Ten years ago: The White House released an online video of President Barack Obama making a fresh appeal directly to the people of Iran, saying a U.S. offer of diplomatic dialogue still stood, but that the Tehran government had chosen isolation.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama ordered the federal government to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by nearly half over the next decade, driving his climate change agenda forward despite percolating challenges from Republican-led states. Days after winning reelection, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backtracked from hardline campaign statements against the establishment of a Palestinian state in the face of a diplomatic backlash. Lindsey Vonn won the final super-G of the season and with it her 19th crystal globe trophy at the World Cup finals in Meribel, France. Songwriter Michael Brown, 65, who co-wrote the 1966 hit “Walk Away Renee,” died in Englewood, New Jersey.
One year ago: President Donald Trump escalated his attacks on the late Sen. John McCain, who had died in 2018 of brain cancer; Trump told reporters, “I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be.” Aid workers rushed to rescue victims clinging to trees and crammed on rooftops after a cyclone unleashed devastating floods in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi; more than 350 people were confirmed dead with hundreds missing. In a major advance against the Islamic State group, U.S.-backed Syrian forces seized control of an encampment held by the group in eastern Syria after hundreds of militants surrendered overnight.