In 1985, Terry Anderson, chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press, was abducted in Beirut; he was released in December 1991.
In 1990, two movies that sought to capitalize on the lambada dance craze, "Lambada" and "The Forbidden Dance," were released the same day.
Ten years ago: A jury in Los Angeles acquitted actor Robert Blake of murder in the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, four years earlier. (A civil court jury later ordered Blake to pay Bakley's four children $30 million, an award that an appeals court subsequently cut in half; Blake has declared bankruptcy.) A judge in Redwood City, California, sent Scott Peterson to death row for the slaying of his pregnant wife, Laci. Norway's Robert Sorlie won his second Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in one of the closest races in years.
Five years ago: Attorney General Eric Holder told a House Appropriations subcommittee that Osama bin Laden would never face trial in the United States because he would not be captured alive. (The al-Qaida leader was shot dead by Navy SEALs in Pakistan in May 2011.) Lance Mackey won the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to become the first musher in the event's 38-year history to win four consecutive races.
One year ago: Crimeans voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia, overwhelmingly approving a referendum that sought to unite the strategically important Black Sea region with the country it was part of for some 250 years. Mitch Leigh, 86, a successful advertising jingle writer whose attempt at writing for a Broadway show became the instant, celebrated hit "Man of La Mancha," died in New York.
Today's Birthdays: Comedian-director Jerry Lewis is 89. Country singer Ray Walker (The Jordanaires) is 81. Movie director Bernardo Bertolucci is 74. Game show host Chuck Woolery is 74. Singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker is 73. Country singer Robin Williams is 68. Actor Erik Estrada is 66. Actor Victor Garber is 66. Actress Kate Nelligan is 64. Country singer Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel) is 64. Rock singer-musician Nancy Wilson (Heart) is 61. World Golf Hall of Famer Hollis Stacy is 61. Actress Isabelle Huppert is 60. Actor Clifton Powell is 59. Rapper-actor Flavor Flav (Public Enemy) is 56. Rock musician Jimmy DeGrasso is 52. Actor Jerome Flynn is 52. Folk singer Patty Griffin is 51. Movie director Gore Verbinski ("Pirates of the Caribbean" films) is 51. Country singer Tracy Bonham is 48. Actress Lauren Graham is 48. Actor Judah Friedlander (FREED'-lan-duhr) is 46. Actor Alan Tudyk (TOO'-dihk) is 44. Actor Tim Kang is 42. Rhythm-and-blues singer Blu Cantrell is 39. Actress Brooke Burns is 37. Actress Alexandra Daddario is 29. Rhythm and blues singer Jhene Aiko is 27. Rock musician Wolfgang Van Halen is 24.