Associated Press

On Aug. 30, 1916, on his fourth attempt, explorer Ernest Shackelton successfully returned to Elephant Island in Antarctica to rescue 22 of his stranded crew members, who had survived on the barren island for four and a half months after the sinking of their ship, the Endurance.

In 1963, the “Hot Line” communications link between Washington and Moscow went into operation.

In 1967, the Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall as the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2021, the U.S. completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war with the Taliban back in power, as Air Force transport planes carried remaining troops from Kabul airport.

In 2022, Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union who waged a losing battle to salvage an empire, died at age 91.