Milestones

Ten years ago: Eighteen illegal immigrants were found dead inside a locked boxcar near Sierra Blanca, Texas, in what authorities called a botched smuggling attempt; a 19th man survived.

Five years ago: The Labor Department reported that the nation’s unemployment rate in June had risen to an eight-year high of 7.8 percent.

One year ago: Electricity and telephone service were knocked out for millions of customers from Canada to the Southwest after power lines throughout the West failed on a record-hot day. Also, seven years after they had shot their parents to death in the family’s Beverly Hills, Calif., mansion, Lyle and Erik Menendez were sentenced to life in prison without parole.