On Sept. 12, 1960, Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy addressed questions about his Roman Catholic faith, telling the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, “I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me.”

Ten years ago

In a speech in his native Germany, Pope Benedict XVI said Islamic holy war was against God’s nature and quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Paleologos, as characterizing some teachings of Islam’s founder as “evil and inhuman”; the pope’s comments unleashed a torrent of rage across the Islamic world, prompting him to say he sincerely regretted that Muslims were offended. Syrian guards foiled an attempt by suspected al-Qaida-linked militants to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Damascus.

Five years ago

Texana Hollis, a 101-year-old woman, was evicted from the southwest Detroit home where she had lived for nearly six decades after her son failed to pay the mortgage. (Hollis was allowed to move back into the house in April 2012 through the efforts of Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom and his charity; Hollis died on Dec. 31, 2013 at the age of 103.) Leila Lopes of Angola was crowned Miss Universe at the pageant in Sao Paulo. Kurt Ziebart, 91, inventor of the Ziebart automobile rust-proofing process, died in Williamsburg, Michigan.

One year ago

Jeremy Corbyn, a veteran anti-war campaigner known for his unapologetically socialist views, won a landslide victory to lead Britain’s opposition Labor Party in one of the country’s biggest political shake-ups in decades. Flavia Pennetta defeated fellow Italian Roberta Vinci in straight sets, 7-6 (4), 6-2, to become the oldest first-time women’s major champion in the Open era; the 33-year-old Pennetta then announced her retirement.

— By The Associated Press