Ten years ago: Suspended NFL star Michael Vick was sentenced by a federal judge in Richmond, Virginia, to 23 months in prison for bankrolling a dogfighting operation and killing dogs that underperformed (Vick served 19 months at Leavenworth). Madison Square Garden and New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas reached an $11.5 million settlement of a sexual harassment case brought by former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders. Cristina Fernandez was sworn in as Argentina's first elected female president. Former Vice President Al Gore accepted the Nobel Peace Prize with a call for humanity to rise up against a looming climate crisis and stop waging war on the environment.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama told auto workers in Michigan that he would not compromise on his demand that tax rates go up for the top 2 percent of American earners to help reduce the deficit. A judge announced that former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn and a New York City hotel maid had signed a settlement of her sexual-assault lawsuit stemming from a May 2011 encounter. Marijuana for recreational use became legal in Colorado.
One year ago: Donald Trump's presidential transition team challenged the veracity of U.S. intelligence assessments that Russia had tried to tip the November election to the Republican; Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would press for a congressional investigation in the new year. Louisiana voters chose to send Republican state Treasurer John Kennedy to the nation's capital, filling the nation's last U.S. Senate seat and giving the GOP a 52-48 edge in the chamber when the new term began in January. In college football, Army ended a 14-year run of frustration against Navy with a 21-17 victory. Sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson became the first Louisville player to win the Heisman Trophy.
