Ten years ago: Scientists at the world’s largest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, recreated the state of matter shortly after the Big Bang using collisions of lead ions. Gebre Gebremariam (GEH’-brah geh-brah-MAYR’-ee-am) of Ethiopia won the men’s title at the New York City Marathon in 2:08:14 in his debut at the distance. Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat won the women’s race in 2:28:20 for her first major marathon championship.
Five years ago: The leaders of China and Taiwan met for the first time since the formerly bitter Cold War foes split amid civil war 66 years earlier; Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou hailed the meeting in Singapore as a sign of a new stability in relations. The license plates that were on the limousine carrying President John F. Kennedy when he was assassinated in Dallas in 1963 were sold at auction for $100,000. Yitzhak Navon, 94, who was a top aide to Israel’s founding father David Ben-Gurion and who served as Israel’s president from 1978 to 1983, died in Jerusalem.
One year ago: Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he would try to reclaim his old Senate seat from Alabama. (The effort ended in defeat in a Republican primary runoff.) Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson announced that he was retiring after more than three years as the city’s top cop. (Johnson would be fired weeks later by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who cited “ethical lapses” including lying about a recent incident in which Johnson was found asleep at the wheel of his car after having drinks.) Juul Labs said it would stop U.S. sales of its best-selling, mint-flavored electronic cigarettes; the move came as the company struggled to survive a nationwide backlash against vaping.
