Milestones

Ten years ago: The Commerce Department reported the U.S. trade deficit had shrunk to $8.7 billion in June.

Five years ago: Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman resigned under pressure, the latest Clinton administration official felled by the Whitewater controversy.

One year ago: President Clinton gave grand jury testimony via closed-circuit TV from the White House regarding his relationship with Monica Lewinsky; he then delivered a TV address in which he denied previously committing perjury, admitted his relationship with Lewinsky was “wrong,” and criticized Kenneth Starr’s investigation. Russia allowed the ruble’s value to drop by up to 34 percent.