On Oct. 21, 1966, 144 people, 116 of them children, were killed when a coal waste landslide engulfed a school and some 20 houses in Aberfan, Wales.

Ten years ago

Al-Jazeera television aired an interview with State Department official Alberto Fernandez, who offered a striking assessment of the Iraq war, saying in Arabic that the United States had shown “arrogance” and “stupidity” in Iraq. (Fernandez issued an apology the next day.) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, visiting Moscow, delivered a symbolic rebuke to Russia over shrinking press freedoms, even as she courted President Vladimir Putin for help punishing Iran over its nuclear program.

Five years ago

President Barack Obama declared that America’s long and deeply unpopular war in Iraq would be over by the end of 2011 and that all U.S. troops “will definitely be home for the holidays.”

One year ago

Vice President Joe Biden announced he would not be a candidate in the 2016 White House campaign, solidifying Hillary Rodham Clinton’s status as the Democratic front-runner. Actor-comedian Marty Ingels, 79, died in Los Angeles. The New York Mets finished an NL playoff sweep of the Chicago Cubs to advance to the World Series as the Mets brushed aside the Cubs 8-3. The Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 7-1 to close to 3-2 in the best-of-seven AL Championship Series.

— By The Associated Press