Milestones

Ten years ago: A Northwest Airlines DC-9 collided on the ground with a Northwest Boeing 727 at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, resulting in a fire that claimed eight lives.

Five years ago: President Clinton authorized a vanguard of 700 U.S. troops to open a risky mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

One year ago: Scientists failed to make contact with the Mars Polar Lander after it began its fiery descent toward the Red Planet; the spacecraft is presumed destroyed.