(Continued from page 28)

• In 1894, the opera "Thais" (THAY'-ihs), composed by Jules Massenet (ma-suh-NAY'), premiered in Paris.
• In 1926, rocket science pioneer Robert H. Goddard successfully tested the first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Mass.
• In 1935, Adolf Hitler decided to break the military terms set by the Treaty of Versailles (vehr-SY') by ordering the rearming of Germany.
• In 1945, during World War II, American forces declared they had secured Iwo Jima, although pockets of Japanese resistance remained.
• In 1968, during the Vietnam War, the My Lai (mee ly) Massacre of Vietnamese civilians was carried out by U.S. Army troops; estimates of the death toll vary between 347 and 504.
• In 1974, the Grand Ole Opry House opened in Nashville with a concert attended by President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat.
• In 1984, William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by terrorists (he was tortured by his captors and killed in 1985).
• In 1994, figure skater Tonya Harding pleaded guilty in Portland, Ore., to conspiracy to hinder prosecution for covering up an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan, avoiding jail but drawing a $100,000 fine.
•
• Ten years ago: China declared victory in its fight against bird flu, saying it had "stamped out" all its known cases. Mitch Seavey won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in nine days, 12 hours, 20 minutes and 22 seconds.
• Five years ago: Joining a wave of public anger, President Barack Obama blistered insurance giant AIG for "recklessness and greed" for handing its executives $165 million in bonuses after taking billions in federal bailout money. British actress Natasha Richardson, 45, was fatally injured in a skiing accident at a resort in Quebec; she died two days later at a Manhattan hospital. Austrian Josef Fritzl pleaded guilty at the start of his trial to imprisoning his daughter for 24 years and fathering her seven children. (Two days later, Fritzl pleaded guilty to the remaining charges against him, including negligent homicide; he was sentenced to life in a psychiatric ward.)
• One year ago: Police said a Swiss woman who was on a cycling trip in central India with her husband was gang-raped by eight men; the reported attack came three months after the fatal gang-rape of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus outraged Indians. Yuna Kim, back at the World Figure Skating Championships after a two-year absence, won the women's title in London, Ontario, Canada. British actor Frank Thornton, 92, best known as Captain Peacock, a mustachioed, pompous de

(Continued on page 30)