2000—Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris—also, coincidentally, state co-chair of the Bush campaign—declares Dubya the winner.
1973—Rose Mary Woods takes the fall for the 18½ minute gap.
1970—After whites celebrate the 350th of the Pilgrims’ landing by rescinding Frank “Wamsutta” James’ invitation to speak, Wampanoags host the first annual National Day of Mourning at Plymouth, Mass.
1933—Thomas H. Thurmond and John M. Holmes are lynched in San Jose, Calif. Jackie Coogan—later TV’s “Uncle Fester”—helps ready a rope. A judge, Timothy Fitzpatrick, says the mob “did a damned good job.” Gov. “Sonny Jim” Rolph promises a pardon, but no one’s even charged.
1932—In his newspaper column, Will Rogers mocks Herbert Hoover’s theory of “trickle-down economics.”
1922—Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon desecrate King Tut’s tomb.
1921—Former Lt. Col. Charles W. Whittlesey, 37, commander of the “Lost Battalion” and a pallbearer for the Unknown Soldier, leaps from a ship and drowns in the Atlantic.
1910—Six workers burn to death and 19 die jumping from the fourth floor of a Newark textile shop. “Misadventure and accident” said the coroner’s jury; penalty for the owner: $0.00.
1904—Joseph R. Burton [R–Kans.] becomes the first U.S. Senator convicted of a crime, i.e., taking a bribe.