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flecting a laser beam off the surface of the moon.
• In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee opened public hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.
• In 1978, the bullet-riddled body of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro, who'd been abducted by the Red Brigades, was found in an automobile in the center of Rome.
• In 1980, 35 people were killed when a freighter rammed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida, causing a 1,400-foot section of the southbound span to collapse.
• In 1987, 183 people were killed when a New York-bound Polish jetliner crashed while attempting an emergency return to Warsaw.
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• Ten years ago: A camouflage-clad gunman fired hundreds of rounds as he roamed the halls of Case Western Reserve University's business school in Cleveland, killing one person (Biswanath Halder was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison). The United States and its allies asked the U.N. Security Council to give its stamp of approval to their occupation of Iraq. The Republican-led House approved, 222-203, a $550 billion tax cut package. Louisiana Democrat Russell B. Long, who'd greatly influenced tax laws during nearly four decades in the Senate, died at age 84.
• Five years ago: Democrat Barack Obama picked up the backing of nine superdelegates, all but erasing Hillary Rodham Clinton's once-imposing lead. Jury selection began in the Chicago trial of R&B superstar R. Kelly, accused of videotaping himself having sex with a girl as young as 13. (Kelly was later acquitted on all counts.) Journalist-feminist Nuala O'Faolain, who'd gained international fame with her outspoken memoir "Are You Somebody?" in 1966, died in Dublin, Ireland, at age 68.
• One year ago: President Barack Obama declared his unequivocal support for same-sex marriage in a historic announcement that came three days after Vice President Joe Biden spoke in favor of such unions on NBC's "Meet the Press." Hair stylist Vidal Sassoon, 84, died in Los Angeles.
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• Today's Birthdays: Actress Geraldine McEwan is 81. Actor-writer Alan Bennett is 79. Rock musician Nokie Edwards (The Ventures) is 78. Actor Albert Finney is 77. Actress-turned-politician Glenda Jackson is 77. Producer-director James L. Brooks is 76. Musician Sonny Curtis (Buddy Holly and the Crickets) is 76. Singer Tommy Roe is 71. Singer-musician Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield and Poco) is 69. Ac

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