On September 16, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act. Samuel T. Rayburn of Texas was elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ten years ago

President George W. Bush ruled out raising taxes to pay the massive costs of Gulf Coast reconstruction in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, saying other government spending had to be cut to pay for the recovery effort.

Five years ago

Pope Benedict XVI began a controversial state visit to Britain, acknowledging the Catholic Church had failed to act decisively or quickly enough to deal with priests who raped and molested children. John “Jack” Goeken, founder of telecommunications giant MCI and father of air-toground telephone communications, died in Joliet, Illinois, at age 80.

One year ago

President Barack Obama declared that the Ebola epidemic in West Africa could threaten security around the world and ordered 3,000 U.S. troops to the region in emergency aid muscle. After a day of public pressure from angry fans and concerned sponsors, the Minnesota Vikings reversed course and placed star running back Adrian Peterson on the exempt-commissioner’s permission list while he addressed a felony charge of child abuse in Texas.

— By The Associated Press

Comments are not available on this story.