Ten years ago: Syria’s prime minister, Riad Hijab, defected two months after being forced into the position by President Bashar Assad. Marvin Hamlisch, 68, who composed or arranged the scores for dozens of movies including “The Sting” and the Broadway smash “A Chorus Line,” died in Los Angeles.
Five years ago: Vice President Mike Pence, in a statement released by the White House, described as “disgraceful and offensive” a New York Times report suggesting that he was laying the groundwork for a possible presidential bid in 2020 if President Donald Trump were not to run.
One year ago: A New Jersey gym owner, Scott Fairlamb, and a Washington state man, Devlyn Thompson, became the first people charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to plead guilty to assaulting a law enforcement officer. (Fairlamb was sentenced to 41 months in prison; Thompson received nearly four years.) American Allyson Felix won her record 10th Olympic track medal at the Tokyo Games with a bronze in the 400 meters, the most medals won by any woman in Olympic history. (She would win an 11th the following day.) The U.S. team of April Ross and Alix Klineman won gold in beach volleyball.
