1997—In Plymouth, Mass., police serve Native American demonstrators a generous helping of pepper-spray.
1986—As Ed “Meese is a Pig” Meese confesses that profits from illegal arms sales to Iran went to Nicaraguan contras, a reluctant Ronald Reagan fires Lt. Col. Oliver North.
1974—Britain outlaws the IRA after two bombs kill 21 and injure over 100 in Birmingham.
1968—Death of Upton Sinclair, writer and media critic.
1955—The ICC bans racial segregation in interstate bus transportation; the ban is ignored, though, until Freedom Riders force the issue in 1961.
1950—Great Appalachian Storm winds hit 110 mph in Concord, N.H.
1947—For refusing to rat out their friends to Congress, the Hollywood Ten are fired by studio bosses.
1915—William J.Simmons burns a cross at Stone Mountain, Ga., founding the new, improved Ku Klux Klan: it hates Catholics and Jews, too.
1864—Confederate arsonists set more than twenty fires, attempting to destroy New York City.
1783—Redcoats evacuate New York as General Washington and the victorious Continental Army arrive.
1120—King Henry’s only heir William Adelin sails for England aboard the White Ship. The ship’s crew, drunk, is told to make haste; hitting a rock, it capsizes. All drown but a butcher. England is in chaos for decades.