TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT On Aug. 31, 1980

Poland’s Solidarity labor movement was born with an agreement signed in Gdansk that ended a 17-day-old strike.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1886

An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.3 devastated Charleston, S.C., killing at least 60 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

1994

The Irish Republican Army declared a cease-fire. Russia officially ended its military presence in the former East Germany and the Baltics after half a century.

2010

President Barack Obama ended the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, declaring no victory after seven years of bloodshed and telling those divided over the war in his country and around the world: “It is time to turn the page.”