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• Ten years ago: A massive blackout struck almost all of Italy, leaving millions of people without power. Pope John Paul II appointed 31 cardinals. A bomb exploded outside an upscale nightclub in southwestern Colombia, killing at least 13 people. Movie director Elia (EEL'-ee-ah) Kazan died in New York at age 94. Tennis champion Althea Gibson died in East Orange, N.J., at age 76.
• Five years ago: President George W. Bush urged Congress to pass a $700 billion rescue plan for beleaguered financial companies, saying in a written statement, "Without this rescue plan, the costs to the American economy could be disastrous." Chinese astronauts aboard the Shenzhou 7 returned to Earth after completing their country's first spacewalk mission. Austrian 16-year-olds voted for the first time in parliamentary elections under a law adopted in 2007.
• One year ago: Citing national security risks, President Barack Obama blocked a Chinese company from owning four wind farm projects in northern Oregon near a Navy base where the U.S. military flies unmanned drones and electronic-warfare planes on training missions. The Obama administration sought to rally Syria's opposition with pledges of $45 million in new nonlethal and humanitarian assistance.
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• Today's Birthdays: Actress Brigitte Bardot is 79. Singer Ben E. King is 75. Actor Joel Higgins is 70. Actor Jeffrey Jones is 67. Singer Helen Shapiro is 67. Movie writer-director-actor John Sayles is 63. Rock musician George Lynch is 59. Zydeco singer-musician C.J. Chenier (sheh-NEER') is 56. Actor Steve Hytner is 54. Actress-comedian Janeane Garofalo (juh-NEEN' guh-RAH'-fuh-loh) is 49. Country singer Matt King is 47. Actress Mira Sorvino is 46. TV personality Moon Zappa is 46. Actress-model Carre Otis is 45. Actress Naomi Watts is 45. Country singer Karen Fairchild (Little Big Town) is 44. Country musician Chuck Crawford is 40. Country singer Mandy Barnett is 38. Rapper Young Jeezy is 36. World Golf Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak is 36. Actor Peter Cambor is 35. Writer-producer-director-actor Bam Margera is 34. Actress Melissa Claire Egan is 32. Actress Jerrika Hinton is 32. Actress Hilary Duff is 26. Actress Skye McCole Bartusiak is 21. Actor Keir Gilchrist is 21.
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• Thought for Today: "A great truth is a truth whose opposite is also a truth." - Thomas Mann, German writer (1875-1955).
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