2007—As U. Mass. hands an honorary degree to Andrew Card, George W.[MD] Bush’s ex-Chief of Staff, students and faculty boo and howl.
1988—Four years after his death, Peter Lawford’s ashes are scattered at sea because none of his children will pay for entombment.
1986—”Hands Across America” ends hunger and homelessness. Congrats!
1981—Kennebunkport native Dan Goodwin scales the Sears Tower dressed as Spiderman.
1979—“Capital punishment;” says John Spenkelink, sitting in “Old Sparky,” “them without the capital get the punishment.”
1953—At the Nevada Test Site, the U.S. fires a 15-kt nuclear warhead from a cannon called “Atomic Annie,” previously seen at Ike’s Inaugural Parade.
1950—A speeding Green Hornet streetcar in Chicago collides with a gasoline truck, killing 34.
1928—After circling the North Pole, Umberto Nobile’s airship Italia crashes northeast of Spitsbergen. Eight crew members survive on the ice; six vanish as the balloon drifts away.
1920—Robert T. Hogan is arrested for teaching German at a parochial school in Nebraska.
1826—Hooligans in Chepatchet, R.I. test Hachaliah Bailey’s claim that his elephant, “Old Betty,” has bulletproof hide. She does not.
735—At the then-ripe age of 61 or 62, Bede ceases to accrue venerability.