2014—Jack Kimball, ex-Chairman of N.H.’s GOP, calls upon Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio to put President Obama “in an orange suit…and drag his butt out of that White House.”
2010—W.Va.’s non-union Upper Big Branch coal mine explodes, killing 29 miners. After a year in prison, its owner, Don Blankenship, will run for the U.S. Senate as a Republican.
2006—Texans in Waco boo Bill Nye the science guy for saying the Bible’s wrong to say the Moon emits light.
1995—Sen. Bob Smith [R-N.H.] presciently asks, “How do you stop an elephant if it goes berserk on the grounds of the Capitol?” Alas, his motion to ban pachyderms is defeated.
1967—In Palo Alto, as Robert Jones’ students embrace the Third Wave movement, others clamor to join.
1962—LBJ crony Billy Sol Estes is indicted for selling fake mortgages on fake fertilizer tanks.
1956—A hired thug throws acid and blinds Victor Riesel, New York newspaper columnist and crusader against labor racketeers.
1955—The Farmers Home Administration announces it will issue mortgages on home bomb shelters.
1952—H. Hughes briefly shuts down MGM—all 11 movies in production are scripted by suspected commies.
1943—The U.S. destroyer O’Bannon defeats the Japanese sub Ro-34 in close battle, partly by pelting its deck gunners with spuds.