On Sept. 29, 1789, the U.S. War Department established a regular army with the strength of several hundred men.

Ten years ago

U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned after being confronted with sexually explicit computer messages he’d sent to former House pages. A Gol Airlines flight crashed in the Brazilian jungle after clipping a private jet, killing all 154 people aboard (the private jet landed safely). Rhode Island nightclub owner Michael Derderian was sentenced to four years in prison and his brother, Jeffrey, to probation under a plea agreement, angering relatives of the 100 people who had died in a 2003 fire at The Station.

Five years ago

Germany kept alive hopes that the 17-nation euro currency could survive the debt crisis as lawmakers in Europe’s largest economy voted overwhelmingly in favor of expanding the powers of the eurozone’s bailout fund. Phillip Matthew Hannan, the former New Orleans archbishop who eulogized President John F. Kennedy and who served more than three decades as the popular leader of his Roman Catholic archdiocese, died on the 47th anniversary of his ordination.

One year ago

President Barack Obama, hosting a U.N. gathering of world leaders, pledged all possible tools military, intelligence and economic to defeat the Islamic State group, but acknowledged the extremist group had taken root in Syria and Iraq, was resilient and was continuing to expand. NCAA banned the SMU men’s basketball team from the postseason and suspended coach Larry Brown for nine games, saying he had lied to investigators and ignored a case of academic fraud by a player.

— By The Associated Press