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tions to say, "This was their finest hour."
• In 1953, a U.S. Air Force Douglas C-124 Globemaster II crashed near Tokyo, killing all 129 people on board. Egypt's 148-year-old Muhammad Ali Dynasty came to an end with the overthrow of the monarchy and the proclamation of a republic.
• In 1972, 118 people were killed in the crash of a Brussels-bound British European Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C shortly after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport.
• In 1979, President Jimmy Carter and Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev signed the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty in Vienna.
• In 1983, astronaut Sally K. Ride, 32, became America's first woman in space as she and four colleagues blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger on a six-day mission.
• In 1984, Alan Berg, a Denver radio talk show host, was shot to death outside his home. (Two white supremacists were later convicted of civil rights violations in the slaying.)
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• Ten years ago: An al-Qaida cell in Saudi Arabia beheaded American engineer Paul M. Johnson Jr., 49, posting grisly photographs of his severed head; hours later, Saudi security forces tracked down and killed the alleged mastermind of the kidnapping and murder. European Union leaders agreed on the first constitution for the bloc's 25 members.
• Five years ago: Tens of thousands of protesters filled the streets of Tehran again, joining opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi (meer hoh-SAYN' moo-SAH'-vee) to mourn demonstrators killed in clashes over Iran's disputed presidential election. Hortensia Bussi, the widow of Chilean President Salvador Allende who helped lead opposition to the military dictatorship that ousted her husband, died at 94. Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin was named the NHL's most valuable player for the second straight year after leading the league with 56 goals.
• One year ago: The Taliban and the U.S. said they would hold talks on finding a political solution to ending nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan, as the international coalition formally handed over control of the country's security to the Afghan army and police. Declaring "the days of Rambo are over," Maj. Gen. Bennet Sacolick, director of force management for U.S. Special Operations Command, said that cultural, social and behavioral concerns might be bigger hurdles than tough physical fitness requirements for women looking to join the military's special operations units.
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• Today's Birthdays: Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is 77. Baseball Hall of

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