Milestones

Ten years ago: A U.S. helicopter gunship disabled an Iranian vessel, the “Iran Ajr,” that was caught laying mines in the Persian Gulf. NFL players went on strike, mainly over the issue of free agency.

Five years ago: Former defense secretaries Melvin Laird and James R. Schlesinger told a congressional committee the Pentagon had known American airmen were alive in Laos at the end of the Vietnam War and were not returned.

One year ago: John F. Kennedy Jr. married Carolyn Bessette in a secret ceremony on Cumberland Island, Ga. The board of all-male Virginia Military Institute voted to admit women. President Clinton and Republican rival Bob Dole agreed to face off in two debates without Ross Perot.