2016—The Guardian reports that D. Trump’s grandfather was refused re-entry to Germany in 1905 because he had dodged military service.
1974—The Freedom of Information Act passes over Gerry Ford’s veto.
1973—Chief of Staff Al Haig ascribes an 18½ minute gap on an audio tape to “sinister forces.”
1970—Fifty-six Green Berets raid the Son Tay POW camp 23 miles west of Hanoi, which had been evacuated three weeks earlier.
1967—Commies in the ’Nam are “unable to mount a major offensive,” says Westy, 71 days before Tet. “The end begins to come into view.”
1964—The FBI sends a blackmail letter to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., urging him to commit suicide.
1927—The first Columbine Massacre: state cops in civvies machine-gun striking coal miners; six die.
1901—The President of Alabama’s Constitutional Convention had said in May, “we want to…establish white supremacy.” With their work ratified on this day, they succeeded.
1817—The U.S. Army begins thirty years of war by attacking Seminoles in Georgia at Fowltown.
1801—The 2nd suspicious fire in 13 days destroys Treasury records after Republicans demand proof of Federalist Thomas Pickering’s expenses.
1772—At Faneuil Hall, troublemakers establish Committees of Correspondence. Revolution ensues.