BUFFALO, N.Y. — 2 On Your Side's Dave McKinley takes a look back in television history.
10 Years ago this week in 2013:
President Obama announced his intent to bring a Buffalo native, Tom Perez, to Washington to become his new Secretary of Labor while a Brooklyn native, Byron Brown, who had come to Buffalo to attend college and stuck around announced he would be seeking a third term as Mayor this week in 2013.
20 Years ago this week in 2003
The Iraq war began as U.S. forces launched missiles and fighter jets from warships at sea before sending in ground troops in the effort to oust Saddam Hussein from power.
The invasion became forever known for its moniker, "Shock and Awe", and for emerging technology which allowed it to be broadcast live into homes in the U.S., by reporters imbedded with troops streaking across the dessert.
The eyes of Western New York were glued to TV screens, as several local reserve companies had been called to active duty to participate in the mission.
It was only days before the first serviceman from the area became a casualty of the war, when Lance Cpl. Eric J. Orlowski was killed during an accidental discharge of a .50-caliber machine gun. He was 26.
That same week, one most dramatic rescues ever captured on camera at Niagara Falls occurred when a Buffalo man was plucked from the brink of the Horseshoe Falls after standing in 33 degree water for an hour and a half, before rescuers were able to toss a lifeline from a helicopter which was hauled in by emergency crews standing on shore.
That same week an auction was held in Niagara Falls where the collection of Christmas displays and lights accumulated over the course of the once popular "Festival of Lights" were sold off.
The festival began 20 years before and was launched as a way to increase tourism in Niagara Falls during the traditionally slow months of winter.
30 years ago this week in 1993:
United States Supreme Court Justice Byron White, who had been appointed to the nation's highest court in 1963 by President John F Kennedy, announced that after 30 years on the bench he would retire.
This left President William Clinton to appoint a successor. Clinton said he was looking for someone who possessed a "fine mind, good judgement, wide experience in the law and the problems of real people, and someone with a big heart."
This weeks News 2 You Pop Quiz: Who would President Clinton select as to replace Byron White as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court? (For the answer, watch the conclusion of the video above this story).
Remember, this was back in a time when only a small fraction of the cars sold in America came equipped with anti-lock brakes, and when Colgate unveiled its new stand up toothpaste tube with attached cap, and when the number of centenarians in the Untied States was estimated to be approximately 48,000.
Currently, the number of people living in the U.S. who have reached the age of 100 or more is estimated to be close to 100,000. That's more than double what it was in 1993, when these stories and more were all News 2 You.