On Jan. 16, 1991, the White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. (Allied forces prevailed on Feb. 28, 1991.)

Ten years ago

A U.S. military helicopter crashed north of Baghdad, killing the two crew members; it was the third American chopper to go down in 10 days. Africa’s first elected female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was sworn in as Liberia’s new president.

Five years ago

Former Haitian strongman Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, who’d been living in exile in France, made a surprise return to Haiti as the country wrestled with a political crisis, cholera outbreak and stalled reconstruction from a devastating earthquake.

One year ago

President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron met at the White House; Obama argued that a resurgent fear of terrorism across Europe and the United States should not lead countries to overreact and shed privacy protections, while Cameron pressed for more government access to encrypted communications used by U.S. companies. Anti-terrorism raids across Europe netted dozens of suspects as authorities rushed to thwart more attacks by people with links to Mideast Islamic extremists.

— By The Associated Press