On this date

In 1918, U.S. airmail began service between Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York. In 1928, Mickey Mouse made his debut in the silent Walt Disney animated short “Plane Crazy.” In 1930, registered nurse Ellen Church, the first flight attendant, went on duty aboard a flight from Oakland to Chicago. In 1948, hours after declaring its independence, the new state of Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. In 1968, two days of tornado outbreaks began in 10 Midwestern and Southern states; twisters were blamed for 72 deaths.

In 1975, U.S. forces invaded the Cambodian island of Koh Tang and captured the American merchant ship Mayaguez, which had been seized by the Khmer Rouge. (All 39 crew members had already been released safely by Cambodia; some 40 U.S. servicemen were killed in connection with the operation.) In 1988, the Soviet Union began withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, more than eight years after Soviet forces entered the country. Ten years ago: California’s Supreme Court declared same-sex couples in the state could marry. (The ruling was overturned six months later with the passage of Proposition 8, which courts later struck down.) Five years ago: Under mounting pressure, President Barack Obama released documents related to the Benghazi attack and forced out the top official at the Internal Revenue Service following revelations the agency had targeted conservative political groups. One year ago: The Supreme Court shut the door on North Carolina Republicans’ effort to revive a state law that mandated voter identification and scaled back early voting, provisions a lower court said improperly targeted minority voters.