ruffin is 74. Actress Robin Strasser is 68. Singer-songwriter Bill Danoff is 67. Rhythm-and-blues singer Thelma Houston is 67. Rock musician Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead) is 67. Rock musician Prairie Prince is 63. Movie writer-director Amy Heckerling is 61. Actor Michael E. Knight is 54. Rock musician Phil Campbell (Motorhead) is 52. Country musician Rick Schell is 50. Rock singer-musician Chris O'Connor (Primitive Radio Gods) is 48. Actress Traci Lords is 45. Singer Eagle-Eye Cherry is 42. Actor Breckin Meyer is 39. Rock musician Matt Helders (Arctic Monkeys) is 27. Actor Taylor Abrahamse is 22.
• Thought for Today: "We all live in suspense, from day to day, from hour to hour; in other words, we are the hero of our own story." - Mary McCarthy, American author (1912-1989).
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