Milestones

Ten years ago: As President Bush arrived in Venezuela on the last stop of his South American tour, his chief spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, warned Iraq that there was “no lessening in the threat of war,” despite Iraq’s promise to release its hostages.

Five years ago: Under Republican pressure, President Clinton reluctantly presented a seven-year balanced-budget plan that was quickly criticized by GOP lawmakers. A 746-pound probe from the “Galileo” spacecraft hurtled into Jupiter’s atmosphere, sending back data to the mothership before it was presumably destroyed.

One year ago: NASA scientists all but gave up hope of contacting the Mars Polar Lander, last heard from four days earlier as it began its descent toward the Red Planet.