On July 30, 1916, German saboteurs blew up a munitions plant on Black Tom, an island near Jersey City, New Jersey. Although casualties were limited (about a dozen people were killed), the explosion was so huge, it was felt throughout New York City and damaged the Statue of Liberty.

Ten years ago

Israel agreed to a 48-hour suspension of aerial activity over southern Lebanon after its bombing of a Lebanese village that killed 29 people. Congo held its first multi-party election in four decades (incumbent President Joseph Kabila later won a runoff).

Five years ago

NATO jets bombed three Libyan state TV satellite transmitters in Tripoli, targeting a propaganda tool in Moammar Gadhafi’s fight against rebels. Caribbean Airlines Flight 523 from New York, a Boeing 737-800, slid off the end of a rainy runway in Guyana and broke in half; all 163 people on board survived.

One year ago

The Associated Press released the results of a five-month independent study it had commissioned which found that athletes competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro would be swimming and boating in waters so rife with sewage bacteria and viruses, they faced the risk of becoming seriously ill. The Afghan Taliban confirmed the death of longtime leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and appointed his successor, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor. Singer Lynn Anderson, 67, whose strong, husky voice carried her to the top of the charts with “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden,” died in Nashville, Tennessee.

— By The Associated Press