2008—Lehman Brothers execs say the firm has all the capital it needs, five days before it declares bankruptcy.
2001—Donald Rumsfeld admits the Defense Department can’t account for about $2.3 trillion dollars. One day later, no one remembers—or cares.
1980—“Approximately eighty percent of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation,” says GOP candidate Ronald Reagan.
1977—One-legged Tunisian pimp Hamida Djandoubi is the last man to die by a French guillotine.
1969—The AEC fires off a nuke beneath Grand Valley, Colo., to “liberate large quantities of gas.” It worked, but no one wanted radioactive natural gas.
1945—In Fruita, Colo., Lloyd Wilson chops the head off “Mike,” a young rooster which then goes on to enjoy an 18-month career as “The Headless Wonder Chicken.”
1939—B&M Railroad Engineer John Beattie and Fireman Charles Towle are killed when the Old Piscataqua Bridge, damaged during construction of the Mildred Long Bridge, dumps their locomotive into the river.
1939—HMS Oxley becomes the first British sub sunk in WW II. It was torpedoed by the sub HMS Triton.
1897—A posse massacres 19 strikers and wounds 36 at a Lattimer, Pa. coal mine; most are shot in the back.
1739—South Carolina militiamen overpower and kill the participants of the Stono Rebellion.