2005—Barbara Bush says Hurricane Katrina was “working very well” for thousands of homeless refugees.
2002—Portsmouth loses Jay Smith, creator of the Press Room, Patron Saint of The Music Hall, &c. RIP.
1991—The D.C. home of Sen. Jesse Helms [R-N.C.] is covered by a giant condom, courtesy of ACT UP.
1990—Los Angeles Police Chief Darryl Gates tell the Senate Judiciary Committee that “casual drug users should be taken out and shot.”
1939—Arriving in Australia from Ulm, Germany, after a kayak trip that took seven years, Oskar Speck is detained for seven more years as a spy.
1934—N.C. Gov. John Ehringhaus [Dem.] calls out the National Guard to break a textile strike. Other states follow with pro-plutocracy actions.
1931—Consolidated Edison worker George Metesky is injured on the job. Denied Workmen’s Compensation, “The Mad Bomber” plants 32 bombs over 16 years before he’s caught.
1930—Carl Panzram to Leavenworth’s hangman: “Hurry it up you Hoosier bastard. I could hang a dozen men while you’re screwing around.”
1925—Colonel Billy Mitchell blames the recent crash of the Shenandoah on the “almost treasonable negligence” of the Navy & War Dept.’s top brass.
1917—The Justice [Hah!] Department raids Socialist Party and IWW offices nationwide and shuts down the newspaper American Socialist.