Thurs, Dec 16

2005—The New York Times reports that the NSA has been tapping U.S. telephones without a warrant.

2001—U.S. troops at Tora Bora ask for  help catching Osama bin Laden. Donald Rumsfeld denies their request; bin Laden walks away.

1988—Bush #41 nominates notoriously boozy womanizer Sen. John Tower [R-Texas] to run the Department of  Defense. His confirmation hearings do not go well.

1988—Perennial Presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche—Rochester, N.H.’s most famous native—is convicted of tax and mail fraud.

1973—Protestors celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party by hanging Richard Nixon in effigy.

1970—Big Milk offers Nixon a $2 million “campaign contribution” if he’ll cut milk imports. A fortnight later Nixon imposes milk import quotas.

1965—Gen. Westmoreland, already commanding 200,000 men in Vietnam, asks for another 243,000.

1960—Two airliners collide over Manhattan killing a total of 134.

1950—Spooked by Commies, Harry S Truman proclaims a national emergency. It stays in effect until 1976.

1835—A two-day fire destroys 674 buildings in New York, bankrupting insurance companies and kicking off the Depression of 1837.

1773—“Sons of Liberty” disguised as Mohawks dump 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.

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