2008—Todd Carmichael reaches the South Pole after traveling 692 miles on skis and on foot, solo.
2006—Saparmurat Niyazov’s term of office ends. Turkmenistan’s President for Life leaves a legacy of many golden statues…of himself.
2001—“All in all,” says George W.[MD] Bush, “it’s been a fabulous year for Laura and me.”
1996—After two years of denial, Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) admits to ethics violations.
1989—Vice President J. Danforth Quayle sends out 30,000 Xmas cards in which “beacon” is spelled “beakon.”
1988—PanAm Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie; 270 perish.
1970—The Oval Office: Elvis gives Tricky Dick a chromed Colt .45; Dick gives Elvis a Narcotics Bureau badge.
1956—Montgomery, Ala. buses desegregate—the boycott worked.
1924—Real headline, N.Y. Times: “Hitler Tamed By Prison”.
1921—The anarchist Bonnot Gang robs a Paris bank then steals a limo—the world’s first getaway car.
1919—Emma Goldman is deported for speaking out against the draft.
1913—The New York World introduces a new feature: they call it a “word-cross” puzzle.
1907—The Chilean Army breaks a strike by machine gunning 2,000 Chilean nitrate miners.
1620—Pilgrims and “Strangers” land in what is now Plymouth, Mass.