2011—Pres. B. Obama mocks birther Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Uh-oh….
2006—Veep Dick “Dick” Cheney’s first pitch at the Nationals’ home opener draws jeers and catcalls.
2002—Venezuelan generals replace elected President Hugo Chavez with CIA-approved Pedro Carmona.
1985—Reagan, it’s said, will lay a wreath at Bitburg, where American and German soldiers lie buried. Nope—that’s Waffen SS-only.
1968—Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968 into law.
1966—Set out as bait at Xa Cam My by the CO of the Big Red One, Charlie Co., 2/16th Inf., 134 strong, is ambushed. Relief plans go awry, friendly fire happens; 36 KIA, 71 WIA.
1955—Chiang Kai-shek, the GOP’s pet warlord, bombs an airliner. Target Zhou Enlai is not on board, though.
1951—President Truman fires General MacArthur for insubordination.
1950—A nuclear weapon’s high explosives go off when a B-29 crashes near Albuquerque. Luckily no fissile core had been installed.
1938—Richard Whitney, President of the New York Stock Exchange, gets five to 10 for larceny.
1913—President Wilson orders federal agencies to segregate by race.
1862—An errant balloon takes Portsmouth’s own Gen. Fitz John Porter over Confederate lines, then back to safety during the Seige of Yorktown.