Milestones

Ten years ago: One day before the arrival of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, hundreds of thousands marched in Washington, pressing for free emigration of Soviet Jews. In Moscow, security agents roughed up Jewish activists during demonstrations over Kremlin policy.

Five years ago: Bowing to anti-foreigner sentiment, Germany’s main political parties agreed to tighten postwar asylum laws. In India, thousands of Hindu extremists destroyed a mosque, setting off two months of Hindu-Muslim rioting that claimed at least 2,000 lives.

One year ago: Stocks around the world plunged after comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan were taken to mean that U.S. stock prices were too high.