On June 8, 1966, the strongest of a series of tornadoes struck the Topeka, Kansas, area, killing 17 people. A merger was announced between the National and American Football Leagues, to take effect in 1970.

Te n years ago

The Food and Drug Administration approved Gardasil, a vaccine against HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer. Sheikha Haya Al Khalifa, a lawyer from Bahrain, was elected U.N. General Assembly president, the first woman from the Middle East to take the post.

Five years ago

OPEC unexpectedly left its production levels unchanged, causing oil prices to jump as senior officials reported their meeting in Vienna had ended in disarray. Meredith Vieira ended her five-year run as co-anchor of NBC’s “Today” show, telling viewers her decision to go was “right, but it’s hard.”

One year ago

Acknowledging setbacks, President Barack Obama said at the close of a G-7 summit in Germany that the United States still lacked a “complete strategy” for training Iraqi forces to fight the Islamic State. Siding with the White House in a foreign-policy power struggle with Congress, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Americans born in the disputed city of Jerusalem could not list Israel as their birthplace on passports. The NCAA approved multiple rule changes to men’s basketball for the 2015-16 season, including a 30-second shot clock and fewer timeouts for each team.

— By The Associated Press