Milestones

Ten years ago: The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a package of $30 million in non-lethal aid for the Nicaraguan Contras.

Five years ago: Health pioneer Albert Sabin, developer of the oral polio vaccine, died in Washington at age 86.

One year ago: Vice President Al Gore, under fire for his aggressive role in campaign fund raising, acknowledged he’d solicited donations from his White House office but insisted he did not do “anything wrong, much less illegal.” But he said he would never do it again.