Ten years ago: In the first ruling by a federal appeals court on President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, a panel in Cincinnati handed the administration a victory by agreeing that the government could require a minimum amount of insurance for Americans. Greece fended off bankruptcy as lawmakers backed austerity measures in the face of riots that left more than 100 injured.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama and the leaders of Mexico and Canada, meeting in Ottawa, pushed back forcefully against the isolationist and anti-immigrant sentiments roiling Britain and championed by GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.
One year ago: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he had a plan to cut the city police department budget by $1 billion; the announcement came a week after a “defund the police” protest became a full-blown occupation outside City Hall. (The City Council would approve a plan to shift $1 billion from policing to education and social services in the coming year.) Two published studies revealed that at least 285 U.S. children had developed a serious inflammatory condition linked to the coronavirus. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell became the highest-ranking Republican in Congress to encourage Americans to wear a mask as protection against the coronavirus. A divided Supreme Court reasserted a commitment to abortion rights, striking down a Louisiana law requiring that doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer who terrorized Northern California in the 1970s, pleaded guilty to 13 counts of murder in exchange for a life sentence instead of a possible death penalty. Comedy writer, actor and director Carl Reiner died at his California home at 98.
