Saturday, April 17, 2010 — The designer of the universe apparently intended for the events listed here to occur on this date. Unless otherwise noted, none of them were our idea; complaints should be addressed to the diety of your choice.
These entries are terse because unlike the Interwebs, newsprint is finite. Admiral Fowle’s Piscataqua River Tidal Guide accomodates fourteen of these on a single page. An example is shown at right; the original size is 1.4 inches by 5.9 inches.
This digital medium being what it is, the reader might reasonably expect to find here links to further resources regarding these events. If we ever sell enough subscriptions to allow us to hire enough help to get that acomplished, perhaps we will.
2002—G.W. Bush flip-flops, vows to rebuild Afghanistan.
2001—Sharon’s Israel takes a bite out of Gaza. U.S.’s Colin Powell takes a bite out of Sharon.
1987—Comedian Dick Shawn, onstage in San Diego, suffers a fatal heart attack. It is several minutes before the audience realizes it’s not part of the act.
1981—The Supreme Court decides banning the use of peyote as a religious sacrament doesn’t violate the First Amendment.
1975—Khmer Rouge capture Phnom Penh.
1970—Apollo 13 makes it home.
1967—“[T]he defeat of the Communists forces in South Vietnam is inevitable,” says ex-Veep Richard Nixon. “The only question is, how soon?”
1966—G. Gordon Liddy busts Tim Leary for pot possession.
1965—25,000 march against Vietnam War in NY.
1961—Transports chartered by the CIA deliver 1,511 Cuban exiles to the Bay of Pigs.
1959—In Times Square, 22 are arrested for refusing to take part in an air-raid drill.
1954—Eisenhower threatens to nuke Red China.
1935—Sun Myung Moon has a revelation: Jesus Christ asks him to complete His mission.
1850—In the Senate, Henry Foote (D-MI) pulls a pistol on Thomas Hart Benton (D-MO).
1790—RIP Benjamin Franklin, patriot and printer.
1492—King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain formally agree to back Christopher Columbus.