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• In 1968, the counterculture musical "Hair" opened on Broadway following limited engagements off-Broadway.
• In 1983, Harold Washington was sworn in as the first black mayor of Chicago.
• In 1992, rioting resulting in 55 deaths erupted in Los Angeles after a jury in Simi Valley, Calif., acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all state charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King.
• In 1993, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II announced that for the first time, Buckingham Palace would be opened to tourists to help raise money for repairs at fire-damaged Windsor Castle.
• In 2011, Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton were married in an opulent ceremony at London's Westminster Abbey.
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• Ten years ago: President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney met behind closed doors with the September 11 commission; afterward, Bush said he'd told the panel his administration tried to protect America from terrorists as warnings grew before the devastating attack of 2001. A national monument to the 16 million U.S. men and women who'd served during World War II opened to the public in Washington, D.C. Internet search engine leader Google, Inc. filed its long-awaited IPO plans. The last Oldsmobile, an Alero, rolled off the line at the Lansing Car Assembly plant.
• Five years ago: During a prime-time news conference marking his 100th day in office, President Barack Obama said that waterboarding authorized by former President George W. Bush was torture and that the information it gained from terror suspects could have been obtained by other means. The World Health Organization raised its alert level for swine flu to its next-to-highest notch. Twin car bombs ravaged a popular shopping area in Baghdad's biggest Shiite district, killing at least 51 people.
• One year ago: Opening statements took place in Los Angeles in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, against concert giant AEG Live, claiming it failed to properly investigate a doctor who'd cared for Jackson and was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter in his 2009 death. (The jury determined in October 2013 that AEG Live was not liable.) Syria's prime minister, Wael al-Halqi, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb went off near his convoy in Damascus. NBA veteran center Jason Collins became the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay in a first-person account posted on Sports Illustrated's website.
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