2018—After jabbing him in the legs and groin for 2.5 hours, Alabama prison officials wheel cancer patient Doyle Hamm out of the death chamber alive.
2004—A Pentagon document leaks: it says climate change may spell doom.
1994—The FBI arrests a spy: 32-year CIA officer Aldrich Ames.
1974—Samuel Byck, planning to crash an airliner into the White House, carelessly shoots the pilot before takeoff. He’s then shot dead, too.
1965—The New York Times calls the late Malcolm X “an extraordinary and twisted man [who turned] many true gifts to evil purposes.”
1965—Sam Lovejoy derails a planned nuke plant in Montague, Mass. by downing a tower with a crowbar.
1951—The Atomic Energy Commission unveils its latest brilliant plan: airplanes powered by nuclear reactors.
1945—On the House floor, Rep. John Rankin [D-Miss.] calls Rep. Frank Hook [D-Mich.] a Communist, whereupon Hook calls Rankin a “God damned liar.” Rankin, 63 and 140 lbs., attempts to punch out Hook, 52 and 195 lbs., to little effect.
1902—In the Senate Chamber, John McLaurin [D-S.C.] calls Ben Tillman [D-S.C.] a liar, whereupon Tillman belts McLaurin in the jaw.
1838—Penn. amends its Constitution to take the vote from free Black men.
1837—In the White House, Andy Jackson celebrates Washington’s Birthday with a 1,400 pound cheese.