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• In 1988, Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev retired President Andrei A. Gromyko from the Politburo and fired other old-guard leaders in a Kremlin shake-up.
• In 2001, under threat of U.S. military strikes, Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban rulers said explicitly for the first time that Osama bin Laden was still in the country and that they knew where his hideout was located.
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• Ten years ago: The FBI began a full-scale criminal investigation into whether White House officials had illegally leaked the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame. Eighteen accused al-Qaida sympathizers were convicted in Belgium's biggest terrorism trial.
• Five years ago: Congressional leaders and President George W. Bush rummaged through ideas new and old, desperately seeking to change a dozen House members' votes and pass a multibillion-dollar economic rescue plan. Wall Street regained hope as the Dow industrials rose 485 points. More than 200 people were killed in a stampede of pilgrims at a Hindu temple in Jodhpur, India. J.L. Chestnut Jr., the first black lawyer in Selma, Ala. and a prominent attorney in civil rights cases across a half century, died in Birmingham at age 77.
• One year ago: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, writing in The Wall Street Journal, said President Barack Obama has "misunderstood" American values in his policies toward other countries. Looking to lower expectations in advance of his first debate against Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama described himself as just an "OK" debater. Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels became the first rookie in Major League history to hit 30 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season.
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• Today's Birthdays: Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel (EL'-ee vee-ZEHL') is 85. Actress Angie Dickinson is 82. Singer Cissy Houston is 80. Singer Johnny Mathis is 78. Actor Len Cariou is 74. Singer Marilyn McCoo is 70. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is 68. Pop singer Sylvia Peterson (The Chiffons) is 67. Actor Vondie Curtis-Hall is 63. Actress Victoria Tennant is 63. Actor John Finn is 61. Rock musician John Lombardo is 61. Singer Deborah Allen is 60. Actor Calvin Levels is 59. Actor Barry Williams is 59. Singer Patrice Rushen is 59. Actress Fran Drescher is 56. Country singer Marty Stuart is 55. Actress Debrah Farentino is 54. Rock musician Bill Rieflin (R.E.M.) is 53. Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., is 53. Actress Crystal Bernard is 52. Actor Eric Stoltz is 52. Rapper-producer Marley Marl is 51. Country singer Eddie Montgomery (Montgomery-Gentry) is 50. Rock singer Trey Anastasio is 49. Actress Monica Bellucci is 49. Rock musician Robby Takac (TAY'-

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