Milestones

Ten years ago: A third convoy of U.S. warships and reflagged Kuwaiti tankers slipped into the Persian Gulf before dawn and headed up the waterway behind a screen of mine-seeking helicopters.

Five years ago: The third night of the Republican convention in Houston, billed as “family values night,” featured talks by first lady Barbara Bush and Marilyn Quayle, wife of Vice President Quayle.

One year ago: Ralph Nader accepted the presidential nomination of the Green Party in Los Angeles, denouncing tax breaks for corporations. A judge sentenced former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker to four years’ probation for his Whitewater crimes.