2008—In his last (yay!) State of the Union speech, George W.[MD] Bush promises his budget will keep the U.S. “on track for a surplus in 2012.”
2004—U.S. weapons inspector David Kay tells the Senate pre-war WMD intelligence was “almost all wrong.”
2003—In his State of the Union, George W.[MD] Bush lies about tubes, viruses, alliances, and uranium to justify his next war.
1998—Born in 1889, the son of a man once enslaved, John Morton-Finney retires from his law practice at 107.
1986—Ronald Reagan’s State of the Union is rescheduled; his Challenger applause line turned into a tragedy.
1969—Unocal drillers using sub-standard pipe cause a 100,000-barrel oil spill off Santa Barbara, creating an 800 square mile oil slick and an environmental movement.
1958—In Nebraska, Charles Starkweather, 17, and Carol Fugate, 14, kill their 8th through 10th (out of an eventual 11) victims.
1936—Thrill-killer Richard Loeb is murdered by a fellow-prisoner at whom he made a pass. The Chicago Daily News writes that Loeb, “… a master of the English language, today ended a sentence with a proposition.”
1922—The roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre in Washington, D.C. collapses under thirty inches of snow, killing 98 and injuring 133.
1918—Texas Rangers murder all 15 Hispanic residents of Porvenir.