On this day in 1981, a jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selected Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries. The architect was only 21 years of age at the time.
On this day in 1996, the body of former CIA director William Colby was found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
On this day in 1997, the Bank of England was given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank's 300-year history.
On this day in 2013, three women missing for more than a decade were found alive in the U.S. city of Cleveland, Ohio. Their captor, Ariel Castro, was taken into custody.