On this date

In 1765,

Britain enacted the Quartering Act, requiring American colonists to provide temporary housing to British soldiers.

In 1944,

in occupied Rome, the Nazis executed more than 300 civilians in reprisal for an attack by Italian partisans the day before that killed 32 German soldiers.

In 1988,

former national security aides Oliver L. North and John M. Poindexter and businessmen Richard V. Secord and Albert Hakim pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the Iran-Contra affair. (North and Poindexter were convicted but had their verdicts thrown out; Secord and Hakim received probation after each pleaded guilty to a single count.)

In 1989,

the supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on a reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and began leaking an estimated 11 million gallons of crude oil.

In 1998,

two students, ages 13 and 11, opened fire outside Jonesboro Westside Middle School in Arkansas, killing four classmates and a teacher. (The gunmen were imprisoned by Arkansas until age 18, then by federal authorities until age 21.)

In 1999,

NATO launched airstrikes against Yugoslavia, marking the first time in its 50-year existence that it had ever attacked a sovereign country.

In 2015,

Germanwings Flight 9525, an Airbus A320, crashed into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board; investigators said the jetliner was deliberately downed by the 27-year-old co-pilot.

Ten years ago:

President George W. Bush pledged to ensure “an outcome that will merit the sacrifice” of those who had died in Iraq.

Five years ago:

Rebels overthrew Francois Bozize, Central African Republic’s president for a decade.

One year ago:

President Donald Trump and GOP leaders yanked their bill to repeal “Obamacare” off the House floor when it became clear the measure would fail badly.