1985—Doped up after cancer surgery five days earlier, Ronald Reagan OKs an arms-for-hostages deal with Iran.
1984—James O. Huberty tells his wife he’s “going to hunt humans,” then kills 21 and wounds 19 at a San Diego McDonald’s. A sniper gets him. His widow sues Mickey D’s for poisoning his mind with MSG, but to no avail.
1981—Norman Mailer’s protege Jack Abbott, on work release after a stretch for robbery and manslaughter, fatally stabs a waiter in the East Village.
1972—A sailor disables the USS Ranger for three months by dropping a paint scraper into its reduction gears.
1969—Senator Ted Kennedy gives Mary Jo Kopechne a ride part of the way home from a party, goes for a swim, then takes a nap.
1944—Ordered by der Führer to kill a fly, aide Fritz Darges suggests it’s a job for the Luftwaffe. He’s immediately banished to the Eastern Front.
1925—H.L. Mencken is nearly run out of Dayton, Tenn. on a rail by its pious Christian inhabitants.
1899—Newsies strike for a better deal in NYC. After two week, they win.
1877—Governor Henry Mathews of West Virginia pleads for U.S. Marines to suppress the B & O railroad strike.
1870—Convoked by Pius IX two years earlier, the First Vatican Council declares that the Pope is infallible.
1863—Black soldiers of the 54th Mass. Infantry Regiment prove their worth at the Battle of Ft. Wagner.