2009—Republican Governor Mark Sanford’s spokesman says South Carolina’s Chief Executive is hiking the Appalachian Trail.
2005—The Republican-led House, undeterred by futility, passes a Flag Protection Amendment.®
2004—On the floor of the Senate, Veep Dick “Dick” Cheney tells Sen. Pat Leahy, “Go f__k yourself.”
2004—In Iraq, yet another cash-laden C-130 arrives. This one’s got the biggest load, though: $2,401,600,000.
2002—Enron execs admit they hid $1.5 billion in illegal profits gouged from California ratepayers.
1977—Nixon’s ex-AG John Mitchell begins a 19-month prison sentence.
1972—UPI’s Helen Thomas gets a call from Martha Mitchell: “I’m a captive…”; the phone goes dead. On the scene, Nixon’s lawyer orders that the AG’s wife be sedated by injection.
1970—The 24th Amendment gives 18-year-olds the vote.
1969—In Ohio, the Cuyahoga River burns for 20 minutes.
1964—The U.S. Supreme Court rules the Post Office can’t ban Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer.
1950—Retired FBI agents help a paranoid fabric importer publish Red Channels, a pamphlet claiming radio and TV are full of Commies.
1942—Congress adopts the Flag Code,® thus replacing the embarrassingly Nazi-like “Flag Salute” with FDR’s hand-on-heart gesture.