On August 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, a U.S. B-29 Superfortress codenamed Bockscar dropped a nuclear device (“Fat Man”) over Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people.

Ten years ago

The White House said neither Israel nor Hezbollah should escalate their month-old war, as Israel decided to widen its ground invasion in southern Lebanon. Physicist James A. Van Allen, discoverer of the radiation belts surrounding the Earth that bear his name, died in Iowa City, Iowa, at age 91.

Five years ago

President Barack Obama announced new fuel efficiency standards for work trucks, buses and other heavy duty vehicles. In a surprise announcement, the Federal Reserve said it would likely keep its Fed funds rate at near zero through 2013 to help the ailing U.S. economy. Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sentenced in San Angelo, Texas, to life in prison for sexually assaulting one of his child brides, and received the maximum 20-year punishment for a separate child sex conviction.

One year ago

A year after the shooting that cast greater scrutiny on how police interacted with black communities, the father of slain 18-year-old Michael Brown led a march in Ferguson, Missouri, after a crowd of hundreds observed 4½ minutes of silence. Frank Gifford, the Pro Football Hall of Famer who led the New York Giants to the 1956 NFL title and later teamed with Howard Cosell and Don Meredith in the “Monday Night Football” booth, died in Greenwich, Connecticut, at age 84.

— By The Associated Press