Milestones

Ten years ago: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent to Harvard University for a genetically engineered mouse, the first time a patent was granted for an animal life form.

Five years ago: NATO warplanes began enforcing a United Nations no-fly zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina; meanwhile, Bosnian Serbs bombarded the besieged eastern town of Srebrenica.

One year ago: Undaunted by a cache of explosives found on his travel route, Pope John Paul II plunged into a peace mission to Sarajevo, wading into crowds and declaring, “Never again war.”