Tues, Dec 28

2013—Congress ends long-term unemployment benefits to 1.3 million Americans, damaging the economy to the tune of an estimated 240,000 jobs.

1986—Terry Dolan, Republican critic of gay rights, dies of AIDS.

1983—Dr. George Graham, of President Reagan’s Task Force on Food Assistance, says Black children are “probably the best-nourished group in the U.S.”—citing athletes as proof.

1973—In space, the crew of Skylab goes on strike to protest over-work and micro-management. NASA meets the demands of the astronauts.

1973—The Akron, Ohio Chamber of Commerce denounces the Soap Box Derby as a cheat and a fraud.

1971—At the White House, 88 ’Nam vets are busted for protesting their war.

1948—A DC-3 disappears with 32 on board in an area soon to be known as the Bermuda Triangle.

1945—Congress recognizes the “Pledge of Allegiance,” authored by Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy.

1936—Sit-down strikers close Cleveland’s General Motors plant.

1917—H.L. Mencken publishes a phony history of the bathtub, now widely accepted as gospel.

1879—As legendary stagecoach driver “One-Eyed Charlie” Parkhurst, 67, is prepared for burial in Watsonville, Calif., it becomes clear that he was a she—namely, Charlotte Darkey Parkhurst, born in Lebanon, N.H. in 1812.

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