2020—George Perry Floyd, Jr., dead at 46 in Minneapolis. Rest in Power.
2007—As U. Mass. hands an honorary degree to Andrew Card, George W.[MD] Bush’s ex-Chief of Staff, students and faculty howl and boo.
1988—Evicted from his crypt, Peter Lawford’s ashes are scattered at sea; the National Enquirer covers the cost of the boat—none of his children will.
1986—“Hands Across America” ends hunger and homelessness. Well done!
1981—Kennebunkport native Dan Goodwin, 25, scales Chicago’s Sears Tower while dressed as Spiderman.
1979—Sitting in “Old Sparky,” waiting for the juice, John Spenkelink says, “Capital punishment: 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—At a parochial school in Hampton, Nebraska, Robert T. Meyer is arrested for teaching German.
1826—Hooligans in Chepatchet, R.I. test Hachaliah Bailey’s claim that his elephant, “Old Betty,” has bulletproof hide. He was lying, she does not.