On March 1, 1966, the Soviet space probe Venera 3 impacted the surface of Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to reach another planet; however, Venera was unable to transmit any data, its communications system having failed.

Ten years ago

President George W. Bush, en route to India and Pakistan, made a surprise visit to Afghanistan to show U.S. support for the country’s fledgling democracy. Actor Jack Wild, who’d played the Artful Dodger in the 1968 movie musical “Oliver!,” died in Bedfordshire, England, at age 53.

Five years ago

Yemen’s embattled president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, accused the U.S., his closest ally, of instigating the mounting protests against him, but the gambit failed to slow the momentum of his ouster (he later apologized to Washington).

One year ago

Tens of thousands marched through Moscow in honor of slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who had been shot to death on Feb. 27. Minnie “Cuban Comet” Minoso, major league baseball’s first black Latino star, died in Chicago. (There was some question about Minoso’s age, but the medical examiner’s office and the White Sox said he was 90.)

— By The Associated Press