Sun, Dec. 26

2010—H. Kissinger apologizes for having told R. Nixon in 1973, “[if the Soviets] put Jews into gas chambers…it is not an American concern. Maybe a humanitarian concern.”

2002—Americans learn a new euphemism from the Washington Post: “extraordinary rendition” means kidnapping and torture.

1996—Of 1,500 candidates, JonBenet Ramsey is named “most important child murdered this year in the U.S.”

1991—The Supreme Soviet meets one last time and dissolves the USSR.

1971—Disgruntled Vietnam veterans occupy the Statue of Liberty.

1969—Having fought a shifting cargo of bombs, missiles, and mines for nine days in heavy seas, the crew of the freighter S.S. Badger State abandons ship in mid-Pacific after a bomb explodes and blows a hole in the hull. Out of 40 crewmen, 11 survive.

1966—Time Magazine names “The Younger Generation” the “Man of the Year,” further exacerbating a pandemic of unwarranted self-esteem.

1919—Harry Frazee sells Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees.

1913—Writer and perennially-disgruntled Civil War veteran Ambrose Bierce allegedly pens one final letter before vanishing in Mexico.

1908—Jack Johnson becomes the first Black heavyweight boxing champ.

1862—Under orders from President Lincoln, the U.S. Army hangs 38 Sioux on one huge gallows.

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